Saints

Queen, wife, mother and nun. This saint was a English woman whose life went from rags to riches. As a young girl, she was captured by pirates and sold as a slave to Erchinoald, who was in charge of the palace of the Frankish King, Clovis II. Bathildis was so beautiful and intelligent she attracted the attention of the king. They married and had three sons, each of whom in turn eventually became k... Read More

Abbot. Born around 500AD, near the Clyde, ancient chronicles describe how Gildas became a monk after his wife died. He became a notable figure in Welsh monastic life. Many Irish monks came to visit him and he travelled around Ireland and wrote letters to distant monasteries. In 540 he wrote his famous De Excidio Britanniae, mentioned by Bede, which gives a vivid description of contemporary Briti... Read More

Founder of the Salesian Order. John was born on 16 August 1815 in Piedmont, the youngest son of a peasant farmer who died when he was only two. His mother brought him up in extreme poverty. When he entered the seminary in 1831, his clothes and shoes were provided by charity. John was ordained in 1841. Originally he dreamed of becoming a foreign missionary, but soon settled into what became his li... Read More