Saints

St Cornelius Pope and martyr. A Roman priest, Cornelius was elected Pope to succeed Fabian in an election delayed fourteen months by Decius' persecution of the Christians. One of the main issues of his pontificate was the treatment of Christians who had abandoned their faith during the persecution. He condemned those confessors who were lax in not demanding penance of these Christians. On the oth... Read More

Married woman and mystic. Born in Genoa in 1447, Catherine Fieschi entered into an arranged marriage with a wealthy young man named Julian when she was just 16. He turned out to be a foul-tempered womanizer and she endured his bad behaviour for several years, until in 1473, she underwent some kind of conversion experience which changed her life, and that of her husband too. For the next 20 years ... Read More

St Robert Bellarmine Cardinal. Born during the Reformation at Montepulciano, Tuscany, in 1542, St Robert Bellarmine was a poet, musician and public speaker. His systematic studies of theology began at Padua in 1567, where his teachers were adherents of Thomism. In 1569 he was sent to finish his studies at the University of Leuven in Flanders. There he was ordained, and obtained a reputation both ... Read More