Saints

Founder of the Brothers Hospitallers. Patron of hospitals, the sick, booksellers and printers. John was born in Portugal in 1495. For a few years he was a mercenary for the Count of Oroprusa and fought for Spain against the Turks in Hungary and the French. John gave up religious practice while he was in the army. When his troop disbanded, he went to Andalusia and worked as a shepherd. At the age... Read More

Martyrs. Perpetua was a 22 year-old married Christian woman who lived in Carthage during the first century. She had given birth to a son, a few months before she was arrested for her faith, under the persecutions of Septimus Severus. A pregnant slave, Felicity, with her husband Revocatus and six other African Christian men were also arrested. The group were kept together in a house for several w... Read More

Italian Poor Clare nun, writer, teacher, mystic and artist. Born in Bologna on 8 September 1413, Catherine came from an upper class family, the daughter of Benvenuta Mammolini, a diplomat who worked for the Marquis of Ferra. Catherine received a good education in reading, writing, singing and drawing while being raised at the court of the Duke of Ferrara. She excelled in painting, Latin and the v... Read More