Blessed are They

Born: May 7, 1950 Died: June 13, 2008 Tim Russert, the longtime moderator of NBC’s Meet the Press, was a role model for contemporary Catholics. It was the way he embraced his work as a calling no less serious or less Catholic than one to the priesthood or religious life. In a society where television journalists , ...

Born: January 3, 1840 Died: April 15, 1889 Feast Day: May 10 Patron of: People with leprosy Damien de Veuster may be Hawaii’s most famous celebrity after, of course, Magnum P.I. and (for you oldsters) Steve McGarret of Hawaii Five-O. And since those last two guys were only fictional, that leaves Damien.  , ...

Born: May 12, 1915 Died: August 16, 2005 Taizé was founded amid the profound divisions and discord of the Second World War by Roger Schütz—known to many as Brother Roger—to foster reconciliation and peace. From risky acts of mercy like welcoming refugees to the community amid the Nazi-supported Vichy regime to t , ...

Born: c. 1343 CE Died: c. 1416 CE Feast day: May 13 Julian of Norwich may seem like an unusual choice to highlight in a magazine about social justice. A mystic who lived 600 years ago, she spent much of her life closed up in a few rooms. But for centuries this woman has been a beacon of freedom and consolation , ...

Born: N/A Died: N/A Feast day: May 13 Patron saint of: Roman Catholic Diocese of Leiria-Fátima, East Timor Cova da Iria, the place where Mary appeared to Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco on the 13th of every month from May to October in 1917, is now the Chapel of Apparitions, an open chapel with a statue of Our , ...

Born: May 19, 1925 Died: February 21, 1965 Every human story begins at a defined point over which we have no control and takes off on a journey that can land somewhere surprising and even remarkable. In between liftoff and landing, our journeys intersect points that may seem improbable from either end. The young , ...

Born: May 28, 1916 Died: May 10, 1990 Walker Percy and his characters do everything in their power to escape the crushing weight of everyday existence. My introduction to Percy was a battered volume entitled Love in the Ruins: The Adventures of a Bad Catholic at a Time Near the End of the World (Farrar , ...

Born: September 26, 1897 Died: August 6, 1978 Feast day: May 29 Patron saint of: Archdiocese of Milan, Paul VI Pontifical Institute, Second Vatican Council, Diocese of Brescia, Concesio, Magenta, Paderno Dugnano Elected in 1963 following the death of St. John XXIII, amid intense debates among bishops at the , ...