Calendar

Born: February 21, 1801 Died: August 11, 1890  Feast day: October 9 Patron saint of: poets St. John Henry Newman, an intellectual giant of the 19th century, was a prominent Anglican vicar and leader who converted to Catholicism at the age of 44. As is often true of holy people, church functionaries did not , ...

Born: May 9, 1991 Died: October 12, 2006 Feast day: October 12 Patron of: the internet, computer programmers Though Blessed Carlo Acutis’ life was short, his deep faith and devotion to the Eucharist serve as a powerful reminder of the riches the church can uncover when we empower young adults to be protago , ...

Born: March 28, 1515 Died: October 15, 1582 Feast Day: October 15 Quick, name five reformers you know who have a sense of humor. Anybody got one yet?  Too bad you didn’ know Teresa of Avila. Teresa was that rarest of creatures, a merry reformer. The woman who cried, “God deliver us from sullen s , ...

Born: October 16, 1928 Died: January 3, 2010 The church and the history of the church’s attitude toward women has been a record of contradictions. On one hand, the church has put women on a pedestal; you see this in the scriptures, in the Fathers, the theologians, in the popes—particularly Leo XIII, Pius XI, Piu , ...

Born: October 16, 1854 Died: November 30, 1900 Sin and suffering haunt this world, just as they haunted Oscar Wilde. Some of it is of our own making, to be sure, but much of it is also inflicted upon us by forces outside our control or comprehension. Christ died for us, yet the suffering continues. No matter how , ...

Born: October 18, 1973 Died: August 19, 2014 The principles James Foley stood for are in need today. Our neighbors are increasingly valued by the extent of their similarity to ourselves. The damages of division and indifference are pushing deeper. Foley fought for compassion. He is a reminder to go to the margin , ...

Born: October 19, 1720 Died: October 7, 1772 Miss Manners would definitely not approve of John Woolman. A frequent dinner guest in the homes of his fellow Quakers, Woolman wasted little time on those safe niceties of dinner conversation like the weather, the food, and how ‘bout those Cubbies. He went right t , ...

Died: October 20 and 23, 1992 October 2012 marked the 20th anniversary of the deaths of five American missionary nuns, members of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ (A.S.C.), then based in rural Ruma, Illinois. They were killed in Liberia, Africa, early in that country’s gruesome 14-year civil war. Sisters Barba , ...

Born: October 21, 1772 Died: July 25, 1834 Samuel Taylor Coleridge tells us that poetry works to awaken the “mind’s attention from the lethargy of custom, and directing it to the loveliness and the wonders of the world before us; an inexhaustible treasure, but for which in consequence of the film of familiarity , ...

Born: May 18, 1920 Died: April 2, 2005 Feast day: October 22 Patron saint of: Poland, Archdiocese of Kraków, World Youth Day, World Meeting of Families 2015, young Catholics, families, Świdnica, Trecastelli, Borgo Mantovano, Rivignano Teor, Paradahan, Tanza, Cavite Pope St. John Paul II worked at a che , ...

Born: December 23, 1807 Died: October 24, 1870 Feast day: October 24 Patron saint of: textile merchants, weavers, savings, Catholic press, Claretians, Dioceses of the Canary Islands, foundations If he had lived in our century, Anthony Claret would probably have been first in line to cart home a personal co , ...

Born: October 27, 1943 Died: April 14, 2006 When I think of martyrs, I usually think of people with foreign-sounding names like Perpetua or Attalus, both of whom were thrown to the lions in the Roman Colosseum for refusing to recant their faith in Christ. Sister of St. Joseph Karen Klimczak—a clown, storyteller, , ...

Born: c. 10 C.E. Died: 65 C.E. Feast day: October 28 Patron saint of: hopeless causes, desperate situations, hospitals St. Jude Thaddeus, one of Jesus’ 12 apostles, is known as the patron saint of hopeless causes and desperate situations. Mentioned in every gospel except John, tradition identifies Jude as , ...