Blessed are They

Born: c. 500 CE Died: March 1, 589 CE Feast: March 1 Patron saint of: Wales There is little definitive information that is known about David of Wales. There are differing theories about the years of his birth and death, and the exact details of his family remain shrouded in mystery and tradition. The earliest , ...

Born: January 2, 1892 Died: March 4, 1951 Feast: March 4 Patron saint of: N/A Zoltán Lajos Meszlényi was elected bishop in Hungary after quickly rising through the ranks of the clergy. His talents were confirmed by many during a time when Communism was taking a stronger hold in Hungary, but the Communist party , ...

Born: c. 181 CE Died: c. 203 CE Feast: March 7 Patron saint of: Mothers, widows, butchers, ranchers Perpetua was a well-educated noblewoman in the peak of young adulthood; Felicity was a heavily pregnant enslaved woman. This unlikely duo found their fates intertwined in the third century. They refused to renou , ...

Born: March 8, 1495 Died: March 8, 1550 Feast day: March 8 Patron saint of: Booksellers, hospitals, nurses, the mentally ill, the dying If anyone urges you to become a fool for Christ, just be careful. In recent years this phrase has sent hundreds of otherwise sane adults flocking to clown workshops and mime , ...

Born: c. 1384 CE Died: March 9, 1440 Feast Day: March 9 Patron: Benedictine oblates, automobile drivers, widows Frances was born in 1384 to a wealthy Italian family. From a young age, she wanted to dedicate her life to prayer and service; however, her parents ultimately disagreed. Instead, they married her off , ...

Born: March 1822 Died: March 10, 1913 Feast: N/A Patron saint of: N/A Harriet Tubman was not Catholic, but she was a woman of profound faith and steadfast conviction who made liberation and equality the center of her life. There can be no mincing words here: Harriet Tubman was a titan, referred to as the “Mose , ...

Born: N/A Died: N/A Feast: March 16 Patron saint of: Finland Saint Urho is a fictional entity; he is a product of lore rooted in northern Minnesota in the late 1950s. In response to the Irish American enthusiasm around Saint Patrick’s Day on March 17, Finnish Americans came up with a celebration the preceding , ...

Born: c. 385 CE Died: c. March 17, 461 CE Feast day: March 17 Patron saint of: Ireland, engineers, protection from snakes Many Catholics know little of St. Patrick beyond the kitschy mascot of clovers, green rivers, and beer. In reality, Patrick is a mythical hero born of blood and fire. Patrick’s story has , ...

Born: c. 315 CE Died: c. 386 CE Feast: March 18 Patron saint of: N/A Not much is known about Cyril before he became Bishop of Jerusalem, but he left a legacy large enough as a bishop to be named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII centuries later in 1822. Cyril was a strong advocate against Arianism, a her , ...

Born: N/A Died: N/A Feast day: March 19 Patron saint of: Catholic Church, fathers, workers, married people, persons living in exile, the sick and dying, holy deaths What did it feel like to be Jesus’ foster father? How did he find the courage to raise the son of God? Did he ever regret his choice? I’ve gone , ...

Born: c. 634 CE Died: March 20, 687 CE Feast day: March 20 Patron saint of: Kingdom of Northumbria We know little of Cuthbert’s parents or background, but we do know that on an evening in the year 651 Cuthbert, a 16-year-old Anglo-Saxon warrior, saw a light from heaven beaming on the Holy Island of Lindisfar , ...

Born: October 2, 1791 Died: March 21, 1858 Feast Day: March 21 Patron: Benedictine Sisters of Providence, educators Benedetta Cambiagio Frassinello, also known as St. Benedicta Cambiagio Frassinello, was born in Landasco, Italy on October 2, 1791. From a very young age, Benedetta wanted to devote her life to p , ...

Born: August 15, 1917 Died: March 24, 1980 Feast day: March 24 Patron saint of: Christian communicators, the Americas There are countless examples of “You’re a saint” saintliness in Óscar Romero’s life, many of which were highlighted as part of the case for his canonization. He traveled great distances along n , ...

Born: March 25, 1925 Died: August 3, 1964 A cradle Catholic, Flannery O’Connor dwelled in the depths of the Protestant South for most of her life, living with her mother on her family’s dairy farm in Milledgeville, Georgia. There she wrote her most memorable stories and raised peacocks because the “king of the b , ...

Born: March 27, 1923 Died: September 29, 1996 One of the most vivid descriptions author Shūsaku Endō uses to describe his faith was to call his Catholicism an ill-fitting suit. But Endō’s discomfort is more profound than something that looks great on the hanger that never fits exactly right. Throughout his life , ...

Born: March 28, 1907 Died: February 13, 2005 Feast: N/A Patron saint of: N/A Lucia was the oldest of the three children who the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to in Fatima in 1917. The other two children, her cousins, passed away soon after the apparitions, but Sister Lucia endured, living to the age of 97. Her , ...