Blessed are They

Born: August 26, 1910 Died: September 5, 1997 Feast Day: September 5 Patron of: Doubters Mother Teresa owned a Lincoln Continental once- for about five minutes back in 1964. A gift of Pope Paul VI, who rode in it during his visit to India, it never had the honor of carrying its new owner, who raffled it of , ...

Born: September 9, 1930 Died: May 18, 2015 The traditional attitude is that the Catholic Church is a white man’s church—not necessarily always hostile, but nevertheless a white church. There has been much ignorance. There’s the perception that if you’ve got Black people who are Catholic, somebody has been mes , ...

Born: January 19, 399 Died:  July 453 Feast day: September 10 Patron saint of: N/A Pulcheria was a daughter of the emperor Arcadius, and her role was often one of great power and faithfulness. Whether empress or regent, she ebbed and flowed in title but remained committed to governing fairly and faith , ...

Born: 1902 and 1906  Died: October 1918 Feast Day: September 15 Daudi and Jildo were two young catechists from the Acholi tribe in Uganda in the early 20th century. Their work as catechists involved far more than simply offering classes after Mass on Sunday. For these two young men, being a catechist was , ...

Born: c. 1098 Died: September 17, 1179 Feast day: September 17 Patron saint of: musicians, writers One of the things I love about the Catholic tradition is that there has long been much room within it for both reason and mystery. Having a great personal affinity for both, I find something of a kindred spir , ...

Born: April 24, 1581 Died: September 27, 1660 Feast Day: September 27  Patron of: Charitable societies The movie Monsieur Vincent (1947), which chronicles the life of Saint Vincent de Paul, contains a gem of a scene. The black-robed Vincent sits amidst a dozen or so French society ladies, all done up , ...

Born: September 29, 1901 Died: October 12, 1954 The core of Caryll Houselander’s faith comes through her writings, which can be summarized in her own words: “Christ is everywhere; in him every kind of life has a meaning and has an influence on every other kind of life.” Her life and books attest to this belie , ...

Born: September 29, 1939 Died: August 23, 1980  August 23, 1980 began as an ordinary Saturday morning for Maryknoll Sisters Carla Piette and her companion, Ita Ford. Carla set off in their jeep to deliver food to refugees from outlying areas of Chalatenango, El Salvador, torn by an undeclared, but violent, civil , ...