ALL POSTS IN: JUNE

Justin was born in Palestine around the year 100. He was well educated and became a professor of philosophy. He was interested in the meaning of life and why the world and people exist.

Charles Lwanga was born in Uganda on the continent of Africa in the last half of the 19th century. He and other young men and boys were required to work for King Mwanga. King Mwanga was an evil man who treated all people harshly, especially the boys who worked for him.

Pierre Toussaint was born a slave in 1766 in the French colony of Saint Domingue, which is modern-day Haiti. His great-grandmother had been born in Africa and sold into slavery in the Caribbean. Pierre worked as a house slave inside a plantation owned by Jean Berard. He was educated by the family’s tutors, which was very unusual for the time.Pierre Toussaint was born a slave in 1766 in the French colony of Saint Domingue, which is modern-day Haiti.

Columba (521-597) was born of a royal family in Donegal, Ireland, but he is best known as one of the most famous Scottish saints. He became a monk at an early age and founded monasteries in different parts of Ireland. He was forced to leave Ireland because of a personal feud that turned into a war. Bishops and abbots exiled him from Ireland, and twelve companions from his monasteries went with him.

Paula Frassinetti led a happy life in Genoa, Italy, until she was 9. That was when her mother died, in 1818, leaving Paula to care for her father and four brothers and their household. At this young age, she made many sacrifices to give attention to her family.

Anthony of Padua felt that God called him to try many new and different things. As he felt the tug of God’s love, he gave up one job to work at another. He did this over and over.

As a young revolutionary and artist in Poland, Adam Chmielowski was not a young man whom people thought would someday be a saint.

Matt Talbot was born in 1856 to a poor family with 12 children in Dublin, Ireland. His father and several of his brothers were alcoholics. Matt began working as a messenger boy when he was 12 years old. He also began drinking alcohol around the same time.

In the Opening Prayer on June 22, we pray, “Give us the courage to proclaim our faith by the witness of our lives” (Sacramentary). Thomas More was a man of great faith and courage whose life shows us what it means to be a witness to our faith.

John the Baptist was Jesus’ older cousin. He was a prophet sent by God to prepare people for the coming of Christ into the world.