In 1873, Thérèse was born in the small French town of Alencon and was raised in a loving family with her four sisters. Like any child, Thérèse enjoyed playing with her cousins and siblings. When Thérèse was four her mother died, and her father moved the family to Lisieux, a town about 50 miles away, so that he and his daughters could live with his brother. Thérese's older sister, Pauline, became like a second mother to her.
On the French seacoast of Brittany, Anne-Thérèse Guérin was born in 1798 to a French naval officer and his wife. When young Anne made her First Communion, she told the priest that she wanted to dedicate her life to God’s work. But her father was murdered when she was only 15, and Anne-Thérèse was left with the responsibility of caring for her mother and sister.
Two events changed Francis Bernardone. First, enemy soldiers captured him and put him in prison. Second, he met a leper.
Helenka Kowalska was born in 1905 in a small Polish town, one of 10 children born into a poor family. She left school after third grade and never learned to write or read very well. She dreamed of becoming a nun and was very disappointed when her parents would not give their permission. They needed the money she earned as a housekeeper for other families. She was obedient to her parents, but her desire to enter religious life never left her.
Francis Xavier Seelos was born in Fussen, Bavaria, in Germany in 1819. He was named after St. Francis Xavier, the famous Jesuit missionary. When he was a little boy, Francis’ mother asked him what he was going to be when he grew up. He answered by pointing at a picture of his name saint and said, “I’m going to be another St. Francis.”
Many of our greatest saints and holy people knew that they could raise others up by helping to educate them. Eulalie Durocher was one such person. Born on October 6, 1811, at Saint Antoine-sur-Richelieu in Quebec, Canada, she was the youngest of 10 children. Her parents valued education, and her mother, who had studied with the Ursuline Sisters in Quebec City, taught all of her children. Eventually young Eulalie attended a boarding school with the Notre Dame Sisters and began to dream of becoming a nun.
At the 2010 Mass that proclaimed John Henry Newman “Blessed,” some of the hymns sung were written by that very man. But John was not simply a man who wrote hymns. He was someone who inspired others with his life and his writings.
Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli was born in Rome, Italy, in 1876. His father hoped that Eugenio would follow in his footsteps as a canon lawyer. As Eugenio studied the legal system of the Catholic Church, he decided that he wanted to become a priest. He was ordained in 1899.
From her very beginning, the Church has had leaders who have helped us in our search for God. Pope John XXIII was one of those leaders. Pope John XXIII was pope from 1958 until he died in 1963.
Teresa was born in 1515 in Ávila. She proved at an early age that she was an intelligent and thoughtful person. Teresa and her brother, Rodrigo, didn’t play the same games that the other children played. Instead, they preferred to go to the garden and read. They were most interested in reading the Bible and the stories of the lives of the saints.