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.
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.
She was born Marie de Lajemmerais in Quebec in 1701. Her father died when she was only 7, and she and her four brothers and sisters and their mother were very poor. Her great-grandfather paid for her to be educated by the Ursuline nuns in Quebec for two years, and when she returned home, she helped support her family and taught her brothers and sisters.
It’s hard to imagine spending five weeks in bed, let alone five years. But in 1657, when Marguerite Marie Alacoque was 10 years old, she became very ill with a disease that left her paralyzed. So for five years she stayed in bed—long before television or video games could provide amusement. So what did she do? She prayed.
Do you ever wonder who was the first person to call the community Jesus established the “Catholic Church”? It was Saint Ignatius of Antioch. It was his way of explaining that the Church was open to anyone who wanted to be a follower of Jesus.
Peter was born in Spain in 1499. Faith and education were both important in Peter’s life from the time he was a young boy. He joined the Franciscans after he graduated from college at the age of 16. He was known for his acts of penance which he believed helped him grow closer to Christ and to understand the great suffering Jesus took on out of love for all people. For example, he would never eat large meals and would often fast from eating anything at all.