Saints & Heroes

August 25: Saint Louis IX of France, crusader king, fearless warrior, morally outstanding monarch, stalwart in masculine virtue, and a heroic saint.

August 26: After the death of her father, St. Elizabeth dedicated herself to rebuilding her parish community left in chaos by of the violent persecution of the French Revolution.

August 29: Saint John the Baptist was arrested for condemning Herod's "marriage" to his brother's wife. He was eventually martyred for standing up for the truth.

August 30: Saint Margaret Ward helped a priest escape prison. She was caught and executed by English Protestants.

June 26: Until his death in 1178 at the age of seventy-two, Anthelm fearlessly reprimanded the clergy for their fallen standards concerning priestly celibacy and labored tirelessly and uncompromisingly for the reform of the clergy.

June 27: St. Cyril, Priest, Bishop, Patriarch of Alexandria, and Doctor of the Church, defended the Catholic Faith against heretical movements.

July 18: Camillus de Lellis, former wandering soldier and professional gambler, established the Clerks Regular, Ministers of the Sick. His group was approved by Pope Sixtus V in 1586, and officially raised to the status of a mendicant order by Gregory XV in 1591.

July 20: Saint Vulmar's piety and devotion, even in his humble duties of keeping the cattle and hewing wood for the community, conveyed his virtue to his superiors.

June 28: Saint Irenaeus of Lyon, France, Holy Priest and Bishop, was known as one of the most distinguished theologians of his time.