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Saints Alive! | St. John of Capistrano

When the Turks were invading Europe in the wake of the fall of Constantinople, they laid siege to Belgrade, then a border fort of the kingdom of Hungary. John preached a crusade against them and took part in the battle on 22 July 1456 in which John Hunyadi, his army and John’s peasant crusaders lifted the siege and defeated the Turks, keeping Christian Europe safe from Turkish invasion for the next 70 years. Plague spread through the camp and John died of it, at Ilok, in what is now Croatia, on 23 October 1456. He is the patron saint of military chaplains. Credit: Universalis.com. For more about this saint, please click on the image. Peace be with you!

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Saints Alive! | St. John Paul II, pope

Karol Józef Wojtyła was born in 1920 in Wadowice, Poland. After his ordination to the priesthood and theological studies in Rome, he returned to his homeland and resumed various pastoral and academic tasks. He became first auxiliary bishop and, in 1964, Archbishop of Kraków and took part in the Second Vatican Council. On 16 October 1978 he was elected pope and took the name John Paul II. His exceptional apostolic zeal, particularly for families, young people and the sick, led him to numerous pastoral visits throughout the world. Among the many fruits which he has left as a heritage to the Church are above all his rich Magisterium and the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as well as the Code of Canon Law for the Latin Church and for the Eastern Churches. In Rome on 2 April 2005, the eve of the Second Sunday of Easter (or of Divine Mercy), he departed peacefully in the Lord. He was canonized by Pope Francis on 27 April, the Second Sunday of Easter 2014. Credit: from our friends at Universalis.com. For more about this great saint, please click on the image. Peace be with you!

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Saints Alive! | St. Ursula and the Virgins of Cologne

According to the Golden Legend, St Ursula, daughter of the King of Brittany, married Conon, son of the King of England and after a pilgrimage to Rome with eleven thousand virgins arrived at Cologne where they were all killed by the Huns. For more about this saint and her companions, please click on the image. Peace be with you!

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Saints Alive! | St. Paul of the Cross

He was born at Ovada in Liguria. As a young man he helped his father, who was a merchant. He aspired to a perfect life, abandoned all his possessions and started to live in the service of the poor and sick. He gathered companions to help him in the task. He became a priest and worked more and more for the salvation of souls. He founded the Passionist Order, set up houses for his congregation and devoted himself to apostolic labours. Across the globe St. Paul of the Cross' feast is celebrated on October 19th except in North America where the Feast of the North American Martyrs takes precedence. Hence, we celebrate his feast on October 20th. For more about this saint, please click on the image. Peace be with you!

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Saints Alive! | Sts. John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues & Companions (The North American Martyrs)

Between 1642 and 1649 these eight members of the Society of Jesus, who had travelled to North America to preach the true faith, were killed by the native Huron and Iroquois tribes after horrible tortures. Isaac Jogues died on 18 October 1647, and John de Brébeuf on 16 March 1648. For more about these saints, missionaries and courageous witnesses of the Christian faith, please click on the image. Peace be with you!