Mother Lurana White (1870-1935)
Lurana White was raised in New York in a wealthy family of high church Episcopalians. While attending a boarding school run by an order of Episcopal sisters, she felt a strong attraction to religious life. With her family's permission, she entered the order as a...
Blessed Maria Assunta Pallotta (1878-1905)
Maria Assunta Pallotta was born to a working-class family in Italy. By the time she was eleven, she was helping to support her siblings. But all the while, she dreamed of a religious vocation. When she was in her late teens, with support from her parish priest, she...
Saint Mary Crescentia (1682-1744)
Anna Hoss, the daughter of poor weavers, was born in a small town of Bavaria. While praying in the chapel of a local convent of Third Order Franciscans, she seemed to hear a voice from the crucifix saying. “This shall be your home. Unfortunately, the convent refused...
Saint Benedict the Black (1526-1589)
St. Benedict was the son of African slaves, owned by a rich family in Sicily. Set free as a child, Benedict attracted attention, even as a youth, for his patience and charity. Once, as he was being taunted on account of his color, a passing Franciscan noticed him and...
Saint Francis of Paola (1416-1507)
The long-childless parents of this saint had prayed to St. Francis of Assisi for a son. When their prayers were answered, they named him Francis. No doubt their intentions exerted a powerful influence on his later vocation. At twelve, her spent a year in a Franciscan...
Blessed Restituta Kafka (1894-1943)
Restituta Kafka took her religious name from a third century martyr beheaded under the Roman Emperor Aurelian, little guessing that the age of martyrdom had not passed. She was born in Vienna. At nineteen, she entered a nursing order, the Franciscan Sisters of...
Servant of God Thea Bowman (1937-1990)
Thea Bowman was one of the great treasures of the American Catholic Church. Ablaze with the spirit of love, the memory of struggle, and a faith in God's promises, she impressed her audiences not just with her message but also with nobility of her spirit. Born Bertha...
Blessed Joan Mary de Maille (1332-1414)
Blessed Joan was born to a noble family in France. As a child, it was said that her prayers had saved a neighbor boy, Robert de Sille, after he fell into a pond and nearly drowned. When Joan turned sixteen, she and Robert were married. Although they elected to...
Blessed Mark of Montegallo (1425-1496)
Blessed Mark, who was born in Montegallo, Italy, studied medicine, married and worked as a doctor for some years. At a certain point, he and his wife both agreed that their true vocations were to religious life. So they parted, she to become a Poor Clare, while he...
Blessed Dulce Pontes (1914-1992)
Maria Rita de Souza Pontes was born in Salvador, Brazil, to a well-to-do family. As a child, the sight of homeless beggars in her neighborhood inspired her to devote her life to the poor. At eighteen, she joined the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate...