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Saint Sharbel Makhlouf was a Lebanese Maronite Rite monk, one of the Eastern Catholic Churches who follow a slightly different liturgy and canon law. We in the Latin or Roman Rite often forget that we have sisters and brothers in the East. Saint Sharbel is a good reminder of the wider Church.
Saint Bridget of Sweden was married, a mother of eight, and the foundress of a monastery for men and women. She spent her final days in Rome seeking to correct Church abuses for which she received much opposition.
Whether or not Saint Mary Magdalene was a notorious sinner—and she most likely was not—she was one of the women who traveled with Jesus and the Apostles, and was present at the cross. She also was the one chosen to bring the good news of the resurrection to the Apostles.
A Capuchin Franciscan, Saint Lawrence of Brindisi was a scholar, administrator, preacher, and lover of the poor. Versed in many languages, Saint Lawrence was an outstanding scripture scholar and used his knowledge of the holy writings to produce many homilies. He served his community as Minister General and served the papacy as an emissary and peacemaker.
Unwilling to take no for an answer, Saint Apollinaris was exiled from Ravenna several times, but he always returned trying to preach the good news to the people. He finally died of a beating he received in a suburb of Ravenna.
Australia’s first canonized saint, Mother Mary MacKillop founded the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart, better known as the Josephite Sisters.
Saint Camillus de Lellis was rejected by the Capuchins because of an ongoing medical condition. Against the advice of a friend, he founded a religious community on his own to care for the sick. These men proved to be invaluable during the plague, caring for the worst of its victims.
