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A mild-mannered Dutch Carmelite professor, Saint Titus Brandsma became a fierce critic of the Nazi movement and was put to death by lethal injection at the Dachau concentration camp in 1942.
We believe that Jesus is truly God and truly human, and this feast of his grandparents is a testimony to that faith. While the names Joachim and Anne may be legendary, we know that Jesus had grandparents in the parents of Mary (as well as those of Saint Joseph). Our God truly became human and lived among us.
Apostle Saint James the Greater, brother of Saint John and one of the three who spent time with the Lord on significant occasions, was a fisherman called by Jesus to follow him. Most likely, he was the first to be martyred, and witness to the faith with his blood. He and Saint John were nicknamed “Sons of Thunder” by Jesus.
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.
