Melanie Rigney

Daniel Comboni’s first missionary trip to Africa ended in failure. He returned home to Italy and came up with the idea to directly involve African Christians in evangelizing their sisters and brothers. This inclusive effort bore much fruit.

Give a kind word or other support to someone who isn’t a relative or close friend, without first evaluating whether or not he or she is worth the effort.

After losing his family, St. Alphonsus Rodriguez could have become bitter and angry with God. Instead he became a Jesuit lay brother and served the community as a doorkeeper.

The Dominican Thomas Aquinas was one of the Catholic Church’s greatest theologians and philosophers. But the road to all that wisdom began when he was a youngster and asked the same question so many children do: “What is God?”

Spanish De La Salle Brother Jaime Barbal was forced to give up teaching Latin because of his hearing deterioration. When he was arrested during the Spanish Civil War his attorneys encouraged him not to mention being a religious brother. But Jaime refused and was executed by a firing squad.

Dutch-born saint Charles of Mount Argus spent 35 years in Ireland and England, never really mastering the language. But as a priest his friendliness and healing gifts made him beloved by all.