THE FRANCISCAN FRIARS, TOR

Saint John Bosco Saint of the Day for January 31 (August 16, 1815 – January 31, 1888) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint John Bosco’s Story John Bosco’s theory of education could well be used in today’s schools. It was a preventive system, rejecting corporal punishment and placing students in surroundings removed from the likelihood […]

Saint Ansgar Saint of the Day for February 1 (801 – February 3, 865) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Ansgar’s Story The “apostle of the north” (Scandinavia) had enough frustrations to become a saint—and he did. He became a Benedictine at Corbie, France, where he had been educated. Three years later, when the king of […]

Presentation of the Lord Saint of the Day for February 2 Click to hear audio clip ► The Story of the Presentation of the Lord At the end of the fourth century, a woman named Etheria made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Her journal, discovered in 1887, gives an unprecedented glimpse of liturgical life there. Among […]

Saint Blaise Saint of the Day for February 3 (d. c. 316) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Blaise’s Story We know more about the devotion to Saint Blaise by Christians around the world than we know about the saint himself. His feast is observed as a holy day in some Eastern Churches. In 1222, the […]

Saint Joseph of Leonissa Saint of the Day for February 4 (January 8, 1556  – February 4, 1612) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Joseph of Leonissa’s Story Joseph was born at Leonissa in the Kingdom of Naples. As a boy and as a student in early adulthood, Joseph drew attention for his energy and […]

Saint Agatha Saint of the Day for February 5 (c. 230 – 251) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Agatha’s Story As in the case of Agnes, another virgin-martyr of the early Church, almost nothing is historically certain about this saint except that she was martyred in Sicily during the persecution of Emperor Decius in […]

Saint Paul Miki and Companions Saint of the Day for February 6 (d. 1597) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Paul Miki and Companions’ Story Nagasaki, Japan, is familiar to Americans as the city on which the second atomic bomb was dropped, immediately killing over 37,000 people. Three and a half centuries before, 26 martyrs of […]

Saint Colette Saint of the Day for February 7 (January 13, 1381 – March 6, 1447) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Colette’s Story Colette did not seek the limelight, but in doing God’s will she certainly attracted a lot of attention. Colette was born in Corbie, France. At 21, she began to follow the Third […]

Saint Josephine Bakhita Saint of the Day for February 8 (c. 1869 – February 8, 1947) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Josephine Bakhita’s Story For many years, Josephine Bakhita was a slave but her spirit was always free and eventually that spirit prevailed. Born in Olgossa in the Darfur region of southern Sudan, Josephine was […]

Saint Jerome Emiliani Saint of the Day for February 9 (1486 – February 8, 1537) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Jerome Emiliani’s Story A careless and irreligious soldier for the city-state of Venice, Jerome was captured in a skirmish at an outpost town and chained in a dungeon. In prison Jerome had a lot […]