THE FRANCISCAN FRIARS, TOR

Blessed Charles de Foucauld Saint of the Day for December 1 (September 15, 1858 – December 1, 1916) Click to hear audio clip ► Blessed Charles de Foucauld’s Story Born into an aristocratic family in Strasbourg, France, Charles was orphaned at the age of 6, raised by his devout grandfather, rejected the Catholic faith as […]

Blessed Rafal Chylinski Saint of the Day December 2 (January 8, 1694 – December 2, 1741) Click to hear audio clip ► Blessed Rafal Chylinski’s Story Born near Buk in the Poznan region of Poland, Melchior showed early signs of religious devotion; family members nicknamed him “the little monk.” After completing his studies at the […]

  Saint Francis Xavier Saint of the Day for December 3 (April 7, 1506 – December 3, 1552) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Francis Xavier’s Story Jesus asked, “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” (Matthew 16:26a). The words were repeated to a young teacher of […]

Saint John Damascene Saint of the Day for December 4 (c. 676 -749) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint John Damascene’s Story John spent most of his life in the monastery of Saint Sabas, near Jerusalem, and all of his life under Muslim rule, indeed, protected by it. He was born in Damascus, received […]

                          Saint Sabas Saint of the Day for December 5 (439 – December 5, 532)  Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Sabas’ Story Born in Cappadocia, Sabas is one of the most highly regarded patriarchs among the monks of Palestine, and is considered one […]

Saint Nicholas Saint of the Day for December 6 (March 15, 270 – December 6, 343) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Nicholas’ Story The absence of the “hard facts” of history is not necessarily an obstacle to the popularity of saints, as the devotion to Saint Nicholas shows. Both the Eastern and Western […]

Saint Ambrose Saint of the Day for December 7 (337 – April 4, 397) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Ambrose’ Story One of Ambrose’s biographers observed that at the Last Judgment, people would still be divided between those who admired Ambrose and those who heartily disliked him. He emerges as the man of action […]

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Saint of the Day for December 8 Click to hear audio clip ► The Story of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception A feast called the Conception of Mary arose in the Eastern Church in the seventh century. It came to the West in the eighth century. In the 11th […]

Saint Juan Diego Saint of the Day for December 9 (1474 – May 30, 1548)  Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Juan Diego’s Story Thousands of people gathered in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe July 31, 2002, for the canonization of Juan Diego, to whom the Blessed Mother appeared in the 16th […]

Blessed Adolph Kolping Saint of the Day for December 10 (December 8, 1813 – December 4, 1865) Click to hear audio clip ► Blessed Adolph Kolping’s Story The rise of the factory system in 19th-century Germany brought many single men into cities where they faced new challenges to their faith. Father Adolph Kolping began a […]

Saint Damasus I Saint of the Day for December 11 (304 – December 11, 384) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Damasus I’s Story To his secretary Saint Jerome, Damasus was “an incomparable person, learned in the Scriptures, a virgin doctor of the virgin Church, who loved chastity and heard its praises with pleasure.” […]

Our Lady of Guadalupe Saint of the Day for December 12 Click to hear audio clip ► The Story of Our Lady of Guadalupe The feast in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe goes back to the 16th century. Chronicles of that period tell us the story. A poor Indian named Cuauhtlatohuac was baptized and given the […]

Saint Lucy Saint of the Day for December 13 (283 – 304)  Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Lucy’s Story Every little girl named Lucy must bite her tongue in disappointment when she first tries to find out what there is to know about her patron saint. The older books will have a lengthy paragraph detailing […]

Saint John of the Cross Saint of the Day for December 14 (June 24, 1541 – December 14, 1591) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint John of the Cross’ Story John is a saint because his life was a heroic effort to live up to his name: “of the Cross.” The folly of the cross […]

Blessed Mary Frances Schervier Saint of the Day for December 15 (January 3,1819 – December 14, 1876) Click to hear audio clip ► Blessed Mary Frances Schervier’s Story This woman who once wanted to become a Trappistine nun was instead led by God to establish a community of sisters who care for the sick and […]

Blessed Honoratus Kozminski Saint of the Day for December 16 (October 16, 1829 – December 16, 1916) Click to hear audio clip ► Blessed Honoratus Kozminski’s Story Wenceslaus was born in Biala Podlaska in 1829. By the age of 11 he had lost his faith. By the age of 16 his father died. He attended […]

  Saint Hildegard of Bingen Saint of the Day for December 17 (September 16, 1098 – September 17, 1179) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Hildegard of Bingen’s Story Abbess, artist, author, composer, mystic, pharmacist, poet, preacher, theologian—where to begin describing this remarkable woman? Born into a noble family, she was instructed for ten […]

Blessed Anthony Grassi Saint of the Day for December 18 (November 13, 1592 – December 13, 1671) Click to hear audio clip ► Blessed Anthony Grassi’s Story Anthony’s father died when his son was only 10 years old, but the young lad inherited his father’s devotion to Our Lady of Loreto. As a schoolboy, he […]

Blessed Pope Urban V Saint of the Day for December 19 (1310 – December 19, 1370) Click to hear audio clip ► Blessed Pope Urban V’s Story In 1362, the man elected pope declined the office. When the cardinals could not find another person among them for that important office, they turned to a relative […]

Saint Dominic of Silos Saint of the Day for December 20 (c. 1000 – December 20, 1073) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Dominic of Silos’ Story It’s not the founder of the Dominicans we honor today, but there’s a poignant story that connects both Dominics. Our saint today, Dominic of Silos, was born […]

Saint Peter Canisius Saint of the Day for December 21 (May 8,1521 – December 21, 1597) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Peter Canisius’ Story The energetic life of Peter Canisius should demolish any stereotypes we may have of the life of a saint as dull or routine. Peter lived his 76 years at a […]

Blessed Jacopone da Todi Saint of the Day for December 22 (c. 1230 – December 25, 1306) Click to hear audio clip ► Blessed Jacopone da Todi’s Story Jacomo, or James, was born a noble member of the Benedetti family in the northern Italian city of Todi. He became a successful lawyer and married a […]

Saint John of Kanty Saint of the Day for December 23 (June 24, 1390 – December 24, 1473) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint John of Kanty’s Story John was a country lad who made good in the big city and the big university of Kraków, Poland. After brilliant studies he was ordained a priest […]

Christmas at Greccio Saint of the Day for December 24 Click to hear audio clip ► The Story of Christmas at Greccio What better way to prepare for the arrival of the Christ Child than to take a brief journey to Greccio, the spot in central Italy where Saint Francis of Assisi created the first Christmas […]

Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord Saint of the Day for December 25 Click to hear audio clip ► The Story of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord On this day, the Church focuses especially on the newborn Child, God become human, who embodies for us all the hope and peace we […]

Saint Stephen Saint of the Day for December 26 (d. c. 36 ) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Stephen’s Story As the number of disciples continued to grow, the Greek-speaking Christians complained about the Hebrew-speaking Christians, saying that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. So the Twelve called together the […]

Saint John the Apostle Saint of the Day for December 27 (6 – 100) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint John the Apostle’s Story It is God who calls; human beings answer. The vocation of John and his brother James is stated very simply in the Gospels, along with that of Peter and his brother […]

Holy Innocents Saint of the Day for December 28 Click to hear audio clip ► The Story of the Holy Innocents Herod “the Great,” king of Judea, was unpopular with his people because of his connections with the Romans and his religious indifference. Hence he was insecure and fearful of any threat to his throne. […]

Saint Thomas Becket Saint of the Day for December 29 (December 21, 1118 – December 29, 1170) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Thomas Becket’s Story A strong man who wavered for a moment, but then learned one cannot come to terms with evil and so became a strong churchman, a martyr and a saint—that was […]

Saint Egwin Saint of the Day for December 30 (d. c. 720) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Egwin’s Story You say you’re not familiar with today’s saint? Chances are you aren’t—unless you’re especially informed about Benedictine bishops who established monasteries in medieval England. Born of royal blood in the 7th century, Egwin entered […]

Saint Sylvester I Saint of the Day for December 31 (d. 335) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Sylvester I’s Story When you think of this pope, you think of the Edict of Milan, the emergence of the Church from the catacombs, the building of the great basilicas, Saint John Lateran, Saint Peter’s and others, […]