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Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Saint Josephine Bakhita was born in 1896 in Olgossa, a town located in Darfur. She had a great childhood because her father was the leader of her tribe there. However at age nine, she was taken by invading Arabs.

Saint Josephine Bakhita was beaten and went through so much suffering that she forgot her own true name. Josephine Bakhita was sold into slavery. She had symbols carved into her skin by her owner to show that she belonged to him. One time she was hurt so badly by one of her owners' sons, that she spent a several weeks in bed.

Saint Josephine Bakhita was sold to another owner at this point in her life. This owner was a man named Augusto Michieli. She liked her life with him much more than her previous owner. She served Augusto, but mainly tended to his children. When Augusto and his family had to leave the country on business, Josephine was left with the Canossian Sisters.

Upon the Michieli's return, they attempted to take back their servants. Josephine put up a fight though, and eventually got a court ruling saying she was not bound to the family. Slavery had been abolished in Italy before her birth, so she was given her freedom. Josephine chose to stay with the Canossian Sisters in Venice.



Saint Josephine would officially join the Canossian Sisters in 1896. Josephine mainly stayed in her new home provided by the sisters in Schio. However she did leave once to go to Africa and help sisters there. Saint Josephine was the door keeper at the house in Schio and was known for her kind spirits and gentle voice there.

Towards the end of her life, Saint Josephine Bakhita would get extremely ill. Her illnesses would sometimes cause flashbacks of her days as a slave. This caused her much anguish and was hard for many to see her deal with. On February 8, 1947 Saint Josephine Bakhita passed away. She was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 1, 2000, and her feast day is on February 8th each year.

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Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Saint Joseph Freinademetz was born on April 15, 1852 in a town called Badia. This town was located in what was then known as Austria, today it can be located in Italy. His parents' names were Anna Maria and Giovanmattia, and their marriage brought them four children. The two raised their four children like typical parents of their time. On July 25, 1875 Saint Joseph Freinademetz was ordained. This was after years of studying theology.

Saint Joseph Freinademetz began his life as a priest in San Martino. He enjoyed his time there and was a good priest. Joseph always thought about being a missionary though. After contacting Saint Arnold Janssen, he would travel to Steyl and do just that.

Some of Saint Jospeh's most important work came while he was in Hong Kong. Joseph traveled to Hong Kong with John Baptist Anzer, and the two remained there for two years. Their job was to try and make more Christians out of the Chinese because very few of them were Christians at the time.

Saint Joseph rewrote religious books in Chinese and taught the Chinese who were interested in learning of Christianity. Saint Joseph got sick with tuberculosis at this point, and was forced to travel to Japan to receive proper care. He would return to take over the lead position of the operation in China.

There was an outbreak of typhus in this time, and he helped wherever he could, until he himself became infected. He returned to Taikia, South Shandong, where he died. He was buried in Taikia, at the twelfth station on the Way of the Cross.

After a few years of successful work in China, a wave of typhus swept the lands. Saint Joseph helped out anybody who needed it during these times. However, his contact with those who were infected, caused him to become ill. On January 28, 1908 Saint Joseph Freinademetz would pass away due to his sickness. Saint Jospeh was canonized on October 5, 2003. His feast day falls on January 28th each year.

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Sunday, December 20, 2009
Saint Joseph was born on June 17, 1603 in Cupertino, which was found in Naples. He was raised as most children during that time were. Then around his last teenage years Saint Joseph Cupertino made a critical life choice. He decided to join the Franciscan Friars Minor Conventual.

Saint Joseph's mother decided was never very nice to him. She was very hard on him and expected him to do exactly what she wanted all of the time. Saint Joseph was affected by this harsh behavior his mother exhibited. He gained a bad temper, and would space out and walk around town with no destination. So when Saint Joseph of Cupertino requested to become a full Franciscan monk, the group rejected him.

This hurt Saint Joseph, and he was very upset when he couldn't be a Franciscan. He still wanted to lead a religious life though, so he tried to join the Capunchins. This worked out for a few months, but then the Capuchins asked Joseph to leave because he kept messing things up.

At this point Joseph went back home to live with his mother again. She was not thrilled too see Joseph back at home again. So she worked hard to get him a position working as a servant in the nearby Franciscan monastery.

The monks at the monastery made him work hard. They made Joseph live their lifestyle, and take care of the monastery. He also had to tend to the animals that were kept in the stable outside. All the hard work proved good for Joseph because he lost his temper and really calmed down.

One day the Franciscan's decided that Joseph would be allowed to join as a true member after showing them all he was a changed man. Joseph was very excited to hear the news, and began studying to become a priest.

Saint Joseph would be made into a deacon at first because he still had trouble studying and knowing all the different things he should to be a priest. Eventually Joseph would know enough to become ordained a priest.

Saint Joseph began to perform miracles because of his extreme closeness with God. Joseph converted many to the Christian faith, and advised any others that needed help. On September 18, 1663 Saint Joseph of Cupertino passed away. He is remembered as the patron saint of astronauts and aviation.

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Monday, December 14, 2009
Saint Josemaría Escrivá was born on January 9, 1902. His parents raised him, his sister, and his brother in Barbastro, Spain and always taught their children to be followers of the Catholic religion.

Saint Josemaría Escrivá and his family had to move to the town of Logrono when he was just a teenager. This was due to his father's need for a new job. Around this time in Josemaría's life was when he realized that God intended for him to lead a religious life.

After he came to terms with his realization he decided that he had to become a priest. He also took up studies at a local university, at his father's advice. Josemaría took the place of head of his family after his father passed away in 1924. The next year was when Saint Josemaría Escrivá was ordained a priest.

Josemaría took over a local parish and began his life as a priest. A few years later, he decided to move to Madrid and work on another degree, this time in the field of law. In Madrid, Josemaría realized what God had been intending for him to do with his life. Saint Josemaría founded the Opus Dei.

When civil war broke out in Spain, Josemaría was forced to leave. He came back after the war was to continue his work with Opus Dei, and continue earning his degree.

Josemaría was not content with his two degrees, so he moved to Rome in 1946. He was appointed as a consult to several Vatican Congregations, while he gained a degree in theology. Saint Josemaría traveled often at this point in his life. He was often traveling in attempts to expand the Opus Dei and it's works. He went to Britain, Ireland, Portugal, South America, and Mexico, and saw great success from his efforts.

Saint Josemaría Escrivá passed away on June 26, 1975 in Rome. Pope John Paul II canonized Josemaría a saint on October 6, 2002, and his feast falls on June 26th each year.

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Sunday, December 13, 2009
Saint John Vianney was born on May 8, 1786 in the town of Dardilly, France. Saint John Vianney grew up working on a farm. He tended to the animals and worked in the fields harvesting. He is known for teaching children prayers in the field while he worked.

Saint John really wanted to become a priest, but he had trouble learning the required materials first. He struggled because the classes he had to take were in Latin, which he knew little of. He asked God for guidance through the process of becoming a priest because he knew it was exactly what he wanted to do with his life. God made sure Saint John Vianney made it through the process, and this is why he is known as the patron saint of parish priests now.

Saint John's first position was as a parish priest in Ecully. This wouldn't last for long though, John would soon be relocated to Ars. This parish was struggling to get people out at mass on a regular basis. John realized the problem and started to travel around the parish visiting those to too poor or sick to make it to mass all the time. Saint John loved his parishioners, and prayed for them whenever he had a spare moment.

It is said that since Saint John was such a good person, the devil hated him. John traveled all around his parish and made sure he saved the souls of his church members. This angered the devil and the devil's retaliation was to keep John from sleep at night.

When there was a large rush of immigration to Ars, Saint John made it his personal job to try and meet the newcomers. He would invite them out to mass, and he saw great results from his efforts. John spent countless hours each day attempting to hear the highest amount of confessions that he could.

Saint John Vianney passed away, due to natural causes, in August of 1859. Pope Pius XI canonized John a saint in 1925. His feast day falls on August 4th each year.

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Friday, December 11, 2009
Saint John Neumann was born on March 28, 1811 in Bohemia. He was brought up in a wealthy family who wanted the best for John. They sent him to private school until he chose to leave school to live life in a seminary in 1831.

Saint John Neumann really wanted to become a priest, and was ready to in the year 1835. However, Bohemia had too many priests at the time and the bishop there told everybody that ordination of new priests would be put on hold for a while. Saint John Neumann was crushed by this, but he didn't let his dream of becoming a priest die.

John's only option seemed to be going to America to be a priest. So he worked a job in a factory for many months because the employees there spoke good English. He picked up the language from them, and then got in contact with American bishops. Eventually, a bishop in New York contacted John about being ordained a priest.

New York was in dire need of priests at that time, so John's help was greatly appreciated by the bishop. John spent most of his time as bishop traveling. He had a large parish so in order to make sure everybody was content he would travel all over to give Mass.

John wanted to belong to something more in the Church so he chose to join the congregation known as the Redemptorists. Shortly after he joined the Redemptorists, John was given the position of bishop in Philadelphia. He worked hard to improve the Catholic schools in his diocese.

Saint John Neumann cared very much about his diocese and the happiness of it's members. When immigration was at a high point, John learned many different languages so that he could converse with immigrants and make them all feel more at home. They appreciated this and loved Saint John very much for it.

Saint John passed away in 1860 on January 5th in Philadelphia. He was canonized in 1977 by Pope Paul VI. His feast day falls on January 5th each year.

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Thursday, December 10, 2009
Saint John Licci was born in the year 1400 in Caccamo, which is in Italy. Saint John Licci came from a very poor family. His mother died giving birth to him, and his father was required to work in the fields all day and had very limited time to raise John. Saint John Licci is now know as the patron saint of anybody with a head injury.

When John was a baby, one of his neighbor's heard him crying from inside his home. The neighbor traveled down to John's home and went to see what was bothering John. She decided that he probably needed food, so she brought him back to her house. When she put John down on a bed in her house next to her husband, he was cured on the spot of his terrible paralysis.

John was told by many that he should really enter into some type of religious order. John took that advice and decided to become a Dominican. He would remain in this order for his entire life, which was extraordinarily long.

Saint John had always wanted to see a convent built in Caccamo. So once he became a priest, he did just that. As story tells it, the creation of the convent in Caccamo should have been a failure, but Saint John Licci performed many miracles to save it.

One day John and a few of his fellow Dominicans were ambushed by thieves while traveling. One of the men tried to attack Saint John, but his hand was unable to move. The thieves decided they were not going to mess with Saint John and his friends after that. They asked for forgiveness from the men, so Saint John Licci blessed them. After this the man whose hand had become paralyzed was instantly healed.

Saint John lived an extremely long life. He passed away due to natural causes in November of 1511.

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Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Saint John of God was born March 8, 1495 in Portugal. His family had once been a well respected family of the country, but had fallen onto poor fortunes and was suffering at his time of birth. Saint John of God and his family were all extremely faithful to God though. His father joined a monastery after his mother's passing when John was still very young. Due to works later in Saint John of God's life, he is remembered as the patron saint of firefighters.

When John was old enough to hold a job, he worked in his father's fields as a shepard. His father was very proud of John and his dedication and care for his work. John was given an offer by a local farmer to marry his daughter. This would have given John the rights to the property of that farmer. Saint John wished to devote himself to God though, so he declined the offer of marriage.

Saint John moved to Spain at this point and served in the military there. Once the war was finished, John began working on his writing and spreading the word of God through print. The newly invented printing press helped him do this.

Saint John had a great realization of what he should be doing with his life during Mass one day. Saint John of Avila was preaching and he realized he was meant to help the poor. John lost his mind after this Mass though. His madness is said to have been brought on by God. The people in town were frightened of John, so they had him sent to a mental institution.

Saint John of Avila heard of John's troubles and came to see him in the mental institution. After a long talk with John of Avila, he came back to his senses. Saint John made his point clear to John of Avila, which was that his life was to be dedicated to helping the poor from that point forward.

Saint John of God moved to Grenada, Spain after his release from the mental hospital. He spent all of his time and efforts helping the poorest people in the city. Saint John gained many other followers who wished to do the same as him, so he organized them into an order. He named the order the Order of Hospitallers.

Saint John passed away in March of 1550 at the age of fifty five. In 1690, John was canonized a saint by Pope Alexander VIII. His feast day falls on March 8th each year.

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Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Saint John of the Cross was born on June 24, 1542 in Fontiveros, Spain. John's father was a very wealthy man with a high status in society. He sacrificed this high position because he fell in love with John's mother. This sacrificed his position because John's mother was from a poor family of weavers. However John's father loved her very much and was more than willing to give up his prestige in the eyes of others to gain the love of his life. This resulted in John's father being disowned by his own family.

John's father passed away while John was still just a young boy. This left Saint John of the Cross and his mother to live on the streets in poverty. Saint John and his mother both tried desperately to find a job to earn money, but their attempts failed. This is why anybody suffering or in need of a job should pray to Saint John of the Cross, for he is their patron saint.

Eventually John and his mother would find work. However neither of them were earning enough to provide ample food supply for the two of them. This meant that most nights John would go hungry because his mother was much more important to him than he was to himself. Saint John of the Cross worked at a center for people with terrible diseases and mental issues. This job really taught him to rely on God to provide joy in his life. John put his faith completely in God at this point in his life.

Saint John of the Cross then decided to join a religious society called the Carmelite Order. The order's leader, Saint Teresa of Avila, required Saint John's help. She wanted to return the order to the way it had used to be, which meant that it's members would spend many hours a day in prayer.

Other members of the Carmelite Order resented Saint Teresa and Saint John's efforts. They took matters into their own hands and took Saint John from his home while he slept one day.

The cell that Saint John was placed in by his captors was extraordinarily small. There was no daylight in the cell and John was brutally beaten three times a week. Saint John of the Cross never lost faith while in the cell though. In fact he became even more spiritual during this time.

Saint John would find a way to escape from his cell one day by unscrewing the gate and waiting until the guards were asleep to sneak out. He proceeded to climb out of a window, but when he reached the ground he realized that he had absolutely no clue where he was. A local dog walked by Saint John and John chose to follow the dog back to wherever it was going.

He followed the dog to a small town and found a convent. He explained his story to the nuns there and they let him stay there with them. Saint John shared with them his wonderful outlooks on life and his beautiful poetry. Saint John would pass away on December 14, 1591 due to an illness. His poetry was finally shared with the world when it was published around the year 1618. Pope Benedict XIII canonized Saint John of the Cross in 1726, and his feast day falls on November 24th each year.

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Sunday, December 6, 2009
Saint John was born in the year 344 in the town of Antioch. His mother's name was Anthusa and she was not Christian, and his father served in the military. His father passed away when he was still quite young. Anthusa took over all the duties of raising Saint John Chrysostom. Saint John Chrysostom is known as the patron saint of education because he valued his education very much when he was young. His first teacher was Libanius, who was a very well known preacher of that time.

Saint John Chrysostom chose to live as a hermit when he was finished with his education. He remained in the mountainous region just outside of Antioch for twelve years.

John's health was not so great after spending so many years living in the wild, so he came back to civilization when it became too much to handle. John rested and was nursed back to health upon his return to Antioch, and was promptly ordained a priest once his health allowed it.

Saint John was given a high position in Constantinople after many years as a priest. He did great things for the Church while he was in this position, but that was unfortunately not very long.

Saint John had many people who disapproved of the life John had lead. A group of these people ganged up on John and got him kicked off the council and banished.

While Saint John Chrysostom was in exile, he realized that he had done no wrong. This brought solace to John and allowed him to become much more religious and spiritual than ever before.

John's enemies who had him banished got word that Saint John was not upset with his punishment at all. This angered them all greatly, and they attempted to have John banished further away. They were successful in their attempts and John was forced to move to the city of Pythius, which was very far from Antioch.

Saint John Chrysostom would pass away before he could ever reach Pythius. His actual date of death is September 14, 407. His feast day falls on September 13th each year.

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Saturday, December 5, 2009
Saint John of Capistrano was born on June 24, 1386 in Naples, Italy. Early on in John's childhood, his father passed away. This event was hard for John to get through, but it made him a much stronger person overall. Saint John of Capistrano attended the University of Perugia, and used his education to become a lawyer. This is why Saint John of Capistrano is remembered as the patron saint of jurists. When Perugia's governor wished to step down from his position, John was chosen to be his replacement.

When war seemed eminent between Malatesta and Perugia, John put forth a valiant effort at keeping the peace. His efforts would fail though and he would be thrown in jail by enemies.

John's enemies were not in a hurry to set him free. He realized that the salvation of his soul was more important than anything else.

John was held in prison for many years, he was not released until age 30. After having plenty of time to contemplate what he would do with his life while in prison, John made up his mind that he wanted to join a religious society. John chose to become a Franciscan friar.

John would live life in a monastery for a few years before deciding he wished to be a priest. Once John was a priest he went all over preaching. He would continue his preaching and traveling for forty years.

The Turks took over the European continent and attempted to wipe out Christianity. Pope Callistus II told John to visit all the Christian countries and speak to their leaders of fighting to defend Christianity. John rounded up a gigantic army of 70,000 men.

Saint John got all the soldiers fired up to be in battle, and even when things were looking grim he kept their spirits high. Although they were greatly outnumbered by the Turks, they would win the battle.

After the battle, Saint John would pass away on October 23, 1456. His feast day falls on that same day each year.


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Thursday, December 3, 2009
Saint John Bosco was born in the year 1815 in Italy. His family owned a tiny farm and house and that is where Saint John Bosco was brought up. When John was just two years old his father passed away. John's two brothers and their mother had to take over the farm to be able to live. This was their only source of income. Saint John always entertained his family and friends because he took joy in seeing others happy, especially children as he grew older. This is why Saint John Bosco is remembered as the patron saint of children.

John was always taught to be very religious, and he prayed often. As he came of age, John pondered the idea of being ordained a priest. John's family simply didn't have the funds to send him to school though, so this seemed like something John would just have to put off.

However a local priest realized how smart John was one day, and began to tutor him when he learned of his family's financial woes. John began doing many different small jobs for people around town to earn extra money. He eventually gained enough to be able to afford schooling.

In 1841, Saint John Bosco was ordained a priest. After a few positions as assistant to older priests, John realized that he really wanted to run his own school. John founded his first oratory named Saint Francis de Sales. So many parents enrolled their sons into his school that they had to create two other oratories to fit all of them!

Saint John Bosco also had always dreamed of creating his own order and gathering men who saw eye to eye with his morals and views to join. With the help of Rattazzi, he would found the the Society of Saint Francis de Sales, or the Salesians.

On January 31, 1888 Saint John Bosco passed away at the age of 72. Pope Pius XI canonized him a saint in the year 1934, and his feast day falls on January 31st each year.

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