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The Catholic Church honors St. Bernardine of Siena on May 20. A Franciscan friar and preacher, St. Bernardine is known as “the Apostle of Italy” for his efforts to revive the country's Catholic faith during the 15th century.
Celestine is a saint who will always be remembered for the unique manner in which he was elected Pope, for his spectacular incompetence in that office, and for the distinction of being the first pontiff ever to have resigned.
On May 18, the Catholic Church honors the first “Pope John” in its history. Saint John I was a martyr for the faith, imprisoned and starved to death by a heretical Germanic king during the sixth century.
Pascal was born at Torre-Hermosa, in the Kingdom of Aragon, on May 24, 1540. He was born on the Feast of Pentecost, which in Spain is called "the Pasch of the Holy Ghost", which is why he received the name Pascal. He died at Villa Reale, May 15, 1592, on Whitsunday.
On May 16, the Catholic Church remembers Saint Simon Stock, a twelfth- and thirteenth-century Carmelite monk whose vision of the Virgin Mary is the source of the Brown Scapular devotion.
Isidore was born in 1070 in Madrid, Spain. His family was poor, and he labored as a farmer on the land owned by a rich man named John de Vergas.
Matthias, whose name means “gift of God”, was the disciple chosen to replace Judas as one of the twelve Apostles. The Acts of the Apostles state that he was also one of the 72 disciples that the Lord Jesus sent out to preach the good news.
May 13 is the optional memorial of Our Lady of Fátima, arguably the most prominent approved apparition of the 20th century.
May 13 is the anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady to three shepherd children in the small village of Fatima in Portugal in 1917. She appeared six times to Lucia, 9, and her cousins Francisco, 8, and his sister Jacinta, 6, between May 13, 1917 and October 13, 1917.
On May 12 the Catholic Church honors Saint Epiphanius of Salamis, an early monk, bishop and Church Father known for his extensive learning and defense of Catholic teachings in the fourth century.
St. Ignatius of Laconi was a Capuchin Friar. He was born in 1701 and died in 1781. He was canonized 1951 by Pius XII.
The Catholic Church remembers St. Damien of Molokai on May 10. The Belgian priest sacrificed his life and health to become a spiritual father to the victims of leprosy quarantined on a Hawaiian island.
St. Pachomius can justifiabley be called the founder of cenobitic monasticism, monks who live in community. Even though St. Antony the Great was the first to go into the desert to live a life of seclusion pursuing evangelical perfection, he lived a heremitic life, that is, a primarily solitary life.
Peter was born near Vienne, France in 1102 and died at Bellevaux, France in 1175. He was canonized in 1191.
St. John of Beverley was the Bishop of Hexham, and later of York. He was born in Harpham, Yorkshire, and died in Beverley on May 7, 721.
Evodius was one of the 72 disciples of Christ, and Catholic tradition has always held that he was the first bishop of Antioch after St. Peter. However, we are not sure in what year he assumed the position.
On May 5, Catholics celebrate Saint Hilary of Arles, a fifth-century bishop who gave up wealth and privilege in favor of austerity and sacrifice for the sake of the Church.
Pelagia (originally Margarita) was born as the beautiful daughter of pagan parents, and was said to have caught the eye of the Emperor Diocletian's son.
Philip was born in Bethsaida in Galilee and was one of the 12 Apostles that Jesus called.
Catholics honor St. Athanasius on May 2. The fourth century bishop is known as “the father of orthodoxy” for his absolute dedication to the doctrine of Christ's divinity.