St. Bernadette Soubirous - April 16
At the age of 14, St. Bernadette (1844-1879) was living in abject poverty with her family in a one-room basement which had previously been used as a jail, in the town of Lourdes in southern France. She was a sickly child, having fallen victim to Cholera in 1854 and would battle asthma and tuberculosis for the rest of her short life. Bernadette was illiterate and is characterized in many accounts as sslow or ignorant. It was in her 14th year that Bernadette was granted 18 visions of a "Lady" at a grotto in Massabielle. The Lady instructed Bernadette to come daily to the grotto to receive the visions, eventually proclaiming "I am the Immaculate Conception." A spring at the grotto, which appeared where Bernadette was instructed to dig, has been a site of miraculous healing. The Lady also asked that a chapel be built in the grotto for pilgrims. Today the Marian shrine at Lourdes is one of the world's most popular.
During and following the period of visions, the saint was examined rigorously by Church and local authorities. The popular excitement around the visions left her subject to persistent questioning and attention. Eventually, she sought protection by retiring to a home for the poor in a nunnery. She took her vows in 1866 with the Sisters of Charity at Nevers. She worked as an infirmary assistant and later a sacristan, but by the end of her life she was too sick to participate in covent life. She died at the age of 35, humble and pentitent until the end. - LPI
St. Damien de Veuster of Moloka'l - May 10
People may be familiar with leprosy from Biblical times, but not so much in the 1800s. However, St. Damien (January 3, 1840-April 15, 1889) would eventually shed light on the effects of this devastating disease and allow people to see those afflicted with it with more compassion and love.
Born Joseph de Veuster in Temelo, Belgium, he quit school at 13 so he could work on the family farm. Feeling called for more, owever, he entered the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and six years later, he took the name of a fourth-century physician and martyr. His brother, a priest from the same congregation, fell ill and was unable to go to his assigned location. Damien quickly volunteered in his place and found himself on the Hawaiian Islands in 1864. Two months after arriving, he was ordained a priest of Honolulu and assigned to the Island of Hawaii.
In 1873 he visited the Hawaiian government's leper colony on the island of Moloka'l, where he petitioned to stay permanently to care for their physical, medical and spiritual needs. After yeaars of working to improve their location and those who lived there, he contract Hansen's disease and died of its complications. St. Damien was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 11, 2009. - LPI
St. Mary Ann of Jesus of Paredes - May 26
Though she lived a short life compared to others, St. Mary Ann of Jesus of Paredes (October 31, 1618-May 26, 1645) had a huge impact on those she served in the name of God.
The youngest of eight children, she was born in Ecuador, which at the time was under Spanish control. After joining the Secular Franciscans, St. Mary Ann of Paredes led a life of prayer and penance at home, leaving her parents' home only to attend Mass and perform works of charity whenever she was needed.
During her life, she established a clinic and school for Africans and indigenous Americans. When a plague broke out, she stayed back to nurse the sick, but unfortunately died shortly after. She was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1950. - LPI