What is a Saint?
In the Catholic Church, the saints are ordinary people like you and I who made it to heaven. They’ve done nothing that you and I cannot do, if we persevere in following Jesus Christ and living our lives according to His teaching.
Catholic devotion to the saints is nothing more than respect and admiration for the memory of the deceased heroes of the Church. We honor them as men and women of heroic virtue who can serve as our role models. They were no more perfect than are we; but, at the end of their lives – and hopefully, ours – they received from Our Lord his words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
We also ask the saints to intercede for us. Have you ever asked anyone to pray for you when you were having a hard time? That is how Catholics “pray to” the saints – we pray with saints, not to them. As the Letter of James says, “The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.”
Well-known saints like those below often are remembered in a special way on particular days during the year.
January – February – March – April – May – June
July – August – September – October – November – December
This Weeks Saints
October 4
St. Francis of Assisi
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Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
World Day of Migrants and Refugees
Priesthood Sunday
October 5
St. Faustina Kowalska
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October 6
Bl. Marie Rose Durocher
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October 7
Our Lady of the Rosary
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October 8
Marist Martyrs of Barcelona
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October 9
St. John Henry Cardinal Newman
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St Daniel Comboni
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October 4
St. Francis of Assisi
“What do you have to fear? Nothing. Whom do you have to fear? No one. Why? Because whoever has joined forces with God obtains three great privileges: omnipotence without power, intoxication without wine, and life without death.“
St. Francis of Assisi
Francis was the son of Pietro Bernadone, a wealthy merchant. As a youth, he led the town youths in a life of parties, brawling, and other irresponsible actions. While still young, he joined the forces of Assisi in a war against Perugia. He was captured and imprisoned for a year. Returning to Assisi, he renewed his pursuit of martial glory by volunteering for the Fourth Crusade. But, on his way to join the Crusaders, he experienced a dream in which God told him to return home. He did so, but came to be branded as a coward by his fellow townsmen; his father was enraged at the money that was wasted on his being outfitted as a knight.
Francis’s conversion came slowly. One day, while out riding, he encountered a leper. Francis was appalled by the man’s deformity and odor; never the less, he sprang from his horse and gave the leper a kiss of peace. Looking back as he continued his ride, he saw that the leper had disappeared.
He fell into the habit of praying at a crumbling church dedicated to San Damiano. He was before the crucifix and heard Christ tell him, “Francis, repair my church.” Francis leapt into action, stealing a bolt of rich cloth from his fathers’ shop, and selling it – and his horse – in a nearby town. Learning of the theft, his father dragged Francis before the bishop and disowned Francis.
In time Francis came to realize that Christ’s order to repair his church did not refer just to San Damiano but to the entire church on earth. He visited hospitals, served the sick, preached, and begged in the streets. At first scorned and derided, he eventually began to attract those of like mind, whose guidance was found in Christ’s words, “Announce the kingdom! Possess no gold or silver or copper in your purses, no traveling bag, no sandals, no staff” (Luke 9:1-3).
In 1209, he founded the Franciscan order, with the blessing of the Pope, and called on his followers to listen to the words of Christ to “Leave all and follow me.” In 1212 his follower Clare of Assisi became his student, and founded the Poor Clares.
In 1221 he resigned direction of the Franciscans. Three years later, whie praying, he experienced a religious ecstasy in which he received on his own body the five wounds of Christ. He was the first to receive the stigmata, in recognition of his great love for Christ. He died in 1226.
October 5
St. Faustina Kowalska
Newly canonized in 2000, St. Faustina Kowalska, was a Polish nun who was chosen by Jesus to remind the world of the mystery of God’s merciful love.
Helena Kowalska was born into a large, poor Polish family. A call which had been strong since childhood matured into a desire to enter religious life. When her family prevailed on her to remain in the world, our Lord appeared to her to ask her why she made him wait. She left home at once and entered the Sisters of our Lady of Mercy, where she received the name Maria Faustina. With only three years of schooling, Faustina was made a lay sister and assigned to the most humble and menial tasks: cooking, gardening, and tending the door.
However, in 1931, she received extraordinary revelations — or messages — from our Lord Jesus. Jesus asked Sr. Faustina to record these experiences, which she compiled into notebooks. He asked her to foster new devotions to his Divine Mercy, including a feast day and a chaplet of prayer. He also asked her to have a painting done, portraying His message of Divine Mercy.
Three years later, after her assignment to Vilnius, the first artistic rendering of the image was performed under her direction by the artist Eugene Kazimierowski. The two rays issuing from the heart of Jesus are symbolic of the Blood and Water that issued from Jesus when he was pierced on the cross. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls.
Contemplating Christ’s love as expressed in his passion led Faustina to a new understanding of her own capacity to love. She wrote in her Diary, “All my neighbors’ sufferings reverberate in my own heart; I carry their anguish in my heart in such a way that it even physically destroys me. I would like all their sorrow to fall upon me, in order to relieve my neighbor.” In this spirit of offering, Faustina died of tuberculosis at the age of thirty-three.
“O my Lord, inflame my heart with love for You, that my spirit may not grow weary amidst the storms, the sufferings and the trials. You see how weak I am. Love can do all.”
St. Faustina Kowalska
October 9
St. John Henry Cardinal Newman
John Henry Newman (1801–1890) was the oldest of six children, born in London, England. He became a brilliant academic, and extremely influential Oxford scholar. By 1816, Newman became a staunch Calvinist, opposed to Roman Catholicism and the Pope. He was ordained an Anglican priest in 1825, and spent his time writing, teaching, and as the vicar of St. Mary’s University Church.
After 1833, Newman was a prominent member of the Oxford Movement, which emphasized the Church’s debt to the Church Fathers. Historical research made Newman suspect that the Roman Catholic Church was in closer agreement than the Anglican church with the Church that Jesus established. His theological views gradually led him to become unable to remain a Protestant in good faith. He made the decision to convert to Catholicism in 1845, and was ordained a Catholic priest a year later. He was appointed a cardinal in 1879, and chose as his motto “Cor ad cor loquitur”—“Heart speaks to heart.”
John Henry Newman is remembered for his influential writings on theology and philosophy. His theological contributions were tremendous, especially for Catholics and Anglicans who sought to become Catholics in England. He wrote forty books and 21,000 letters, some of which had profound influence on the Second Vatican Council, making him one of the most important theologians of his day. His most famous work is his Apologia pro Vita Sua in which he defends his conversion to the truths of the Catholic Church.
Pope Benedict XVI noted Newman’s emphasis on the vital place of revealed religion in civilized society but also praised his pastoral zeal for the sick, the poor, the bereaved and those in prison. He was declared a Doctor of the Church on November 1, 2025.
“To be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant.”
John Henry Newman