Author name: Fr Terence Spiteri

Persecutions do not only create martyrs but many times create “soldiers of Christ”. Such was Thomas Jihyoe, a Japanese Augustinian, who was a Christian soldier during the persecution against Christians of the seventeenth century. For five years he evaded the Emperor’s soldiers who were seeking him because he was a catholic priest. He was born at Omura near Nagasaki around 1600. His parents, teachers of religion, both died martyrs for

He was born on 17 January 1355, son of Simpliciano Migliorati who was a farmer. The holiness of St. Nicholas of Tolentino, who died in 1305, led him to join the Augustinians of his locality where he received his priestly ordination. For twelve years he lived at Tolentino, and for a time at Bari from where, in the beginning of the fifteenth centure, he returned to Amandola (Ascoli Piceno). Here

Gulia was born in Tuscany near Certaldo around 1320 in a noble family that became poor. She was orphaned at a young age and started working for a family at Tinolfi, near Florence where she came across the Augustinians and their holiness. When she was not even twenty years of age she joined the Augustinian laity. Later she felt a desire to lead a life without vanity and, in the

He was born in Furci (Abruzzo) in 1246, a son of wealthy parents who could not have children. According to the tradition as recounted in the story of his life, he was born through the intercession of St. Muchael the Archangel after his parents went on a pilgrimage to his sanctuary near Gargano. At his baptism he was given the name Angelo which he retained even when he became a

  Christina was named Mattia Ciccarelli. She was the daughter of Domenico and Maria di Pericolo at Colle dei Lucoli (Aquila) and was born on 24 February 1480, the last of six children. From an early age she was full of the virtues of obedience, humility, serenity and she was totally dedicated to prayer to which she devoted the entire day in a corner of the family home in front

What we know regarding Veronica is that she was born in 1445 in Binasco, in the province of Milan, within a family of farmers and that she was God fearing. However, her mother was so poor that she was unable to give her even a little schooling. At 22 years of age “after many requests she managed to wear the habit of St. Augustine” as a lay member of the

Although the year of her birth is unknown, we know that Oringa Menabuoi was born in the village of Santa Croce on the river Arno, close to the town of Pistoia, Italy. According to some historical sources, it is most probable that she was born towards the end of the 30th year of the 13th century. The background of this blessed person follows the traditional ways of those times, when

In 1451 Cherubino was born into the noble Testa family of Avigliana (Turin). From his early life he was inclined towards a religious life and he joined the Hermits of St. Augustine at the convent established by Blessed Adrian Berzetta from Buronzo. There he led a life free of vanity but full of mortifications and holiness, always ready to obey and to be of help. He was known for his

Towards the end of the thirties of the XX century Spain went through a turbulent period of great political upheavals. The so-called “Spanish Civil War” were bloody years when hatred towards co-nationals resulted in the death of thousands of Spanish citizens. The Church found itself in the midst of this turmoil and, notwithstanding its traditions of being a secular presence on Spanish soil, with a great number of saints who