Saint Valentine was a 3rd-century Roman saint, commemorated in Western Christianity on February 14 and in Eastern Orthodoxy on July 6. From the High Middle Ages, his feast day has been associated with a tradition of courtly love. He is also a patron saint of Terni, epilepsy and beekeepers. Saint Valentine was a clergyman – either a priest or a bishop – in the Roman Empire who ministered to persecuted Christians. He was martyred and his body buried on the Via Flaminia on February 14, which has been observed as the Feast of Saint Valentine since at least the eighth century.
John Vianney was a French Catholic priest often referred to as the Curé d'Ars. He is known for his priestly and pastoral work in his parish in Ars, France, resulting in the radical spiritual transformation of the community and its surroundings.
Charles Eugène, vicomte de Foucauld de Pontbriand,, commonly known as Charles de Foucauld, was a French soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnographer, Catholic priest and hermit who lived among the Tuareg people in the Sahara in Algeria. He was assassinated in 1916. His inspiration and writings led to the founding of a number of religious communities inspired by his example, such as the Little Brothers of Jesus.
Blessed Gerard Sasso, known also as Gérard de Martigues, was a lay brother in the Benedictine Order who was appointed as rector of the hospice in Jerusalem at Muristan in 1080. In the wake of the success of the First Crusade in 1099, he became the founder of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, also known as the Knights Hospitaller, an organization that received papal recognition in 1113. As such, he was the first Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller.
Nimatullah Kassab, also known as "Al-Hardini" in reference to his birth village, was a Lebanese monk, priest and scholar of the Maronite Church. He has been declared a saint by the Catholic Church.
The beheading of John the Baptist, also known as the decollation of Saint John the Baptist or the beheading of the Forerunner, is a biblical event commemorated as a holy day by various Christian churches. According to the New Testament, Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee under the Roman Empire, had imprisoned John the Baptist because he had publicly reproved Herod for divorcing his first wife and unlawfully taking his sister-in-law as his second wife Herodias. He then ordered him to be killed by beheading.
Mattia Preti was an Italian Baroque artist who worked in Italy and Malta. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Saint John.
Umiliana de' Cerchi was an Italian Roman Catholic widow and a member of the Third Order of Saint Francis.
Silvestro Guzzolini was an Italian Catholic priest and the founder of the Silvestrini. He served as a canon in Osimo but respectful rebukes of his bishop's inappropriate conduct led him to leave for a hermitage before the bishop could strip him of his position. He remained in his hermitage with a determination to found a religious congregation and based it upon the Order of Saint Benedict after having a dream of Benedict of Nursia. His order received papal approval from Pope Innocent IV which allowed his order to expand across Italian cities to a significant degree.
Francesco Spoto was an Italian Catholic priest who served in the missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo and was killed there. He was also a professed member from the Missionary Servants of the Poor.
Zdislava Berka, TOSD was a Czech Dominican tertiary and philanthropist. She was a wife, mother, and one of the earliest lay Dominicans and is regarded a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.
Angelo Paoli, O.Carm – born Francesco – was an Italian Catholic priest and a professed member from the Carmelites. Paoli became known as the "father of the poor" due to his strong charitable outreach, for which he received praise from a number of cardinals and other prelates while living in Rome. This extended to his friend Cardinal Giuseppe Maria Tomasi and to Popes Innocent XII and Clement XI, who both offered him the cardinalate, which he refused.
Gundisalvus of Amarante, OP was a Portuguese religious priest of the Order of Preachers. He became a Dominican friar and hermit after his return from a long pilgrimage that took him to both Rome and Jerusalem. Pope Pius IV beatified Gundisalvus of Amarante in 1561.
Odoardo Focherini was an Italian Roman Catholic journalist. He issued false documents to Jews during World War II in order for them to escape the Nazi regime but was arrested and sent to a concentration camp where he later died. Yad Vashem later recognized him as a Righteous Among the Nations in 1969 for his efforts.
Maria Theresia Bonzel, born Regina Christine Wilhelmine Bonzel, was a German religious sister. She was the founder of the Sisters of Saint Francis of Perpetual Adoration. By the time of her death, the congregation had sisters all over the world, and had established schools, hospitals, and orphanages.
Pie postulatio voluntatis is a papal bull issued on 15 February 1113 by Pope Paschal II, in which the Pope formally recognized the establishment of the Knights Hospitaller and confirmed its independence and sovereignty. Today, the document is preserved at the National Library of Malta in Valletta, Malta.
Giovanni Pelingotto was an Italian Roman Catholic member of the Secular Franciscan Order who hailed from Urbino and lived his life as an almsgiver and hermit. Pelingotto served in his father's business before he quit and provided as much alms as he could provide to the less fortunate in his area. This led him into contact with the Franciscans which served to open him to a greater plane of servitude to God and the poor.
Blessed Marco da Montegallo was an Italian Roman Catholic priest from the Order of Friars Minor. He was born to a nobleman and served as a doctor in Ascoli Piceno before he was pressured into marriage in 1451 - the couple annulled their marriage after both entered the religious life. Father Marco is best known for establishing pawnshops for the poor across various Italian cities and for being a preacher of love.
Giovannangelo Porro was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and hermit who hailed from the Milanese region and was a professed member of the Servites. Porro was born to nobles and became a priest after the death of his father. He remained a hermit in convents in places such as Florence and Milan where he dedicated his life to inward meditation and self-mortification until his death.
Elena Valentinis was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious from the tertiaries of the Order of Saint Augustine. Valentinis was born to nobles and married a knight during her adolescence while mothering six children before she was widowed in 1441. She soon became a professed religious and dedicated herself to austerities and a life of complete penance.
