Pope Celestine V, born Pietro Angelerio, also known as Pietro da Morrone, Peter of Morrone, and Peter Celestine, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States for five months from 5 July to 13 December 1294, when he resigned. He was also a monk and hermit who founded the order of the Celestines as a branch of the Benedictine order.
Bernardo Tolomei was an Italian Roman Catholic theologian and the founder of the Congregation of the Blessed Virgin of Monte Oliveto. In the Roman Martyrology he is commemorated on August 20, but in the Benedictine calendar his optional memorial is celebrated on the previous day.
Paul of Thebes, commonly known as Paul the First Hermit or Paul the Anchorite, was an Egyptian saint regarded as the first Christian hermit, who was claimed to have lived alone in the desert of Thebes, Egypt from the age of sixteen to the age of one hundred and thirteen years old. He is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, and Oriental Orthodox Churches.
Blessed Gerard, first known 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.
Conrad of Piacenza, T.O.S.F., was an Italian penitent and hermit of the Third Order of St. Francis, who is venerated as a saint.
Confraternities of the Cord are pious associations of Christians, the members of which wear a cord, girdle or cincture in honour of a saint, to keep in mind some special grace or favour which they hope to obtain through his/her intercession.
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 as second wife his niece 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.
Giovanni Gualberto was an Italian Roman Catholic abbot and the founder of the Vallumbrosan Order. Born into a noble family, Gualberto was a predictably vain individual who sought pleasure in vanities and romantic intrigues. When his older brother Ugo was murdered, Gualberto set out for revenge. He found the murderer in Florence, but as it was Good Friday, granted the killer's plea for mercy. Soon after Gualberto became a member of the Order of Saint Benedict though he left in order to found his own congregation. He condemned nepotism and all simoniacal actions and was known for the pureness and meekness of his faith. Even popes held him in high esteem.
Umiliana de' Cerchi was an Italian Roman Catholic widow and later a professed member of the Third Order of Saint Francis. She came from a prominent house of merchants and was married in her mid-adolescence as part of a political alliance that her ambitious father had engineered though her husband later died and she fled to become a Franciscan after her father pressured her into accepting a second marriage.
Gundisalvus of Amarante was a Portuguese Catholic priest and a professed member from 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 to Jerusalem. He became noted as a wonderworker who made miracles occur and he was known for his solitude and silence in reflection in order to better achieve communication with God.
Ludwika Szczęsna was a Polish Roman Catholic nun and was also the co-founder of the Sister Servants of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus which she established with Józef Sebastian Pelczar. She took the name of "Klara" when she became a nun.
Pietro Gambacorta was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and the co-founder of the Poor Hermits of St. Jerome. He was a professed religious from the Third Order of Saint Francis and co-founded his order in Rome alongside Nicola da Forca Palena.
Manuela de Jesús Arias Espinosa, also known by her religious name María Inés Teresa of the Blessed Sacrament, was a Mexican Roman Catholic professed religious and the founder of both the Poor Clare Missionary Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (1945) and the Missionaries of Christ for the Universal Church (1979). She lived during the time of the Cristero War and remained out of the nation during some of it in order to avoid the anti-religious persecution of the times.
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.
Benincasa da Montepulciano was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious from the Servite Order. He lived as a hermit in Siena his entire life since he joined the order as a teenager and dedicated himself to a quiet life of servitude to God in contemplation despite still receiving visitors and orders from his superiors.
Bonaventura Tornielli was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member from the Servite Order. Tornielli was born into a noble household and was a noted preacher in which he visited numerous Italian cities such as Florence and Perugia - Pope Sixtus IV held him in high esteem and even named him the "Apostolic Preacher". He also held various positions of leadership within his order.
The Martyrs of Tlaxcala were three Mexican Roman Catholic teenagers from the state of Tlaxcala: Cristobal (1514/15–1527) and the two companions Antonio (1516/17–1529) and Juan (1516/17–1529). The three Teenagers were converts from the indigenous traditions of their families to the Roman Catholic faith and received their educations from the Order of Friars Minor who baptized them and evangelized in the area. Their activism and evangelical zeal led to their deaths at the hands of those who detested their newfound faith and perceived them as dangers to their values and rituals.
