Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi, was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianity. He was inspired to lead a life of poverty and itinerant preaching. Pope Gregory IX canonized him on 16 July 1228. He is usually depicted in a robe with a rope as belt.
Giles of Assisi, was one of the original companions of Francis of Assisi and holds a leading place among them. St. Francis called him "The Knight of our Round Table".
Umiliana de' Cerchi was an Italian Roman Catholic widow and later a professed member of the Third Order of Saint Francis. She came from the Cerchi family, prominent 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.
Szymon of Lipnica was a Polish Roman Catholic priest and a professed member from the Order of Friars Minor. He became a sought after and noted preacher and took as his preaching inspiration Saint Bernardine of Siena and also was a strong proponent of popular devotions that he worked to spread.
Francesco da Fabriano - born Francesco Venimbeni - was an Italian Roman Catholic professed member from the Order of Friars Minor. He was a noted writer on various theological and biblical matters and was known for his great breadth of theological knowledge that characterized his religious life.
Amato Ronconi was an Italian Catholic who became a professed member of the Secular Franciscan Order. Ronconi lived a life of penitence and dedicated all his works to the poor through the construction of chapels and hospitals – one such hospital still exists in his home of Rimini. His good deeds never went unnoticed for the townspeople hailed Ronconi as a saint in their midst even in the face of a slanderous accusation a jealous sister-in-law spread.
The Three Martyrs of Chimbote were a group of two Polish Franciscan priests and one Italian missionary priest murdered in Peru in 1991 by the Shining Path communist guerillas. Michał Tomaszek and Zbigniew Adam Strzałkowski, and Alessandro Dordi were murdered on 9 August and 25 August 1991 respectively.
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.
Leopoldo da Gaiche, born Giovanni Croci, was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Order of Friars Minor who became well known for wearing a crown of thorns. He was a preacher who went from diocese to diocese and served in a position of power in the Franciscan order in the Umbrian region in which he pushed for strong adherence to the Rule of Saint Francis of Assisi. He has been called the "Apostle of Umbria".
Jakub Strzemię was a Polish Roman Catholic archbishop and a professed member of the Order of Friars Minor. He served as the Archbishop of Halicz from 1392 until his death when the archdiocese was incorporated into that of the Archdiocese of Lviv.
Elisabetta Vendramini was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious who established the Franciscan Elizabethan Sisters in 1830 in Padua. She relocated there after she broke off her engagement to a man from Ferrara.
Francesco Lippi was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious from the Carmelites. He lived his life as a soldier before suffering the loss of sight at which point his healing led him down the path of repentance and into the Carmelites.
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.
Antonio Patrizi was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Order of Saint Augustine. Patrizi joined the order in Lecceto and lived as a hermit prior to his sudden death while visiting his friend at another convent.
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.
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.
Giovanni da Penna was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Order of Friars Minor. He became a Franciscan in 1213 after hearing Fra Filippo - one of the disciples of Francis of Assisi - preach. He spent over two decades in France where he oversaw the establishment of Franciscan houses before returning to the Italian peninsula where he served his life in quiet cloistered retirement.
Antonio da Stroncone was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious from the Order of Friars Minor. He became a member of that order in his late childhood after cultivating a strong devotion to Francis of Assisi during his childhood with his parents who were also Franciscans.
Nicola da Forca Palena was an Italian Roman Catholic professed member of the Third Order of Saint Francis and the co-founder of the Poor Hermits of Saint Jerome - founded alongside Blessed Pietro Gambacorta. He established the Sant'Onofrio church in Rome where he was later buried. He became a friend to both Pope Eugene IV and Pope Nicholas V.
Gabriel Ferretti was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member from the Order of Friars Minor. He was an ancestor to both Cardinal Gabriele Ferretti and Pope Pius IX having been descended from a long noble lineage. Ferretti entered the religious life after becoming of age and soon after his ordination held two important leadership positions in the order. He set about restoring run down Franciscan convents in the region as well as seeing to the establishment of new ones to deal with an influx of new novices.
