CredoCatholica

Reference Library

Catholic Saints & Hagiography

A canonical reference repository of holy men and women who witnessed to Jesus Christ through heroic virtue, martyrdom, and dedicated vocations.

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SAINTFeast: Oct 22

Saint John Paul II

264th Successor of Peter, Champion of Youth, and Author of Theology of the Body

Saint John Paul II (Karol Józef Wojtyła) (1920–2005) was Pope from 1978 to 2005, the first non-Italian pontiff in 455 years and one of the most influential leaders of modern history. Born in Wadowice, Poland, Wojtyła lived through Nazi occupation and Communist rule, ordained priest in 1946 and consecrated Archbishop of Kraków. His 26-year pontificate was marked by 104 international pastoral trips, the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the articulation of the Theology of the Body, and the launch of World Youth Day. He survived an assassination attempt in Saint Peter's Square in 1981, forgiving his shooter. John Paul II played a decisive role in the peaceful fall of Communism in Eastern Europe and canonized 482 saints. He was canonized by Pope Francis in 2014.

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SAINTFeast: Sep 23

Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio)

Capuchin Priest, Stigmatist, Confessor, and Mystic

Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (1887–1968), affectionately known as Padre Pio, was an Italian Capuchin Franciscan priest, mystic, and stigmatist. Living at the friary of San Giovanni Rotondo, Padre Pio received the visible Stigmata of Christ in 1918, which he bore continuously for fifty years. Padre Pio possessed extraordinary spiritual gifts including bilocation, reading of souls in confession, prophetic insight, and miraculous healings. He spent up to sixteen hours a day hearing confessions, bringing countless souls to repentance and conversion. He founded the "Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza" (Home for the Relief of Suffering), a world-class hospital in San Giovanni Rotondo, and exhorted believers: "Pray, hope, and don't worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer."

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SAINTFeast: Oct 1

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

The Little Flower, Carmelite Nun, and Patroness of Missions

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (1873–1897), known as the "Little Flower of Jesus," was a French Discalced Carmelite nun and Doctor of the Church. Entering the Lisieux Carmel at age fifteen with special papal permission from Pope Leo XIII, Thérèse lived a quiet monastic life of nine years characterized by her "Little Way" of spiritual childhood. Her spiritual doctrine teaches that sanctity consists not in extraordinary deeds, but in doing ordinary daily tasks with extraordinary love and total childlike trust in God's merciful fatherhood. Her spiritual autobiography, Story of a Soul, touched millions across the globe. Before dying of tuberculosis at age twenty-four, she promised: "I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth. I will let fall a shower of roses." Pope John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Church in 1997.

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