As a young man, St. Abraham, who was born near Edessa in present-day Syria, felt irresistibly drawn to a life of prayer.

But he remained always a missionary

Villana soon became a Third Order Dominican, maintaining her married life while devoting what time she could to prayer and sacred reading.

During this time, he achieved both notoriety and literary fame through the publication of religious poems and a number of tracts defending the loyalty of his fellow Catholics.

“These martyrs were baptized not only in water and the Spirit, but also in blood, with a blood that is a seed of unity for all followers of Christ.”

St. Scholastica was the twin sister of St. Benedict, founder of Western monasticism.

He is particularly remembered for having demonstrated the practical power of nonviolent action, not simply as a moral code for the individual, but as a practical instrument of social change.

Stunned by these words, Satoko determined to become one with the ragpickers, living among them and joining them in begging for trash.

St. Prisca was one of a number of women who played prominent roles in the early Church—not simply as “helpers” to the male apostles but as evangelists and Church administrators in their own right.

The Italian scientist Galileo achieved his original fame through his invention of one of the early thermometers, his experiments in physics, and his refinement of the telescope.