Sigrid Undset, who grew up in Norway, achieved early success with the publication of her first novels.

At nineteen months, Helen Keller suffered a fever that left her blind and deaf.

John of Prado was born to a noble family in Spain. After studies at Salamanca University he became an Observant Franciscan.

Roza Czacka was born to a wealthy family of the Polish aristocracy. Educated at home, she enjoyed every privilege but suffered from failing eyesight.

“I was fearful; I was scared, but . . . I kept going anyway. . .. I say, ‘Well, Lord, if I die, I’m going to die trying; I’m going to die fighting for freedom.’” —Unita Zelma Blackwell

Though in modern times St. Joseph had figured in popular preaching as the ideal “provider and protector” for the Holy Family, now he is remembered also as an emblem of Catholic social teaching on the dignity of work and the rights of working people.

St. Catherine of Siena was one of the greatest saints of a tumultuous era. Like other great mystics, she enjoyed an intimate relationship with Christ.

Stephen Harding, an Englishman, was returning from a pilgrimage to Rome when he came upon a community of monks living an austere life in small huts in Molesme, France.

Though Carson made no explicit reference to faith, she was moved by a deep sense of wonder and respect for the earth and its creatures—and a conviction that humans must not ignore their own fragile bonds with nature.

Marc Chagall was born to a Hasidic Jewish family in a town in Belarus, part of the Russian Empire. Determined to become an artist, he moved to Paris, where his distinctive style drew on various modernist influences.