The Catholic Bard presents to you…
SAINTS OF THE AMERICAS
St. Louis Bertrand (1526–1581), Dominican priest (Colombia)
- Declared Venerable: N/A
- Beatified: 19 July 1608 by Pope Paul V
- Canonized: 12 April 1671 by Pope Clement X
Saint Louis Bertrand, a Spanish Dominican friar, lived out his saintly life in Spain. He is a man of contradicting and conflicting personality traits. His demeanor was grave and he lacked a sense of humor but despite that he had a gentle sweet disposition that made him likable to other people. He was no Thomas Aquinas when it came to intellectual gifts but he studied hard nonetheless. Although it is said that “his voice was raucous, his memory treacherous, his carriage without grace”, he became a fervent and quite popular preacher. He became a spiritual counselor to many, including St. Teresa of Ávila.
He ministered to others when a plague broke out in Valencia Spain and was a missionary to the new world, which is why this Spanish man is known as the “Apostle to the Americas”.
St. Philip of Jesus (Felipe of Jesus) (1571–1597), Professed Priest of the Franciscan Friars Minor (Alcantarines); Martyr (Mexico City, Mexico – Nagasaki, Japan) ) was a Novohispanic Catholic missionary
- Declared Venerable: N/A
- Beatified: 14 September 1627 by Pope Urban VIII
- Canonized: 8 June 1862 by Pope Pius IX
St. Philip was a Novohispanic Catholic missionary who became one of the Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan, the first Mexican saint and patron saint of Mexico City.
St. Roque González y de Santa Cruz (1576 – 1628) and Companions, Jesuit priest (Paraguay-Brazil)
- Venerated: January 15, 1933
- Beatified: January 28, 1934
- Canonized: May 16, 1988
St. Roque was a Jesuit priest who was the first missionary among the Guarani people in Paraguay.
St. Martin de Porres (1579–1639), Dominican brother (Peru)
“Everything, even sweeping, scraping vegetables, weeding a garden and waiting on the sick could be a prayer, if it were offered to God.”
― St. Martin De Porres: The Story of the Little Doctor of Lima, Peru
- Declared Venerable: N/A
- Beatified: October 29, 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI
- Canonized: May 6, 1962 by Pope John XXIII
St. Martin de Porres was a Peruvian lay brother of the Dominican Order. He was the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman, Don Juan de Porres, and Ana Velázquez, a freed slave of African and Native descent.He is the patron saint of mixed-race people, barbers, innkeepers, public health workers, and all those seeking racial harmony.
He was noted for his work on behalf of the poor, establishing an orphanage and a children’s hospital. He maintained an austere lifestyle, which included fasting and abstaining from meat. Among the many miracles attributed to him were those of levitation, bilocation, miraculous knowledge, instantaneous cures, and an ability to communicate with animals.
St. Peter Claver (1580–1654), Jesuit priest (Colombia)
“We must speak to them with our hands before we speak to them with our lips.”
- Declared Venerable: N/A
- Beatified: September 21, 1851 by Pope Pius IX
- Canonized: January 15, 1888 by Pope Leo XIII
St. Peter Claver was a Spanish Jesuit priest and missionary born in Verdú (Catalonia, Spain) who, due to his life and work, became the patron saint of slaves, the Republic of Colombia, and ministry to African Americans. During the 40 years of his ministry in the New Kingdom of Granada, it is estimated he personally baptized around 300,000 people (in groups of 10) and heard the confessions of over 5,000 slaves per year. He is also patron saint for seafarers. He is considered a heroic example of what should be the Christian praxis of love and of the exercise of human rights.[2] The Congress of the Republic of Colombia declared September 9 as the Human Rights national Day in his honor.
St. Rose of Lima (1586–1617), lay Dominican (Peru)
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- Declared Venerable: N/A
- Beatified: 15 April 1668 by Pope Clement IX
- Canonized: 12 April 1671 by Pope Clement X
St. Rose was a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic in Lima, Peru, who became known for both her life of severe asceticism and her care of the needy of the city through her own private efforts. A lay member of the Dominican Order, she was declared a saint by the Catholic Church, being the first person born in the Americas to be canonized as such.
Blessed Maria Franziska Schervier (1819–1876), Founder of the Poor Sisters of Saint Francis and the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany – Ohio, USA – North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany)
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- Declared Venerable: 30 January 1969
- Beatified: 28 April 1974 by Pope Paul VI
Blessed Maria was the founder of two religious congregations of religious sisters of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis, both committed to serving the neediest of the poor. One, the Poor Sisters of St. Francis, is based in her native Germany, and the other, the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor, was later formed from its province in the United States.
Jose Gabriel del Rosario Brochero (16 March 1840 – 26 January 1914) (Argentina)
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- Beatified: September 14, 2013, Córdoba, Argentina by Cardinal Angelo Amato
- Canonized: October 16, 2016, Saint Peter’s Square, Vatican City by Pope Francis
St. Jose was a priest who suffered leprosy throughout his life. He is known for his extensive work with the poor and the sick. He became affectionately known as “the Gaucho priest” and the “cowboy priest”.
St. Miguel Febres Cordero (1854–1910), De La Salle Brother (Ecuador)
“The heart is rich when it is content, and it is always content when its desires are fixed on God.”
- Declared Venerable: 16 March 1970
- Beatified: 30 October 1977 by Pope Paul VI
- Canonized: 21 October 1984 by Pope John Paul II
St. Miguel was an Ecuadorian Roman Catholic religious brother. He became a professed member of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, colloquially known as the La Salle Brothers. He assumed the name Miguel upon his admittance into the order.
He resided in his native home of Ecuador for almost four decades where he promoted education and evangelization before he relocated to Spain where he continued to perform his duties for his order. He also became a prolific writer and penned various manuals and odes amongst other publications.
Josep Tristany Pujol (Lluc of Saint Joseph) (1872–1936) and Ricardo Farré Masip (Eduardo of the Child Jesus) (1897–1936), Professed Priests of the Discalced Carmelites (Lleida, Spain – Tucson, Arizona – Barcelona, Spain)
- Declared Venerable: 22 June 2004
- Beatified: 28 October 2007 by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins
The martyrs of the Spanish Civil War are the Catholic Church’s term for the people killed by Republicans during the Spanish Civil War for their faith. More than 6,800 clergy and religious were killed in the Red Terror. As of November 2020, 1,916 Spanish martyrs have been beatified; 11 of them being canonized. For some 2,000 additional martyrs, the beatification process is underway.
Bl. Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez (1891–1927), Professed Priest of the Jesuits; Martyr (Zacatecas – Mexico City, Mexico)
- Declared Venerable: November 10, 1986
- Beatified: September 25, 1988 by Pope John Paul II
Blessed Miquel Pro was a Mexican Jesuit Catholic priest executed under the presidency of Plutarco Elías Calles on charges of bombing and attempted assassination of former Mexican President Álvaro Obregón.
Pro’s arrest, lack of trial, and evidential support gained prominence during the Cristero War. Known for his religious piety and innocence, was a Catholic martyr, killed in odium fidei (in hatred of the faith).
Please Note
The goal in this article was not to deliver an original expose of Saints in the America’s, it was to give you an intro and overview of Saints in the America’s. It was information copied exactly from an already established source that has already said it as exactly and accurately as possible. That source is Wikipedia which I find gives you pretty good info on various topics. Catholic Apologist and Mysterious World podcaster links to Wikipedia articles in his show-notes because he believes it a pretty good source of information. If it’s good enough for Jimmy it’s good enough for me.
Assembling and compiling information is still hard work so the compilation and gathering of information is still totally mine.
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