Xavier University in Cincinnati was the first Catholic institution of higher learning in the Northwest Territory, is the fourth oldest Jesuit University and sixth oldest Catholic university in the United States. The school was founded in 1831 as a men’s college in downtown Cincinnati, adjacent to St. Francis Xavier Church on Sycamore Street. The Athenaeum, as it was then called, was dedicated to the patronage of Saint Francis Xavier by Bishop Edward Fenwick. Upon Bishop John Baptist Purcell‘s request, the... Read more

François-Isidore Gagelin was a French missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society in Vietnam. He died a martyr, and became the first French martyr of the 19th century in Vietnam. He was born in Montperreux, Doubs. He left for Vietnam in 1821. In 1826, when Emperor Minh Mang ordered all missionaries to gather at the capital Hue, he fled to the south to Dong Nai in Cochinchina. He was captured once and released. On 6 January 1833, a new edict... Read more

Mother Mary Odilia Berger (seen center) founded the Sisters of St. Mary, which became the Franciscan Sisters of Mary, which established hospitals throughout the Midwest. Her baptismal name was Anna Katherine Berger. She was born in Regen, Bavaria In 1858 she joined the Poor Franciscans of Pirmasens, founded by Father (Dr.) Paul Joseph Nardini (scheduled to be beatified this year) and was sent to Paris. In 1866 she co-founded the Sister Servants of the Sacred Heart in Paris with Father... Read more

Thou art the Good Shepherd; seek me, a lamb, and do not overlook me in my wanderings.Byzantine Triodion, Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete (8th Cent.) Read more

St. Teresa of Avila, a 1983 Spanish miniseries on the life of the great saint, is now available on DVD. With English subtitles, this is a beautiful production that is very faithful to the saint’s story. Worth a look! Read more

Educated by the Ursulines in Quebec, she returned home at age 13 to help her mother raise her younger siblings, and to teach them what she’d learned. After the famiy moved to Montreal,. Marguerite married François de Youville, and the couple lived with his mother. François proved to be a negligent, adulterous bootlegger. Marguerite was mother of six children, four of whom died in infancy; both surviving sons became priests. Widowed in 1730 at age 28, she opened small store.... Read more

Born in France, she studied with the Poor Clares. In 1671 she entered the Visitation convent at Paray-le-Monial. From age twenty she experienced visions of Christ. In 1673 she experienced a series of revelations that lasted for eighteen months. In these, Christ told her that she was to be the means of spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart. Rebuffed by her superior, she eventually won her over but was unable to convince a group of theologians. She received the support... Read more

Born in Seneca, Illinois, John Tracy Ellis attended St. Viator College before receiving a doctorate from Catholic University at age 25. After teaching history for a few years, he entered the seminary and was ordained a priest in 1938. In 1941, he became editor of the Catholic Historical Review, the premier journal in the field. At first his specialty was Medieval history, but in 1941 the university rector, Bishop Joseph Corrigan, asked him to take over a course in American... Read more

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My Jesus, let me live in your heart and pour all my bitterness into it where it will be utterly consumed.St. Claude de la Colombiere Read more