St. Osanna Andreasi Feast date: Jun 18 St. Osanna was a Dominican tertiary, who spent her adult life serving the poor and the sick and offering spiritual direction to many. However, she was also a mystic and a visionary, eventually bearing the pain and red marks of the stigmata, though not the bleeding.She was born in 1449 to a noble Italian family. Her visions, first of angels and of the Trinity, began at the young age of five. She felt a call to religious life and became a tertiary at 17, having already rejected a marriage arranged by her father.Her visions continued into her adult life, and she often fell into ecstasies. She was also a strong critic of the lack of morality of her day. She died in 1505.

St. Albert Chmielowski Feast date: Jun 17 Founder of the Albertine Brothers and Sisters, and one of the saints who inspired the vocation of the young Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II was born on August 20, 1845 in (near Kraków) as Adam Hilary Bernard Chmielowski. Born into a wealthy and aristocratic family, Adam was the oldest of four children. Actively involved in politics from his youth, Adam lost a leg fighting in an insurrection against Czar Alexander III at age 18. In Krakow, he became a popular artist and his talent in the subject led him to study in Munich and Paris. A kind and compassionate person, Adam was always deeply aware of human suffering, and felt called to help those in need.  Realizing that God was calling Him to a life of service, he returned to Krakow in 1874, determined to dedicate his talents to the glory of God.  Instead of continuing his work as an artist, he decided to care for the poor and became a Secular Franciscan, taking the name Albert.  In 1887, Albert founded the Brothers of the Third Order of Saint Francis, Servants of the Poor, known as the Albertines or the Gray Brothers.  Then, in 1891, he founded a community of Albertine sisters, known as the Gray Sisters.  The Albertines organized food and shelter for the poor and homeless of any age or religion.  Albert preached on the great crisis that results from a refusal to see and aid the suffering individuals in society. In 1949, Pope John Paul II, who was at the time Father Karol Wojtyla, wrote a well-received play about Albert called Our God’s Brother.  John Paul II later said that he found great spiritual support for his own vocation in the life of St. Albert, whom he saw as an example of leaving behind a world of art, literature, and theater to make a radical choice for the priesthood. Brother Albert died on Christmas Day, 1916.  He was canonized on November 12, 1989 by Pope John Paul II.  The Church celebrates St. Albert’s feast day on June 17.  

St. Lutgardis Feast date: Jun 16 St. Lutgardis is the patron saint of the blind and physically disabled. Born in the 12th century, she came to her vocation in part due to her father’s bad business sense. Her father lost her dowry in a failed business venture and sent her to a Benedictine convent at the age of 12.A few years later, she received a vision of Christ showing her his wounds, and at age 20 she became a Benedictine nun. Her visions continued and she is said to have levitated and dripped blood from her head when meditating on the Passion.Seeking a stricter life, she joined the Cistercians and displayed the gifts of healing, prophecy, spiritual wisdom and teaching on the Gospels.She accepted the blindness that afflicted her for the last 11 years of her life as a gift that helped reduce the distractions of the outside world. In her last vision, Christ told her when she was to die, the day after the Feast of the Holy Trinity, June 16, 1246. She was 64.

St. Germaine Cousin Feast date: Jun 15 June 15 is the feast day of St. Germaine Cousin, a simple and pious young girl who lived in Pibrac, France in the late 1500s. Germaine was born in 1579 to poor parents. Her father was a farmer, and her mother died when she was still an infant. She was born with a deformed right arm and hand, as well as the disease of scrofula, a tubercular condition.Her father remarried soon after the death of her mother, but his new wife was filled with disgust by Germaine's condition. She tormented and neglected Germaine, and taught her siblings to do so as well.Starving and sick, Germaine was eventually kicked out of the house and forced to sleep under the stairway in the barn, on a pile of leaves and twigs, because of her stepmother’s dislike of her and disgust of her condition. She tended to the family's flock of sheep everyday.Despite her hardships, she lived each day full of thanksgiving and joy, and spent much of her time praying the Rosary and teaching the village children about the love of God. She was barely fed and had an emaciated figure, yet despite this she shared the little bread that she had with the poor of the village.From her simple faith grew a deep holiness and profound trust in God. She went to Mass everyday, leaving her sheep in the care of her guardian angel, who never failed her. Germaine’s deep piety was looked upon with ridicule by the villagers, but not by the children, who were drawn to her holiness.God protected Germaine and showered his favor upon her. It was reported that on days when the river was high, the waters would part so that she could pass through them on her way to Mass. One day in winter, when she was being chased by her stepmother who accused her of stealing bread, she opened her apron and fresh summer flowers fell out. She offered the flowers to her stepmother as a sign of forgiveness. Eventually, the adults of the village began to realize the special holiness of this poor, crippled shepherdess. Germaine's parents eventually offered her a place back in their house, but she chose to remain in her humble place outside.Just as the villagers were realizing the beauty of her life, God called her to Himself. Her father found her body on her bed of leaves one morning in her 22nd year of life.Forty-three years later, when a relative of hers was being buried, Germaine’s casket was opened and her body was found incorrupt. People in the surrounding area began praying for her intercession and obtaining miraculous cures for illnesses.St. Germaine was canonized by Pope Pius IX in 1867 and inscribed into the canon of virgins.

St. Methodius of Constantinople Feast date: Jun 14 St. Methodius worked for unity and reconciliation in the Eastern Church and served as the Patriarch of Constantinople the last five years of his life.Born in Syracuse, he first felt the call to enter religious life while in Constantinople, where he had gone to seek a position at court. He left for the island of Chinos, where he built a monastery and started a monastic community.However, his time at the monastery was short-lived since he was summoned by the Patriarch of Constantinople to help govern the diocese and create unity after a debate broke out on the use of icons in worship. While in Rome seeking the Pope’s help, he was exiled for seven years. He returned as patriarch in 842 and continued to work for unity.

St. Anthony of Padua Feast date: Jun 13 On June 13, Catholics honor the memory of the Franciscan priest St. Anthony of Padua. Although he is popularly invoked today by those who have trouble finding lost objects, he was known in his own day as the “Hammer of Heretics” due to the powerful witness of his life and preaching.The saint known to the Church as Anthony of Padua was not born in the Italian city of Padua, nor was he originally named Anthony. He was born as Ferdinand in Lisbon, Portugal during 1195, the son of an army officer named Martin and a virtuous woman named Mary. They had Ferdinand educated by a group of priests, and the young man made his own decision to enter religious life at age 15. Ferdinand initially lived in a monastery of the Augustinian order outside of Lisbon. But he disliked the distraction of constant visits from his friends, and moved to a more remote house of the same order. There, he concentrated on reading the Bible and the Church Fathers, while living a life of asceticism and heartfelt devotion to God. Eight years later, in 1220, Ferdinand learned the news about five Franciscan friars who had recently died for their faith in Morocco. When their bodies were brought to Portugal for veneration, Ferdinand developed a passionate desire to imitate their commitment to the Gospel. When a group of Franciscans visited his monastery, Ferdinand told them he wanted to adopt their poor and humble way of life.Some of the Augustinian monks criticized and mocked Ferdinand's interest in the Franciscans, which had been established only recently, in 1209. But prayer confirmed his desire to follow the example of St. Francis, who was still living at the time. He eventually obtained permission to leave the Augustinians and join a small Franciscan monastery in 1221. At that time he took the name Anthony, after the fourth-century desert monk St. Anthony of Egypt. Anthony wanted to imitate the Franciscan martyrs who had died trying to convert the Muslims of Morocco. He traveled on a ship to Africa for this purpose, but became seriously ill and could not carry out his intention. The ship that was supposed to take him to Spain for treatment was blown off course, and ended up in Italy. Through this series of mishaps, Anthony ended up near Assisi, where St. Francis was holding a major meeting for the members of his order. Despite his poor health, Anthony resolved to stay in Italy in order to be closer to St. Francis himself. He deliberately concealed his deep knowledge of theology and Scripture, and offered to serve in the kitchen among the brothers. At the time, no one realized that the future “Hammer of Heretics” was anything other than a kitchen assistant and obedient Franciscan priest. Around 1224, however, Anthony was forced to deliver an improvised speech before an assembly of Dominicans and Franciscans, none of whom had prepared any remarks. His eloquence stunned the crowd, and

St. Gaspar Bertoni Feast date: Jun 12 St. Gasper was born in Verona, Italy in 1777. He was baptized the day after. It is known that he was from an affluent family, and that his family's faith-life was also quite notable.Gasper was an only child as his baby sister passed away. He had the benefit of an excellent education both at home and at St. Sebastian's school which was run by Jesuits. From the grace of his first Holy Communion at age 11, Gaspar Bertoni was called to a life of mystical union. His vocation to the priesthood matured, and at 18, he entered the seminary. In frequenting the theological course as an extern student, he found in his professor of moral theology, Fr. Nicholas Galvani, an excellent spiritual director.He was known to have helped the sick and hurt during the invasion of French armies in 1796, the beginning of a 20 year period of upheaval during which he tended to those in need. He took over the spiritual direction of a community founded then by St. Magdalena of Canossa at St. Joseph's Convent (May 1808).On November 4, 1816, with two companions, he moved into a small house, adjacent to a suppressed Church, that bore the title of "the Sacred Stigmata of St. Francis (from this, the name of his community was eventually adapted; in this small church, he also worked to spread the devotion to the Passion and the wounds of Christ). In a very unostentatious manner, the new community opened a tuition-free school, offering this and other gratuitous services to the Church and society. The men lived together a common life of strict observance and penance. An intense life of contemplation was joined to a broad apostolate, including the Christian education of the youth, the formation of the clergy and missionary preaching, in perfect availability to the requests of the bishop.Right after an ecstasy that he experienced praying before a Crucifix (on May 30, 1812), he suffered a first attack of "miliary fever" that brought him to the very threshold of death. Almost miraculously, he did recover but for the rest of his 41 years of life he remained in poor health, all this while giving a wonderful example of patience and heroic confident abandonment to God.Even from his sick-bed, suffering indescribable discomfort, he became the "angel of counsel" for countless persons who sought him out.His Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata of Our Lord Jesus Christ, enriched by so many sufferings, gradually spread beyond Verona, to other cities in Italy, and then to the United States, to Brazil (where it presently has 6 Bishops), to Chile, to the Philippines and to mission territories: South Africa, the Ivory Coast, Tanzania, Thailand.

St. Barnabas, apostle Feast date: Jun 11 Catholics celebrate the memory of St. Barnabas on June 11. The apostle and missionary was among Christ's earliest followers and was responsible for welcoming St. Paul into the Church. Though not one of the 12 apostles chosen by the Lord, Jesus, he is traditionally regarded as one of the 72 disciples of Christ and most respected man in the first century Church after the Apostles themselves. St. Barnabas was born to wealthy Jewish parents on the Greek-speaking island of Cyprus, probably around the time of Christ's own birth. Traditional accounts hold that his parents sent him to study in Jerusalem, where he studied at the school of Gamaliel (who also taught St. Paul). Later on, when Christ's public ministry began, Barnabas may have been among those who heard him preach in person. At some point, either during Christ's ministry or after his death and resurrection, Barnabas decided to commit himself in the most radical way to the teachings he had received. He sold the large estate he had inherited, contributed the proceeds entirely to the Church, and joined Christ's other apostles in holding all of their possessions in common. Saul of Tarsus, the future St. Paul, approached Barnabas after the miraculous events surrounding his conversion, and was first introduced to St. Peter through him. About five years later, Barnabas and Paul spent a year in Antioch, building up the Church community whose members were the first to go by the name of “Christians.” Both Paul and Barnabas received a calling from God to become the “Apostles of the Gentiles,” although the title is more often associated with St. Paul. The reference to the “laying-on of hands” in Acts, chapter 13, suggests that Paul and Barnabas may have been consecrated as bishops on this occasion. Barnabas and Paul left Antioch along with Barnabas' cousin John Mark, who would later compose the most concise account of Christ's life and be canonized as St. Mark. The group's first forays into the pagan world met with some success, but Mark became discouraged and returned to Jerusalem. The question of Mark's dedication to the mission would arise again later, and cause a significant personal disagreement between Paul and Barnabas. For many years prior to this, however, the two apostles traveled and preached among the Gentiles, suffering persecution and hardships for the sake of establishing Christianity among those of a non-Jewish background. The remarkable success of Barnabas and Paul led to one of the earliest controversies in Church history, regarding the question of whether Christian converts would have to observe Jewish rites. During the landmark Council of Jerusalem, recorded in the book of Acts, the assembled apostles confirmed St. Peter's earlier proclamation that the laws of the Old Testament would not be mandatory for Christians. Barnabas and Paul finally separated in their ministries, while remaining apostles of the one Catholic Church, over Paul's insistence that Mark not travel with them again. In death, however, the “Apostles to the Gentiles”

Blessed Edward Poppe Feast date: Jun 10 Blessed Edward Poppe is a contemporary saint. He died at the young age of 33. He was an energetic child and an excellent student. His mischievousness saw him often knock things over even putting himself at risk of being harmed. He was also quite stubborn and never left his sisters alone though his sisters would often get back at him and would muss up his hair when he was caught combing in front of the mirror. He was also a big eater and liked to devour treats from his father's store. But in 1902 he received his First Communion and Confirmation and this made him more serious which meant jokes and teasing became rarer. In spring 1904 his father introduced him to his business plans and had hoped to see his son begin a baking apprenticeship though Poppe remained silent at first though his resolution to become a priest led him to tell his father as much. Not long after a priest friend to his parents gave a favorable opinion of Poppe's vocation to which his father told his mother: "Let's not be selfish. God has not given us our children for ourselves".He was one of 11 children born to a modest, pious family in Belgium. One of his brothers had become a priest, and five of his sisters became nuns. He felt a call to the priesthood at a young age, but he only entered the seminary on his mother’s insistence. His father had died when he was 16 years old and Edward thought he should take on the family business.He was drafted to the military in 1910 and served as a battlefield nurse during World War I. His prayers to St. Joseph during that time led to the miraculous freeing of several prisoners of war.He was finally ordained in 1916 at the age of 25 and served as associate pastor, focusing his ministry to the poor, children and the dying. He also taught catechism and founded Eucharistic associations.Always a man with a weak constitution, he was transferred to rural Belgium. In 1919, he suffered a heart attack. During his convalescence, he spent most of his time studying, praying and producing thousands of writings against Marxism and secularization.He also developed a devotion to St. Therese of Lisieux and adopted her spirituality. He had another heart attack in January 1924, and died of a stroke only six months later. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1999.

St. Columba of Iona Feast date: Jun 09 On June 9, the Catholic Church commemorates the sixth-century Irish monk and missionary Saint Columba of Iona, also known as St. Columcille.One of Ireland's three patron saints (together with Saint Patrick and Saint Brigid), he is also sometimes called the “Apostle of the Picts” for his evangelization of Scotland.He should not be confused with St. Columbanus (or Columban), a different Irish monk and missionary who lived slightly later and ended up in Italy.Columba was born during 521, descended from royalty through his father. He was taught and mentored by the priest who baptized him, and later attended a monastic school founded by Saint Finnian of Moville. His own life as a monk began at the school, where he was also ordained a deacon.The deacon went on to spend time in a different monastery and school run by another Finnian, Saint Finnian of Clonard. Columba became a priest during this period, and along with eleven others from this same institution, he would become known as one of the “Twelve Apostles of Ireland.”Columba also studied with Saint Mobhi of Glasnevin, before a disease epidemic forced him to return to his ancestral homeland of Ulster during 544. He spent the next 15 years traveling, preaching, and founding monasteries.It is not clear why, in 563, Columba left Ireland. By some accounts he was simply going to preach the word of God. Others claim that he had become involved in a battle between warring tribes, before repenting and taking on foreign missionary work as a penance.On the island of Iona, located on Scotland’s northwest coast, Columba and his group of companions built simple monastic quarters and a church for themselves. The priest-monk’s first missionary work was in the region of Dalriada, whose Celtic Christian inhabitants were lacking solid religious instruction.His next effort was to convert the Picts of northern Scotland, a task that would take up most of the rest of his life. He began by gaining entrance to the castle of King Brude, where the locked gates are said to have miraculously opened when the sign of the Cross was made. The king welcomed the missionaries, believed the Gospel, and was baptized.Columba’s evangelization of northern Scotland continued over the next three decades. He and his companions met with some resistance from the native pagan Druids, but on the whole they found remarkable success in spreading the Catholic faith and building up a network of churches and monasteries.The island monastery at Iona remained his home base, and it drew pilgrims looking to benefit from the priest-monk’s wisdom and his prayers. He remained in touch with the Irish Church, making many trips back until he became too weak to travel. Even in old age, Columba maintained an intense routine of prayer, fasting, and study.After giving a final blessing to his monastery on June 8, 597, he died sometime in the early hours of the following day.