Winchester, VA - St. Thorfinn is one of those saints who was very popular in him time, but about whom not too much is currently known. He was Norwegian, possibly from Trondheim, and it is thought he might have been a Cistercian monk before being named Bishop of Hamar. His episcopacy fell during the reign of King Eric, dubbed “Priesthater.” Needless to say He did not see eye to eye with […]
Winchester, VA - John Neumann was born in 1811 in Bohemia, the son of a stocking knitter. He was educated by the Piarist Fathers and entered the seminary in 1831. In 1833, he transferred to the Charles University in Prague and studied theology, astronomy and botany. He knew six languages by the time he was 24. After completing his studies, John applied for ordination to the priesthood, but there was an […]
Winchester, VA - Elizabeth Ann Bayley was born in New York City in 1774, the daughter of a surgeon and his wife, who were descendents of some of the earliest settlers in New York. She suffered the loss of her mother at the age of three, and later on of her stepmother due to the breakdown of her father's second marriage. Elizabeth was raised in the Episcopal Church, and married William […]
Winchester, VA - Born around the year 420 in Nanterre, France, Genevieve was a peasant girl who realized her vocation early and at the tender age of 15, became a nun. She lived with her godmother in Paris after the deaths of her parents and developed a reputation for piety, austerity, and acts of charity. Her bodily mortifications were so intense that after 30 years her religious superiors asked her to […]
Winchester, VA - Born in the first century, Thomas was one of the twelve apostles and was given the name “Didymus” which means “the twin.” Thomas speaks a few times in the Gospel of St. John, first in chapter eleven where, after Lazarus' death, he encourages the apostles to accompany Jesus back to Judea, saying “Let us also go, that we may die with him,”; and again in chapter 14, where […]
Winchester, VA - Born Guillaume de Grimoard in 1310 in the region of Languedoc, France, Pope Urban V was the sixth Pope to reign from Avignon and the only one of those to be beatified. He became a Benedictine monk and was ordained a priest in 1334. Guillaume studied literature and law at Montpellier, then focused on canon law at the University of Toulouse, earning his doctorate. He would teach canon […]
Winchester, VA - Winibald comes from a spiritually prolific family. Born in Wessex, England, around the early 8th century, Winibald was the son of Saint Richard the Pilgrim, sibling of Saints Willibald and Walpurga, and the nephew of Saint Boniface. He went on a pilgrimage to Rome with his brother and father, who died along the way. He decided to stay in Rome and studied there for seven years. After a […]
Winchester, VA - Born in 1542, Juan de Yepes Y Alvares was a descendent of Jewish converts to Christianity. He lost his father at the age of three, and reduced to even greater poverty, his older brother at the age of 5 from malnourishment. He was educated by the Jesuits, whose order was very new at the time. John entered the Carmelite Order in 1563, taking the name John of St. […]
Winchester, VA - Born around 283 in Syracuse, Lucy's story is not that different from other early Christian female martyrs of the early Church. It is said she was born of a rich and noble family, and lost her father young. She consecrated herself to God, unbeknownst to her ill mother, who, seeking to protect Lucy, arranged for her to be married. It is said that when her mother, Eutychia, made […]
Sermons culled from traditional Catholic priests according to the season.
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