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Winchester, VA - Saint Januarius lived in the late third and early fourth centuries. He was born in Italy and was the bishop of Benevento at the time that the Emperor Diocletian was executing his infamous persecutions of Christians. When he and two laymen went to visit two deacons and two laymen in the prison, he was also imprisoned. He was thrown to iwld beasts with his deacon and a lector, […]

Winchester, VA - Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. This feast commemorates three historical events: the finding of the True Cross by St. Helena, the dedication of churches built by Constantine over the sites of the Holy Sepulchre and Mount Calvary, and the return of the True Cross to Jerusalem by Emperor Heraclius II. The feast also commemorates the fact that the cross is the instrument […]

Winchester, VA - John was born in the city of Antioch around the year 344. He was given the name ”Chrysostom,” which means “golden-mouthed” because of his eloquence. HE was raised as a Christian, and at 30 chose to follow the anchorite way of life in the mountains.bUpon his return to Antioch twelve years later on account of his poor health, he was ordained a priest, and 12 years after that […]

Winchester, VA - Clodoald was the son of King Chlodomer of Orleans and his wife Guntheuc. He was raised by his grandmother, Saint Clotilde and was able, unlike his brothers, to escape the murderous machinations of his uncle Clotaire I, by escaping to Provence. He renounced his claim to the throne, and lived as a hermit and disciple of Saint Severinus of Noricum. Renowned for his gifts of counsel and healing, […]

Winchester, VA - Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu was born in Skopje, a city in the Ottoman Empire, in 1910. Enthralled as a child by stories of missionaries, she knew by 12 that she was called to the religious life. She joined the Sisters of Loreto in Ireland at 18, aiming to learn English, which was the language of instruction of the missionaries to India.  She took the name Teresa at her first […]

Winchester, VA - Saint Raymond Nonnatus was born in Catalonia, Spain in 1204. He was delivered via cesarean section after his mother died, hence the name “Nonnatus”: non natus, meaning “not born” in Latin. It is for this that he is the patron saint of midwives, obstetricians, and pregnant mothers. Raymond took the habit with the Mercedarians in Barcelona and later became their Master General. He ransomed over 400 Christians from […]

Winchester, VA - One of the 12 apostles, Saint Bartholomew is identified with the Nathaniel of the New testaments who is introduced to Christ by Philip, with whom he is always mentioned, in the Gospel of Saint John. Eusebius of Caesarea's work on Church history notes that following Christ's ascension, Bartholomew went to India and left them a copy of the Gospel of Matthew. He is also said to have been […]

Winchester, VA - Today is the Feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The roots of this feast are found in the hierarchichal structure of the Davidic Kingdom. In Israel, the queen was not the wife of the king, but his mother. With Jesus being King of Israel—and of the universe- from the line of David, it follows that the Blessed Virgin Mary would be the Queen. Pope Pius XII […]

Winchester, VA - Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto was born in Venice on August 20, 1835, and was ordained a priest in 1858. Elected Pope in August 1904, he sought to renew all things in Christ. He fought against the heresy of Modernism with its indifferentism and relativism, encouraged scripture study, and effected the codifying of Canon Law. He also required the existence of a Confraternity of Christian Doctrine in every parish. Pope […]