Blog

Winchester, VA - Saint Helena was the mother of the Emperor Constantine. Born in Bithynia in 330, she was married to Constantius, a Roman general, who was made Caesar, or junior emperor, in 293. Constantius later divorced Helena to marry another woman, and their son, Constantine, became Augustus, or emperor, in 306. She returned to the imperial court in 312, and in 325 was named Augusta Imperiatrix, which meant empress. She […]

Winchester, VA - Tarsicius was a 12 year old acolyte who most likely lived during the persecutions of the Emperor Valerian. One day he was given a mission  to bring the imprisoned Christians the Holy Eucharist because there were no deacons to send. On his way, he passed a group of children who asked him to play with them, and upon his refusal began to harass him over being a Christian. […]

Winchester, VA - Stephen was born in Hungary in 977, the son of the Magyar chieftain Geza and was raised a Christian. He married the daughter of Duke Henry II of Bavaria and upon assuming his reign, devoted himself to the spread of the Christian faith through patronage of church leaders, erecting churches, and defeating the pagan counterreaction to Christianity.  Pope Sylvester II anointed him king of Hungary in 1000, giving […]

Winchester, VA - Chiara Offreduccio was born in 1194, the daughter of a wealthy father and a devout mother. The faith came easy to her, and she devoted herself to prayer. At 18, she heard St. Francis of Assisi preach and she asked him to help her live according to the Gospel. On Palm Sunday 1212, she met Francis at the chapel of the Porziuncula, had her hair cut, and traded […]

Winchester, VA - Saint Lawrence was born in 225 in Spain and was ordained a deacon by his friend, Pope St. Sixtus II in 257. Despite his youth, he was appointed first of the seven deacons of Rome. In his position, he had charge of the Church's treasury and riches, and saw to the distribution of alms to the poor. When Emperor Valerian called for the executions of all bishops, priests, […]

Winchester, VA - Edith Stein was born a German Jew in 1891, and by her teen years had become atheist. While on holiday in 1921, she picked up St. Teresa of Avila's autobiography and in the course of a night was converted to Catholicism and was baptized in 1922. When Nazi anti-Semitic policies caused her to lose her teaching post at the university, she entered the Discalced Carmelite monastery of St. […]

Winchester, VA - Mary MacKillop was born in Australia in 1842 to poor Scottish immigrants. At 20 she got a job teaching children in Portland, Victoria. Four years later, she movedto Penola at the invitation of Father Julian Woods, dedicated herself to God, and assisted in the opening of a school fashioned out of a stable. Mary and her friends formed the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart, and […]

Winchester, VA - Saint Cajetan was born Gaetano Conti di Thiene, in 1480. He became both a civil and canon lawyer at 24 and worked in the court of Pope Julius II. He was ordained in 1516, and later opened hospitals for incurables in Vicenza and Venice. He was derided for joining an order comprised of men from the lowest rungs of the social ladder.  Father Cajetan decided the Church clergy […]

Winchester, VA - Saint Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception, born Anna Muttathupadathu in 1910, she was raised by her maternal aunt, who wanted her to become a perfect housewife with a wealthy husband. She, however, wanted to become a bride of Christ. After falling into a pit of burning chaff at 13 and becoming permanently disfigured, arranged marriage was off the table. Local hagiographies suggest she inflicted the injury upon herself […]