Saint Geneviève (circa 422-c. 500), patron saint of Paris, born in nearby Nanterre, France. In 451 she was in Paris and is said to have predicted the invasion of the Huns led by Attila and to have saved the city by her prayers.
St. Catherine of Sienna, a Doctor of the Church. Helped save the Church from destruction at the hands of various anti-Popes. Convinced the True Pope to reclaim his throne and reunite the Church.
Saint Veronica is said to have wiped the face of Jesus Christ as he carried the cross to Calvary.
Saint Thecla of Iconium (1st century ad), said to have been the first woman martyr. Saint Thecla is known in the apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla as “protomartyr among women and equal to the Apostles.' Converted by Saint Paul, she dedicated herself to virginity. Condemned to death for her faith, she was miraculously saved.
Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-80), Dominican nun (tertiary), mystic, and Doctor of the Church, who played a significant role in the public affairs of her day.
Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-90), French nun, born in Lauthecourt. She attributed her recovery from paralysis to the Virgin Mary and entered the convent at Paray-le-Monial in 1671. Her visions of Christ, in which he revealed to her his bleeding and compassionate heart, gave impetus to the modern Roman Catholic practice of devotion to the Sacred Heart.
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821), educator and philanthropist. With her canonization in 1975 she became the first American-born saint of the Roman Catholic church. In 1809 she established in Emmitsburg, Maryland, the first house of what later grew into a widespread religious community known as the Sisters of Charity, with a rule, or constitution, modeled upon that of the Daughters of Charity of the French priest St. Vincent de Paul. Elected the first superior of the order, she held that office until her death. Parochial education in the U.S. began with her establishment of a Catholic school in Emmitsburg, and she was noted for her ministrations to the poor and sick.
Saint Clare of Assisi (1194-1253), Italian nun, born in Assisi of a rich and noble family. In 1211 she heard the Italian monk and preacher St. Francis of Assisi preach, and, inspired by his eloquence, she entered the Order of the Franciscans the following year. With the help and advice of St. Francis and despite the opposition of her family, she founded the order of Franciscan nuns known as the Order of the Poor Ladies, commonly called Poor Clares. The first monastery of Poor Clares was founded in the United States in 1875; in the 1990s there were 24 autonomous motherhouses. Some 500 monasteries extant throughout the world have a total membership of about 12,000.
Saint Rose of Lima (1586-1617), Peruvian Roman Catholic nun, born in Lima. In 1606 she became a nun of the third order of Dominicans and earned a great reputation for the severe austerities she practiced.
Saint Theresa of Lisieux (1873-97), French Carmelite nun, called The Little Flower of Jesus, who became one of the most beloved saints of the Roman Catholic church. Theresa exemplified what she called the “little way,” a devotion to God both childlike and profound. She sought holiness through the conscientious performance of small actions and humble tasks. Her goodness was so remarkable that her superiors asked her to write an account of her life; The Story of a Soul (1898; trans. 1958) became one of the most widely read spiritual autobiographies
Saint Ursula (lived 4th century?), legendary Christian martyr, possibly British but particularly honored in Cologne, Germany, the place of her presumed martyrdom. The legend is recorded by Belgian chronicler Sigebert of Gembloux and in the Acta Sanctorum of the Bollandists. She was one of either 11 or 11,000 virgins who were massacred by the Huns. The confusion over the figure probably arose from the incorrect interpretation of the abbreviated Latin inscription “XI MV”; instead of being expanded to read undecim martyres virgines (“11 martyr virgins”), it was read as undecim milia virginum (“11 thousand virgins”).
Saint Cecilia (?-230?), Christian martyr, who, since legend speaks of her singing to God in her heart, became known as the patron of music. According to tradition she was betrothed to a youth named Valerian, whom she converted to Christianity, and the two were martyred for refusing to honor the Roman gods. She is said to have been thrown into a boiling bath but to have escaped unharmed.
Saint Lucy (283?-304), Christian virgin martyr, who was highly venerated from the 7th century onward. Lucy was born in Syracuse, Sicily, in Italy. After witnessing a miracle, she converted to Christianity and pledged all her worldly possessions to the poor. Lucy’s pagan suitor denounced her to Paschasius, governor of Sicily, who condemned her to prostitution. According to legend, even a team of oxen could not move her to the brothel. Lucy then survived an attempted burning at the stake, and she finally died by being stabbed in the throat.
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