House Saints

St Josephine Bakhita – Feast Day: 8 February (B)

Born in Olgossa in the Darfur region of southern Sudan, Josephine was kidnapped at the age of 7, sold into slavery and given the name Bakhita, which means fortunate. Over the next ten years she was forced to endure brutal and terrifying treatment at the hands of various slave owners before finally being bought by an Italian Diplomat and taken to Italy, where she was baptised and was eventually granted freedom. Josephine became a nun in 1893 and taught her fellow sisters about her home country and how they could help people there.

She was canonised in 2000, the first Black woman to receive the honour in the modern era, and is venerated as the patron saint of modern Sudan and human trafficking survivors.

“Her mind was always on God, her heart in Africa.”

St Martin de Porres Feast Day: 3 November (P)

St Martin de Porres was born in Lima, Peru in 1579. His father was a Spanish nobleman and his mother a freed slave from Panama. Martin’s father abandoned the family when he was a child, leaving them destitute, but despite growing up in deep poverty, Martin attended a primary school for two years and was then placed with a local barber, from whom he learned surgical and medical skills.

Compassionate and eager to serve, he began to volunteer with the Dominican friars  age 15 and helped care for the sick in the monastery infirmary. He was soon recognised as an extraordinarily kind person and before long, he began to work miracles, curing so many people that everyone in Lima would send for Brother Martin when there was sickness. He founded an orphanage and a children’ hospital in Lima and was known for treating people of all races and colours equally, as he saw them all as his sisters and brothers in Christ.

Canonised in 1962 by Pope John XXIII he is the patron saint of mixed-race people, public health workers, and all those seeking racial harmony.

“You must love your neighbour as you love yourself”

St Maximillian Kolbe – Feast Day: 14th August (K)

Saint Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish Catholic priest and Franciscan friar. During the German occupation of Poland, he published a number of anti-Nazi newsletters and set up a shelter for thousands of refugees. In 1941, he was arrested and sent to Auschwitz, where in terrible circumstances he continued to work as a priest and offer solace to fellow inmates. 

When the Nazi guards selected 10 people to be starved to death in punishment for the escape of a prisoner, Kolbe volunteered to die in place of a stranger, leading his fellow prisoners in songs and prayer until, after three weeks, he was the final man to die.

He was canonised in 1982 by Pope John Paul II who declared him to be “The Patron Saint of Our Difficult Century.”

“Hatred is not a creative force. Only love is a creative power.”

St Anne Line – Feast Day: 27th February (L)

St Anne Line lived during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. DIsowned by her father for marrying a Catholic, her husband was later imprisoned and exiled for his faith, and died in Belgium in 1594. Anne stayed in England where she hid Catholic priests in a London safe house. 

Arrested in 1601, she was offered the chance to give up her faith and save her life, but she refused, and was hanged at Tyburn later that year.

She was canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970 as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

“I am sentenced to die for harbouring a Catholic priest, and so far I am from repenting for having so done, that I wish, with all my soul, that where I have entertained one, I could have entertained a thousand.”

St Gianna Beretta Molla – Feast Day: 28th April (M)

St. Gianna Beretta Molla was an Italian paediatrician and keen sportswoman, born in Italy in 1922. Molla’s medical career followed the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church; she believed in following her conscience while coming to the aid of others who required assistance and she also dedicated herself to charitable work amongst the elderly, was involved in Catholic Action and aided the Saint Vincent de Paul group in their outreach to the poor and less fortunate.

She married an engineer, Pietro, and they had three children, with Gianna juggling motherhood with the demands of a professional medical career. In 1961, Gianna became pregnant with her fourth child but was warned that going ahead with the pregnancy would endanger her life. Although aware of the fatal consequences, Molla chose to go ahead with the pregnancy. Her baby daughter was born safely but Gianna Beretta Molla died a week later.

Molla was canonised as a saint in 2004 in Saint Peter’s Square, Rome and the patron saint of doctors, mothers, wives and unborn children.

“The secret of happiness is to live moment by moment and to thank God for what He is sending us every day in His goodness.”

St Francis of Assisi – Feast Day: 4th October (F)

Born in Assisi, Italy in 1181 to a prosperous family of silk merchants, Saint Francis abandoned a life of luxury for a life devoted to Christianity after reportedly hearing the voice of God, who commanded him to rebuild the Christian church and live in poverty. 

Francis became a devotee of the faith and his reputation spread all over the Christian world. He founded the Franciscan order in 1209 and later a women’s order called the Poor Clares which still exist today. During his life he also developed a deep love of nature and is known as the patron saint of the environment and animals. He was canonised in 1228 and his life and words have had a lasting resonance with millions of followers across the globe.

“Preach Christ’s message and when necessary use words.”