Dominican Lay Brother (1579-1639) Martin de Porres was born in Lima, Peru, the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a free Black woman. His father refused to recognize his…

Doctor (1864–1919) José Gregorio Hernández Cisneros was born in the town of Isnotú in the foothills of the Venezuelan Andes. Deciding on a career in medicine, he studied at the…

Nun (1888–1922) St. Mary Bertilla Boscardin was raised in a poor peasant family in northern Italy. Slight and without any distinctive qualities, she attracted little regard; she was known as…

Mystic, Doctor of the Church (1515-1582) St. Teresa, one of the towering figures of all Christian history, was the daughter of a wealthy Spanish merchant. Though she became a nun…

Mystic (1905–1938) St. Mary Faustina, who was born to a large family in rural Poland, entered a convent of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Warsaw. Although outwardly…

Primatologist, Environmentalist (1934–2025) Jane Goodall, who was born in London, dreamed as a child of going to Africa, studying animals and writing books about them. Ultimately, she fulfilled that dream,…

Priest and Spiritual Guide (1932–1996) Henri Nouwen, a Dutch-born priest and one of the most popular spiritual writers of his time, died thirty years ago today on September 21, 1996.…

Secretary General of the United Nations (1905-1961) On September 18, 1961, a plane crash in central Africa (most likely an assassination) took the life of Dag Hammarskjöld, secretary general of…

Anti-Apartheid Christian Witness (1915–2004) Beyers Naudé was born into a proud Afrikaner family in South Africa. His father was a founder of the Broederbond, a secret society that worked with…