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Rafael Palacios
Priest and Martyr (1939–1979) In the violence preceding the civil war in El Salvador, June 1979 was a typical month: 123 people were killed by death squads, including 30 teachers,…
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Gerard Manley Hopkins
Jesuit Priest and Poet (1844–1889) Gerard Manley Hopkins was born in England to a prosperous Anglican family. Though he excelled at Oxford and seemed destined for a brilliant career, these…
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Helen Keller
Reformer (1880-1968) At nineteen months, Helen Keller suffered a fever that left her blind and deaf. She spent her first years “at sea in a dense fog,” expressing herself largely…
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Mary Lou Williams
Jazz Musician (1910–1981) Born in Georgia and raised in Pittsburgh, Mary Lou Williams taught herself to play piano at the age of three; by six, she was helping support her…
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St. Joachima de Vedruna
Founder, Carmelites of Charity (1783–1854) St. Joachima was born to an aristocratic family in Catalonia. At sixteen, she married a young lawyer from Barcelona whom she had met at her…
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St. Isidore
In March 1622, five great saints were canonized together. Theyincluded St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Francis Xavier, St. Teresaof Avila, and St. Philip Neri. The fifth, St. Isidore, stood apart.He…
Rachel Held Evans
As she was being admitted to the hospital for mysteriousailments, Rachel Held Evans posted a final Tweet to her170,000 followers, appealing to those who are “the prayingtype.” In typical fashion,…
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Ade Bethune
Ade Bethune was a nineteen-year-old art student in New York when friends told her about the Catholic worker, a new movement that sought to relate the Gospel to social issues.…
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Pope Francis
“I am a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon."Pope FrancisBishop of Rome (1936-2025) At the Conclave of 2013, following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the…
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Rachel Carson
Robert Ellsberg's Blessed Among Us: Day by Day with Saintly Witnesses; Volume 2 is now available from Liturgical Press. “Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of…
