Born in Breslau (at the time in Germany, now in Poland) in 1891, Edith Stein abandoned her Jewish faith when she was thirteen.

Nicholas Postgate (sometimes Posket or Poskitt) was the child of staunch English Catholics during the English Reformation.

“I love to penetrate beyond the veil of the soul to this inner sanctuary where we live alone with God….

Rabanus lived during the time of Charlemagne, under whose rule the Christian faith was firmly established in much of Europe.

Mariam Baouardy, the “Little Arab,” was a miracle child for her parents, who had lost twelve children before her birth.

Gregory Nazianzen grew up in a pious household; his father became a priest and then a bishop in an age when married men were often ordained.

Angilbert was born in modern-day Germany around the year 740.

In Wales there is a well-known maxim, “Do the little things in life.” It comes from the teaching of Saint David (Dewi in Welsh), who was one of the most popular saints of the British Isles.

Jacopo (James) Benedetto belonged to a noble family in northern Italy.

Nicetas was born around the year 335. He was a bishop, a missionary, and a great writer. His friend Saint Paulinus of Nola (see “Saint Who?” of September 7) describes how Nicetas brought the warmth and light of the Gospel to the frozen north (probably modern-day Germany), and melted the icy hearts of the inhabitants.