Saint Josephine Bakhita was born in 1896 in Olgossa, a town located in Darfur. She had a great childhood because her father was the leader of her tribe there. However at age nine, she was taken by invading Arabs.

Saint Josephine Bakhita was beaten and went through so much suffering that she forgot her own true name. Josephine Bakhita was sold into slavery. She had symbols carved into her skin by her owner to show that she belonged to him. One time she was hurt so badly by one of her owners’ sons, that she spent a several weeks in bed.

Saint Josephine Bakhita was sold to another owner at this point in her life. This owner was a man named Augusto Michieli. She liked her life with him much more than her previous owner. She served Augusto, but mainly tended to his children. When Augusto and his family had to leave the country on business, Josephine was left with the Canossian Sisters.

Upon the Michieli’s return, they attempted to take back their servants. Josephine put up a fight though, and eventually got a court ruling saying she was not bound to the family. Slavery had been abolished in Italy before her birth, so she was given her freedom. Josephine chose to stay with the Canossian Sisters in Venice.

Saint Josephine would officially join the Canossian Sisters in 1896. Josephine mainly stayed in her new home provided by the sisters in Schio. However she did leave once to go to Africa and help sisters there. Saint Josephine was the door keeper at the house in Schio and was known for her kind spirits and gentle voice there.

Towards the end of her life, Saint Josephine Bakhita would get extremely ill. Her illnesses would sometimes cause flashbacks of her days as a slave. This caused her much anguish and was hard for many to see her deal with. On February 8, 1947 Saint Josephine Bakhita passed away. She was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 1, 2000, and her feast day is on February 8th each year.

Saint Joseph Freinademetz was born on April 15, 1852 in a town called Badia. This town was located in what was then known as Austria, today it can be located in Italy. His parents’ names were Anna Maria and Giovanmattia, and their marriage brought them four children. The two raised their four children like typical parents of their time. On July 25, 1875 Saint Joseph Freinademetz was ordained. This was after years of studying theology.

Saint Joseph Freinademetz began his life as a priest in San Martino. He enjoyed his time there and was a good priest. Joseph always thought about being a missionary though. After contacting Saint Arnold Janssen, he would travel to Steyl and do just that.

Some of Saint Jospeh’s most important work came while he was in Hong Kong. Joseph traveled to Hong Kong with John Baptist Anzer, and the two remained there for two years. Their job was to try and make more Christians out of the Chinese because very few of them were Christians at the time.

Saint Joseph rewrote religious books in Chinese and taught the Chinese who were interested in learning of Christianity. Saint Joseph got sick with tuberculosis at this point, and was forced to travel to Japan to receive proper care. He would return to take over the lead position of the operation in China.

There was an outbreak of typhus in this time, and he helped wherever he could, until he himself became infected. He returned to Taikia, South Shandong, where he died. He was buried in Taikia, at the twelfth station on the Way of the Cross.

After a few years of successful work in China, a wave of typhus swept the lands. Saint Joseph helped out anybody who needed it during these times. However, his contact with those who were infected, caused him to become ill. On January 28, 1908 Saint Joseph Freinademetz would pass away due to his sickness. Saint Jospeh was canonized on October 5, 2003. His feast day falls on January 28th each year.

Saint Joseph was born on June 17, 1603 in Cupertino, which was found in Naples. He was raised as most children during that time were. Then around his last teenage years Saint Joseph Cupertino made a critical life choice. He decided to join the Franciscan Friars Minor Conventual.

Saint Joseph’s mother decided was never very nice to him. She was very hard on him and expected him to do exactly what she wanted all of the time. Saint Joseph was affected by this harsh behavior his mother exhibited. He gained a bad temper, and would space out and walk around town with no destination. So when Saint Joseph of Cupertino requested to become a full Franciscan monk, the group rejected him.

This hurt Saint Joseph, and he was very upset when he couldn’t be a Franciscan. He still wanted to lead a religious life though, so he tried to join the Capunchins. This worked out for a few months, but then the Capuchins asked Joseph to leave because he kept messing things up.

At this point Joseph went back home to live with his mother again. She was not thrilled too see Joseph back at home again. So she worked hard to get him a position working as a servant in the nearby Franciscan monastery.

The monks at the monastery made him work hard. They made Joseph live their lifestyle, and take care of the monastery. He also had to tend to the animals that were kept in the stable outside. All the hard work proved good for Joseph because he lost his temper and really calmed down.

One day the Franciscan’s decided that Joseph would be allowed to join as a true member after showing them all he was a changed man. Joseph was very excited to hear the news, and began studying to become a priest.

Saint Joseph would be made into a deacon at first because he still had trouble studying and knowing all the different things he should to be a priest. Eventually Joseph would know enough to become ordained a priest.

Saint Joseph began to perform miracles because of his extreme closeness with God. Joseph converted many to the Christian faith, and advised any others that needed help. On September 18, 1663 Saint Joseph of Cupertino passed away. He is remembered as the patron saint of astronauts and aviation.

Saint Josemaría Escrivá was born on January 9, 1902. His parents raised him, his sister, and his brother in Barbastro, Spain and always taught their children to be followers of the Catholic religion.

Saint Josemaría Escrivá and his family had to move to the town of Logrono when he was just a teenager. This was due to his father’s need for a new job. Around this time in Josemaría’s life was when he realized that God intended for him to lead a religious life.

After he came to terms with his realization he decided that he had to become a priest. He also took up studies at a local university, at his father’s advice. Josemaría took the place of head of his family after his father passed away in 1924. The next year was when Saint Josemaría Escrivá was ordained a priest.

Josemaría took over a local parish and began his life as a priest. A few years later, he decided to move to Madrid and work on another degree, this time in the field of law. In Madrid, Josemaría realized what God had been intending for him to do with his life. Saint Josemaría founded the Opus Dei.

When civil war broke out in Spain, Josemaría was forced to leave. He came back after the war was to continue his work with Opus Dei, and continue earning his degree.

Josemaría was not content with his two degrees, so he moved to Rome in 1946. He was appointed as a consult to several Vatican Congregations, while he gained a degree in theology. Saint Josemaría traveled often at this point in his life. He was often traveling in attempts to expand the Opus Dei and it’s works. He went to Britain, Ireland, Portugal, South America, and Mexico, and saw great success from his efforts.

Saint Josemaría Escrivá passed away on June 26, 1975 in Rome. Pope John Paul II canonized Josemaría a saint on October 6, 2002, and his feast falls on June 26th each year.

Saint John Vianney was born on May 8, 1786 in the town of Dardilly, France. Saint John Vianney grew up working on a farm. He tended to the animals and worked in the fields harvesting. He is known for teaching children prayers in the field while he worked.

Saint John really wanted to become a priest, but he had trouble learning the required materials first. He struggled because the classes he had to take were in Latin, which he knew little of. He asked God for guidance through the process of becoming a priest because he knew it was exactly what he wanted to do with his life. God made sure Saint John Vianney made it through the process, and this is why he is known as the patron saint of parish priests now.

Saint John’s first position was as a parish priest in Ecully. This wouldn’t last for long though, John would soon be relocated to Ars. This parish was struggling to get people out at mass on a regular basis. John realized the problem and started to travel around the parish visiting those to too poor or sick to make it to mass all the time. Saint John loved his parishioners, and prayed for them whenever he had a spare moment.

It is said that since Saint John was such a good person, the devil hated him. John traveled all around his parish and made sure he saved the souls of his church members. This angered the devil and the devil’s retaliation was to keep John from sleep at night.

When there was a large rush of immigration to Ars, Saint John made it his personal job to try and meet the newcomers. He would invite them out to mass, and he saw great results from his efforts. John spent countless hours each day attempting to hear the highest amount of confessions that he could.

Saint John Vianney passed away, due to natural causes, in August of 1859. Pope Pius XI canonized John a saint in 1925. His feast day falls on August 4th each year.

Saint John Neumann was born on March 28, 1811 in Bohemia. He was brought up in a wealthy family who wanted the best for John. They sent him to private school until he chose to leave school to live life in a seminary in 1831.

Saint John Neumann really wanted to become a priest, and was ready to in the year 1835. However, Bohemia had too many priests at the time and the bishop there told everybody that ordination of new priests would be put on hold for a while. Saint John Neumann was crushed by this, but he didn’t let his dream of becoming a priest die.

John’s only option seemed to be going to America to be a priest. So he worked a job in a factory for many months because the employees there spoke good English. He picked up the language from them, and then got in contact with American bishops. Eventually, a bishop in New York contacted John about being ordained a priest.

New York was in dire need of priests at that time, so John’s help was greatly appreciated by the bishop. John spent most of his time as bishop traveling. He had a large parish so in order to make sure everybody was content he would travel all over to give Mass.

John wanted to belong to something more in the Church so he chose to join the congregation known as the Redemptorists. Shortly after he joined the Redemptorists, John was given the position of bishop in Philadelphia. He worked hard to improve the Catholic schools in his diocese.

Saint John Neumann cared very much about his diocese and the happiness of it’s members. When immigration was at a high point, John learned many different languages so that he could converse with immigrants and make them all feel more at home. They appreciated this and loved Saint John very much for it.

Saint John passed away in 1860 on January 5th in Philadelphia. He was canonized in 1977 by Pope Paul VI. His feast day falls on January 5th each year.