Born to the nobility. One of the first 12 followers of Saint Francis of Assisi, and first priest in the Franciscan Order. Sylvester once sold Francis stone to rebuild a church. A short while later, he saw Francis and Bernard of Quintavalle distributing Bernard’s wealth to the poor. Sylvester complained that he had been poorly paid for the stone, and asked for more money. Francis obliged. But the handful of money soon filled Sylvester with guilt. He sold his possessions, began a life of penance, and joined Francis‘ community. A holy and prayerful man, Sylvester travelled with Francis, and became his advisor. It was Sylvester and Clare who answered Francis‘ query with the response that he should serve God by going out...

Agnes was the sister of St. Clare and her first follower. When Agnes left home two weeks after Clare’s departure, their family attempted to bring Agnes back by force. They tried to drag her out of the monastery, but all of a sudden her body became so heavy that several knights could not budge it. Her uncle Monaldo tried to strike her but was temporarily paralyzed. The knights then left Agnes and Clare in peace. Agnes matched her sister in devotion to prayer and in willingness to endure the strict penances which characterized their lives at San Damiano. In 1221 a group of Benedictine nuns in Monticelli (near Florence) asked to become Poor Clares. St. Clare sent Agnes to become abbess of that monastery. Agnes soon wrote...

In her short life Elizabeth manifested such great love for the poor and suffering that she has become the patroness of Catholic charities and of the Secular Franciscan Order. The daughter of the King of Hungary, Elizabeth chose a life of penance and asceticism when a life of leisure and luxury could easily have been hers. This choice endeared her in the hearts of the common people throughout Europe. At the age of 14 Elizabeth was married to Louis of Thuringia (a German principality), whom she deeply loved; she bore three children. Under the spiritual direction of a Franciscan friar, she led a life of prayer, sacrifice and service to the poor and sick. Seeking to become one with the poor, she wore simple clothing. Daily she would take bread to hundreds of the poorest in the land, who came to her gate....

Saint Antonio of Saint Anne Galvão (Portuguese: Santo Antônio de Sant'Anna Galvão), OFM, popularly known as Frei Galvão (Friar Galvão), (1739 — December 23, 1822) was a Brazilian friar of the Franciscan order. One of the best-known religious figures in Brazil, renowned for his healing powers, Galvão was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on May 11, 2007, becoming the first Brazilian-born saint. Overall, he is the second Brazilian saint, after Italian-born Saint Paulina, canonized in 2002.

Learn more about Saint Antonio here.

Francis of Assisi was a poor little man who astounded and inspired the Church by taking the gospel literally—not in a narrow fundamentalist sense, but by actually following all that Jesus said and did, joyfully, without limit and without a sense of self-importance. Serious illness brought the young Francis to see the emptiness of his frolicking life as leader of Assisi's youth. Prayer—lengthy and difficult—led him to a self-emptying like that of Christ, climaxed by embracing a leper he met on the road. It symbolized his complete obedience to what he had heard in prayer: "Francis! Everything you have loved and desired in the flesh it is your duty to despise and hate, if you wish to know my will. And when you have begun this, all that now seems sweet and lovely to you will become intolerable...

Francesco, named in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, was born to Giuseppa and Grazio Forgione, peasant farmers, in the small Italian village of Pietrelcina on May 25, 1887. From his childhood, it was evident that he was a special child of God. Francesco was very devout even as a child, and at an early age felt drawn to the priesthood. He became a Capuchin novice at the age of sixteen and received the habit in 1902. Francesco was ordained to the priesthood in 1910 after seven years of study and became known as Padre Pio. On June 16, 2002, over 500,000 Padre Pio devotees gathered in Rome to witness Pope John Paul II proclaim Padre Pio, Saint Pio of Pietrelcina. The Padre Pio Foundation and many benefactors traveled to Rome, San Giovanni Rotondo, Pietrelcina, Piana Romana and many other holy places to celebrate Padre Pio's Canonization....

Joseph is most famous for levitating at prayer. Already as a child, Joseph showed a fondness for prayer. After a short career with the Capuchins, he joined the Conventuals. Following a brief assignment caring for the friary mule, Joseph began his studies for the priesthood. Though studies were very difficult for him, Joseph gained a great deal of knowledge from prayer. He was ordained in 1628. Joseph’s tendency to levitate during prayer was sometimes a cross; some people came to see this much as they might have gone to a circus sideshow. Joseph’s gift led him to be humble, patient and obedient, even though at times he was greatly tempted and felt forsaken by God. He fasted and wore iron chains for much of his life. The friars transferred Joseph several times for his own good...

Though the sacred stigmata St. Francis of Assisi bore the image of the Crucified.

From the beginning of his conversion our Seraphic Father Saint Francis had a very great devotion and veneration for Christ crucified and never ceased to preach this devotion till his death. In the year 1224 as he was rapt in deep contemplation on Mt. Alverna Christ the Lord by a stupendour miracle imprinted the marks of his passion on the saint's body. Pope Benedict XI permitted the Franciscan Order to celebrate annually on this day the memory of this extraordinary event attested by reliable witnesses. Today is that feast day.

To learn more please visit here.

He entered the minor seminary of the Conventual Franciscans in Lvív (then Poland, now Ukraine), near his birthplace, and at 16 became a novice. Though he later achieved doctorates in philosophy and theology, he was deeply interested in science, even drawing plans for rocket ships. Ordained at 24, he saw religious indifference as the deadliest poison of the day. His mission was to combat it. He had already founded the Militia of the Immaculata, whose aim was to fight evil with the witness of the good life, prayer, work and suffering. He dreamed of and then founded Knight of the Immaculata, a religious magazine under Mary’s protection to preach the Good News to all nations. For the work of publication he established a “City of the Immaculata”—Niepokalanow—which...

When he died at the age of 23, Louis was already a Franciscan, a bishop and a saint! Louis’s parents were Charles II of Naples and Sicily and Mary, daughter of the King of Hungary. Louis was related to St. Louis IX on his father’s side and to Elizabeth of Hungary on his mother’s side. Louis showed early signs of attachment to prayer and to the corporal works of mercy. As a child he used to take food from the castle to feed the poor. When he was 14, Louis and two of his brothers were taken as hostages to the king of Aragon’s court as part of a political deal involving Louis’s father. At the court Louis was tutored by Franciscan friars under whom he made great progress both in his studies and in the spiritual life. Like St. Francis he developed a special love for those afflicted with leprosy. For more information...

Born Chiara Offreduccio, she is an Italian saint and one of the first followers of Saint Francis of Assisi. She founded the Order of Poor Ladies, a religious order for women in the Franciscan tradition, and wrote their Rule of Life—the first rule known to have been written by a woman. Following her death, the order she founded was renamed in her honor as the Order of Saint Clare, commonly referred to today as the Poor Clares. The 41 years of Clare’s religious life are a scenario of sanctity: an indomitable resolve to lead the simple, literal gospel life as Francis taught her; courageous resistance to the ever-present pressure to dilute the ideal; a passion for poverty and humility; an ardent life of prayer; and a generous concern for her sisters. ...

St. Lawrence of Brindisi was born on July 22, 1559, and died exactly 60 years later on his birthday in 1619. His parents William and Elizabeth Russo gave him the name of Julius Caesar, Caesare in Italian. After the early death of his parents, he was educated by his uncle at the College of St. Mark in Venice. When he was just 16 he entered the Capuchin Franciscan Order in Venice and received the name of Lawrence. He completed his studies of philosophy and theology at the University of Padua and was ordained a priest at 23. With his facility for languages he was able to study the Bible in its original texts. At the request of Pope Clement VIII, he spent much time preaching to the Jews in Italy. So excellent was his knowledge of Hebrew, the rabbis...

Bonaventure, Franciscan, theologian, doctor of the Church, was both learned and holy. Because of the spirit that filled him and his writings, he was at first called the Devout Doctor; but in more recent centuries he has been known as the Seraphic Doctor after the “Seraphic Father” Francis because of the truly Franciscan spirit he possessed. Born in Bagnoregio, a town in central Italy, he was cured of a serious illness as a boy through the prayers of Francis of Assisi. Later, he studied the liberal arts in Paris. Inspired by Francis and the example of the friars, especially of his master in theology, Alexander of Hales, he entered the Franciscan Order, and became in turn a teacher of theology in the university. Chosen as minister general of the Order in 1257,...

These two friars were martyred in England in the 16th and 17th centuries for refusing to deny their faith. John Jones was Welsh. He was ordained a diocesan priest and was twice imprisoned for administering the sacraments before leaving England in 1590. He joined the Franciscans at the age of 60 and returned to England three years later while Queen Elizabeth I was at the height of her power. John ministered to Catholics in the English countryside until his imprisonment in 1596. He was condemned to be hanged, drawn and quartered. John was executed on July 12, 1598. John Wall was born in England but was educated at the English College of Douai, Belgium. Ordained in Rome in 1648, he entered the Franciscans in Douai several years later. In 1656 he returned to work secretly...

St. Anthony was born in Portugal, although most of his work was in Italy. He originally joined the Augustinian order, but he became a Franciscan when he was 26. This was because of the death of 5 Franciscan protomartyrs in Morocco, North Africa, whose headless and mutilated bodies had been brought back for burial. St. Anthony also wished to be a martyr, just like them. He is called the "Hammer of Heretics" because of his simple, and sometimes, miraculous manner of teaching the Catholic faith. The secret to his success was simply to repeat the "Holy Name of Mary" when speaking to heretics. St. Anthony often attracted huge crowds, and was sensationally successful. To learn more about St. Anthony please visit: http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1413...

Felix was the first Capuchin Franciscan ever canonized. In fact, when he was born, the Capuchins did not yet exist as a distinct group within the Franciscans. Born of humble, God-fearing parents in the Rieti Valley, Felix worked as a farmhand and a shepherd until he was 28. He developed the habit of praying while he worked. In 1543 he joined the Capuchins. When the guardian explained the hardships of that way of life, Felix answered: "Father, the austerity of your Order does not frighten me. I hope, with God’s help, to overcome all the difficulties which will arise from my own weakness." To learn more about St. Felix please visit:  http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1392...

Most of the saints suffer great personal opposition, even persecution. Bernardine, by contrast, seems more like a human dynamo who simply took on the needs of the world. He was the greatest preacher of his time, journeying across Italy, calming strife-torn cities, attacking the paganism he found rampant, attracting crowds of 30,000, following St. Francis of Assisi’s admonition to preach about “vice and virtue, punishment and glory.” Compared with St. Paul by the pope, Bernardine had a keen intuition of the needs of the time, along with solid holiness and boundless energy and joy. He accomplished all this despite having a very weak and hoarse voice, miraculously improved later because of his devotion to Mary. To learn more about St. Bernardine please visit: http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1389

St. Pedro de San Jose Betancur (Hermano Pedro) was born in the Canary Islands and arrived in Central America as a young man, convinced that his calling was to spread the Gospel in the New World. A man of deep prayer, he came to Guatemala in 1651 and began working among the most disadvantaged of the capital, the poor, the imprisoned, the slaves and the sick. A lay member of the Franciscans, he was known as the “St. Francis of the Americas” by the time he died of pneumonia at age 41. He founded Antigua’s first hospital in a small thatched hut a few doors away from the Quinta de las Flores where our surgical teams stay. For more information please visit:  http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1357...

Born in Casoria (near Naples), Arcangelo Palmentieri was a cabinet-maker before entering the Friars Minor in 1832, taking the name Ludovico. After his ordination five years later, he taught chemistry, physics and mathematics to younger members of his province for several years. In 1847 he had a mystical experience which he later described as a cleansing. After that he dedicated his life to the poor and the infirm, establishing a dispensary for the poor, two schools for African children, an institute for the children of nobility, as well as an institution for orphans, the deaf and the speechless, and other institutes for the blind, elderly and for travelers. In addition to an infirmary for friars of his province, he began charitable institutes...

The seventh general minister of the Franciscan Order, John was known for his attempts to bring back the earlier spirit of the Order after the death of St. Francis of Assisi. He was born in Parma, Italy, in 1209. It was when he was a young philosophy professor known for his piety and learning that God called him to bid good-bye to the world he was used to and enter the new world of the Franciscan Order. After his profession John was sent to Paris to complete his theological studies. Ordained to the priesthood, he was appointed to teach theology at Bologna, then Naples and finally Rome. In 1245, Pope Innocent IV called a general council in the city of Lyons, France. Crescentius, the Franciscan minister general at the time, was ailing and unable to...

As cook, porter and later the official beggar for the friars in Tortosa, he became well known for his charity. He healed the sick with the Sign of the Cross. When crowds of sick people began coming to the friary to see Salvator, the friars transferred him to Horta. Again the sick flocked to ask his intercession; one person estimated that two thousand people a week came to see Salvator. He told them to examine their consciences, to go to confession and to receive Holy Communion worthily. He refused to pray for those who would not receive those sacraments. The public attention given to Salvator was relentless. The crowds would sometimes tear off pieces of his habit as relics. Two years before his death, Salvator was moved again, this time to Cagliari on the island of Sardinia. He died at Cagliari saying, "Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit." He was canonized in 1938....

Sylvester of Assisi (died 1240) was born in Assisi in the second half of the 12th century. He was the son of Rosone di Monaldo, who was the brother of Favarone di Monaldo, the father of St. Clare of Assisi. Sylvester was ordained a diocesan priest and became a canon of the cathedral church of San Rufino in Assisi. In 1209 he joined Saint Francis of Assisi, and became the first priest in the primitive fraternity. He was known in the order for his strict observance of the life of poverty and contemplation. Together with St. Clare he prayed for enlightenment to discern the will of God for St. Francis. He often accompanied Francis during his preaching tours. Once, in the village of Arezzo, it was claimed by the residents that Sylvester's preaching and prayers...

Born as Carlo Gaetano Calosirto on the island of Ischia, he entered the Franciscan order at Naples at the age of sixteen. He had a reputation for austerity and for the gift of miracles. In 1674 he was sent to found a friary at Afila, Piedmont. He assisted in the actual construction. He was ordained as a priest (much against his will) and as superior, performed the lowliest tasks in the monastic community. In 1702 he was appointed Vicar Provincial of the Alcantarine Reform in Italy. He was beatified in 1789, and canonized in 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI. At the Aragonese Castle (Il Castello Aragonese) on Ischia, there is a small chapel consecrated to Saint John Joseph of the Cross. To learn more about St. John Joseph please visit: http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1313

Sebastian’s roads and bridges connected many distant places. His final bridge-building was to help men and women recognize their God-given dignity and destiny. Sebastian’s parents were Spanish peasants. At the age of 31 he sailed to Mexico, where he began working in the fields. Eventually he built roads to facilitate agricultural trading and other commerce. His 466-mile road from Mexico City to Zacatecas took 10 years to build and required careful negotiations with the indigenous peoples along the way. In time Sebastian was a wealthy farmer and rancher. At the age of 60 he entered a virginal marriage. His wife’s motivation may have been a large inheritance; his was to provide a respectable life for a girl without even a modest marriage dowry. When his first wife died, he entered another virginal marriage...

In 1220, St. Anthony was preaching conversion to the inhabitants of Padua when a young nobleman, Luke Belludi, came up to him and humbly asked to receive the habit of the followers of St. Francis. Anthony liked the talented, well-educated Luke and personally recommended him to St. Francis, who then received him into the Franciscan Order.

For more information please see the video below and http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1301

St. Conrad was a Franciscan tertiary and hermit. He was a noble, born at Piacenza, Italy. While hunting, Conrad made a fire that quickly engulfed a neighboring cornfield. A poor man was arrested as an arsonist and condemned to death, but Conrad stepped forward to admit his guilt in the matter. As a result, he had to sell his possessions to pay for the damages. Conrad and his wife decided to enter the religious life. She became a Poor Clare, and he entered the Franciscan Third Order as a hermit. Conrad went to Noto, on Sicily, where he lived the next three decades at St. Martin's Hospital and in a hermitage built by a wealthy friend. During his last years, he lived and prayed in the grotto of Pizzone outside of Noto. His cult was approved by Pope Paul III. ...

Colette did not seek the limelight, but in doing God’s will she certainly attracted a lot of attention. Colette was born in Corbie, France. At 21 she began to follow the Third Order Rule and became an anchoress, a woman walled into a room whose only opening was a window into a church. After four years of prayer and penance in this cell, she left it. With the approval and encouragement of the pope, she joined the Poor Clares and reintroduced the primitive Rule of St. Clare in the 17 monasteries she established. Her sisters were known for their poverty—they rejected any fixed income—and for their perpetual fast. Colette’s reform movement spread to other countries and is still thriving today. Colette was canonized in 1807. For more information please see: http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1284...

Joseph avoided the safe compromises by which people sometimes undercut the gospel. Born at Leonissa in the Kingdom of Naples, Joseph joined the Capuchins in his hometown in 1573. Denying himself hearty meals and comfortable quarters, he prepared for ordination and a life of preaching. In 1587 he went to Constantinople to take care of the Christian galley slaves working under Turkish masters. Imprisoned for this work, he was warned not to resume it on his release. He did and was again imprisoned and then condemned to death. Miraculously freed, he returned to Italy where he preached to the poor and reconciled feuding families as well as warring cities which had been at odds for years. He was canonized in 1746. For more information please see: http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1281...

Saint Hyacintha of Mariscotti was a nun of the Third Order of St. Francis. She was born in 1585 of a noble family at Vignanello, near Viterbo in Italy, and died 30 January 1640 at Viterbo. Her feast is 30 January; in Rome, 6 February (Diarium Romanum). Her parents were Marc' Antonio Mariscotti (Marius Scotus) and Ottavia Orsini. At baptism she received the name Clarice and in early youth was remarkable for piety, but, as she grew older, she became frivolous, which not even the almost-miraculous saving of her life at the age of 17 could change, nor her education at the Monastery of St. Bernardine at Viterbo, a religious community of Franciscan tertiary nuns, where an older sister had taken the veil. To learn more please visit: http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1276 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyacintha_Mariscotti

Brother Juniper called "the renowned jester of the Lord," was one of the original followers of Saint Francis of Assisi. Not much is known about Juniper before he joined the friars. In 1210, he was received into the order of the Franciscans by St. Francis himself. "Would to God, my brothers, I had a whole forest of such Junipers," Saint Francis would pun.

For more information on Brother Juniper please see:
http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1275
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Juniper

Born at the Château de Sales in Thorens, Savoy, August 21, 1567; died in Lyons, France, December 28, 1622; formally beatified the same year (1622) in Saint Peter's Basilica (the first solemn beatification to occur there); canonized 1665; named a Doctor of the Church in 1877; declared patron saint of journalists and the Catholic press in 1923; feast day formerly on January 29. Francis de Sales was a prolific writer and his books are well known. He began as a Franciscan Tertiary. For more information please see: http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1270 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_de_Sales...

Today is the optional memorial of St. Sebastian. While not a Franciscan he is still important to me. I chose him as my confirmation saint as he is the patron of archers and athletes.

To find out more about St. Sebastian see:

http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1266

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Sebastian

St. Berard and companions:

In 1219 with the blessing of St. Francis, Berard left Italy with Peter, Adjute, Accurs, Odo and Vitalis to preach in Morocco. To read more about the Saint of this day please visit: http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1262