Juliana was born in 1191 in the village of Retinnes in the principality of Liège, which is now Belgium. She and her twin sister Agnes were orphaned at the age of five and raised under the care of the Augustinian nuns in the convent and leprosarium of Mont Cornillon. After many years of studying under Sister Sapienza, who oversaw her spiritual development, Juliana became an Augustinian nun. Sister Juliana was very intelligent. She memorized the writings of the Church fathers, St. Augustine and St. Bernard, in Latin, and like many in her region and generation, she had a strong devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. She loved Christ and had a deep sense of His presence, often contemplating on the words of Jesus, “And lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

St. Hesychius was a priest who wrote about the Bible in the liturgy. He viewed Scripture as “perfect wisdom, the point of departure and the point of arrival to which the whole of our existence should be conformed.” Hesychius preached on Easter at the place of the crucifixion, exalting the cross and Christ’s victory. Like St. Cyril of Jerusalem, he taught a realistic doctrine of the Eucharist, which he regarded as a sacrifice identical with that of the cross. Hesychius taught that Christ was present to transform us through our inner absorption of his whole being. “Keep yourselves free from sin so that every day you may share in the mystic meal; by doing so our bodies become the body of Christ.”

Saint Anthony Mary Claret symbolized, in some sense, the whole Church as the innocent victim and hated enemy of modern world intrigue. There are those who see in Saint Anthony more than just an example, but actually a living prophecy of the persecution that Holy Mother Church and her divine Faith must endure in latter times, suffering humiliation and even apparent defeat before rising again victorious to her greatest glory. For the enemy who relentlessly persecuted Anthony Claret, while wreaking havoc on Spain and other countries, is that same demonic force which even now seeks the ruin of the Church.

For centuries the Church has reflected on the special relationship between St Joseph and the Eucharist. The biblical parallel between the ancient Joseph (son of Jacob), who during the famine distributed to the people the grain stored up in times of plenty (Genesis 41), and the glorious Guardian of the Redeemer is well known. To the former, the Pharaoh had entrusted the administration of all his goods, to the latter God had entrusted His Son. St Leonard Murialdo, developing a concept already expressed by St Bernard and St Bernardino, wrote that Mary’s spouse “did much more than the ancient Joseph: he kept the living bread that came down from heaven; he kept it not only for Egypt and a few Israelites, but for the whole world. Yes, Joseph saved from Herod the living bread that came down from heaven, so that after 30 years it could be given as food to the apostles and, through them, to all those who hunger for eternal life and happiness. Joseph hid this wheat of the elect for 30 years: Joseph’s house was a mysterious tabernacle; his arms a pyx; his chest a paten on which Jesus slept... And this most holy body of Jesus Christ, which nourishes us for eternal life, was nourished by Joseph’s labors.”

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque was chosen by God to reveal to the Christian World the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Her life was marked by supernatural experiences through which she greatly suffered in intense love for Jesus Christ. She consecrated her heart, while yet a child, to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. In order to dedicate herself wholly to her Divine Spouse, she joined the Visitation Order of nuns at 23 years of age.

Great preparations usually precede great events. The apparitions of Our Lady in Fatima were preceded by three visions of the Angel of Portugal to Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta. Providence prepared the children for the moment when Our Lady would speak to them.

Near Christmas 1916, the first recorded Eucharistic procession in the Sahara wended its solemn way through the sands. A French officer on horseback, followed by his soldiers, carried a monstrance with the Sacred Host, reverently veiled in a cloth.

Paschal Baylon was a Franciscan friar in Spain. Before joining the Order of Friars Minor in 1564, he worked as a shepherd. He always brought a book into the fields with the hope that someone who could read would pass by and help him learn. And someone did. He later explained his reasons for wanting to become a follower of Saint Francis of Assisi. He wrote: “I was born poor and I am resolved to die in poverty and penance.”

St. Peter Damian was a monk, reformer, and fearless teacher of the Faith. He executed the reforms of popes and was an instrumental figure in the life of the Church in the 11th Century. He gave up a life of monasticism in service to Christ and His Church. He was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church after his death. There is much that could be written about this remarkable saint and his works, but there are three aspects of his teaching that help us deepen our own spiritual lives. First, St. Peter Damian had a great love for the Cross of Christ. As well, had a profound devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, which is evident from his description of a Eucharistic miracle he witnessed. He also understood the essential nature of communion in the Church.

Marthe Robin was born on March 13, 1902, in Châteauneuf-de-Galaure (Drôme), in France, to a family of peasants, and she spent her entire life in her parents’ home, where she died February 6, 1981. Marthe’s entire existence revolved around the Eucharist, which for her was “the one thing that cures, comforts, lifts, blesses, my Everything.” In 1928, after a serious neurological illness, Marthe found it almost impossible to move, especially to swallow because those muscles were affected. Moreover, due to an eye illness, she was forced to live in almost absolute darkness.

As a young child, one of seven born to a noble family in Poland, Stanislaus was educated with his older brother, Paul, by a private tutor. At the age of 14, the two brothers were sent to study at the Jesuit College in Vienna. Stanislaus was a kind, intelligent and pious young man, but his piety was disdained by his older brother, who continually bullied him, lashing out at him verbally and physically.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem was born just about the time the Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire (313 AD) and was a boy when Queen Helena came to Jerusalem and erected the Church of the Holy Sepulchre over the site of Golgotha and the empty tomb. This church became Cyril’s cathedral when he became bishop of the Holy City of about 349 AD. St. Cyril was banished from his Jerusalem see a total of three times for his bold proclamation of faith in Christ’s full divinity during a time when many bishops and emperors favored various forms of the Arian heresy.

Between Lake George and Lake Champlain, there was a passage taken by a dozen canoes, carrying a few French Missionaries and a number of Huron Indians, returning with medical supplies from Quebec in 1642. The Huron men and women trusted the white man in the black robe who guided the lead canoe downstream. “Ondessonk”, they called him, “Bird of Prey”. Who could have said that the cultured boy with a decent upbringing in France would find himself at 35 years of age surrounded so far from home by such a flock? It had taken countless hours to grow accustomed to the uncomfortable crouch in that canoe, weeks to become the first white-man to hike over the Adirondacks and see Lake Superior, months to learn the languages and customs of these people he loved so dearly, and all of those prior six years to earn their trust.