This Pope's name was Hildebrand and he was born in Italy. His uncle was the superior of a monastery in Rome and there the young boy was sent to be educated. Later, Hildebrand became a Benedictine monk in France, but soon he was called back to Rome. There he held very important positions under several Popes until he himself was made Pope.

For twenty-five years he had refused to let himself be elected. But when Pope Alexander II died, all the Cardinals made up their minds to elect Hildebrand Pope. With once voice they cried out, "Hildebrand is the elect of St. Peter!" "They carried me to the throne," wrote the Saint afterwards, "and my protests did no good. Fear filled my heard and darkness was all around me."
   
These were truly dark times for the Catholic Church, because kings and emperors were naming the men they wanted to be Bishops and Cardinals and even Popes. Many of these were not very good men and so they gave bad example.
   
The first thing Pope St. Gregory did was to pray for days. Then he asked others to pray for him, because he knew that without prayer, nothing could be done. Afterwards, he began to act to make the clergy better and to keep the civil rulers out of the affairs of the Church. This was a very difficult work because the rulers were all against any change. However, some gave in. But the Emperor Henry IV of Germany caused Pope Gregory great sufferings. He was a young man, sinful, and greedy for gold. He would not stop trying to run the affairs of the Church, and even sent his men to capture the Pope. But the people of Rome rescued the Saint from prison, and Gregory put the Emperor out of the Church. Henry set up another man as Pope. Of course this man was not the real Pope, but Henry tried to make people think he was. Then, once again the Emperor sent his armies to capture the Saint. Gregory was obliged to leave Rome. He retired to Salerno, when he died. His last words were, "I have loved justice and hated evil. That is why I am dying in exile."

Let us learn from this great Saint that the first thing to do in our difficulties is to pray.

David was the youngest son of St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland and her good husband, King Malcolm. He became king himself when he was about forty. Those who knew him well saw ho little he wanted to accept the royal crown. But once he was King, he was a very good one.

St. David ruled his kingdom with great justice. He was very charitable to the poor and let all his subjects come to visit him whenever they desired. He gave everyone good example with is own love of prayer. Under this holy king, the people of Scotland united more closely into one nation and became better Christians.

King David established new dioceses and built many new monasteries. He gave much money to the Church during his rule of about twenty years.

Two days before he died, he received the last Sacraments and spent his time praying with those attending him. The next day, they urged him to rest, but he answered: "Let me think about the things of God, instead, so that my soul may be strengthened on its trip from exile to home." By home, the Saint meant our heavenly home. "When I stand before God's judgment seat, you will not be able to answer for me or defend me," he said. "No one will be able to deliver me from His hand." So he kept on praying right up until he died.

When we are tempted to excuse our faults by saying, "Everyone else does it," let us remember that this excuse will not count when we go before God to be judged...

St. Julia was born of noble parents in North Africa. When she was still quite young, her city was conquered by barbarians. Julia was captured and sold as a slave to a pagan merchant. But she did not complain or feel sorry for herself. She accepted everything, and performed the most humble tasks with wonderful cheerfulness. For Julia loved God with her whole heart. In her spare time, she read holy books and prayed fervently.

One day her master decided to take her with him to France. On the way, he stopped at an island to go to a, pagan festival. Julia refused even to go near the place where they were celebrating. She did not want to have anything to do with those superstitious ceremonies.

The governor of that region was very angry with her for not joining in the pagan feast. "Who is that woman who dares to insult our gods?" he cried. Julia's owner answered that she was a Christian. He said, too, that although he had not been able to make her give up her religion, still she was such a good, faithful servant that he would not know what to do without her.

"I will give you four of my best women slaves for her," offered the governor. But her master refused.

"No," he said. "All you own will not buy her. I would willingly lose the most valuable thing in the world rather than lose her."

When the merchant was asleep, however, the wicked governor tried to make Julia sacrifice to the gods. He promised to have her set free if she would. But she absolutely refused. She said she was as free as she wanted to be as long as she could serve Jesus. Then the pagan ruler, in great anger, had her struck on the face and her hair torn from her head. She was next put on a cross to hang there until she died.

We would never look down on anyone if we stopped to think that poor or homely boys or girls may be much closer to God than we are.

Rita was born in a little Italian village when her good parents had already grown rather old. They had fervently begged God to send them a child, and they brought her up very well. However, when, at fifteen, she asked them to let her enter the convent, they wanted her to marry, instead.

The man they chose for Rita turned out to be a very mean, unfaithful husband. He had such a hot temper that everyone in the neighborhood was afraid of him. Yet, for eighteen years, his wife patiently took all his insults. Her prayers, gentleness and goodness at last won his heart, and he returned to God. In fact, when his temper seemed about to get the best of him, he would leave the house because he did not want to make Rita feel bad, and would return when he calmed down.

The Saint's happiness over her husband's conversion did not last long, for one day he was suddenly murdered. Yet she forgave his murderers and tried to make her two sons forgive them, too. When she saw that they, instead, were determined to revenge their father's death, she prayed, "Lord, I would rather see my sons dead than see them stain their souls with sin." Her courageous prayer was answered. In one year, both boys died, and while she nursed them lovingly, Rita had the grace to persuade them to forgive, and to ask God's forgiveness for themselves.

Left alone in the world, the Saint now tried three times to enter the convent in Cascia, but that community was not permitted to accept widows. She did not give up, however, and at last, they made an exception for her. In the convent, Rita was outstanding for her obedience and charity. She had great devotion to Jesus Crucified and once, while praying, she asked Him to let her share some of His pain. One thorn from His crown of thorns pierced her forehead and made a sore that never healed. In fact, it grew so bad and gave off such an odor that St. Rita had to stay away from the other Sisters. She was happy to suffer, and died when she was seventy six years old.

If we want to convert a person who is far from God, let us pray with faith and without ceasing, until we receive this grace.

Andrew was born in Poland, and after he became a Jesuit priest, people began to realize what a great preacher he was. For twenty years, he traveled from one village to the next, converting those who had-left the Catholic Church.

Then he was made Superior of one of the houses of his Order. A terrible sickness spread through the land, and St. Andrew risked his own life to help the sick and the dying.
   
After being Superior, he went back to preaching and was so successful that enemies of the Church tried in every way to stop him. For several years, in every village, they trained groups of children to follow him, calling  him names shouting to drown out his voice when he tried to preach. Still the Saint never lost patience with them or quit.
   
At last, Father Bobola was captured by those who hated him and the Catholic Church . He was beaten without mercy, but he would not give up the Faith, then they began to torture him in ways to cruel to describe. Because he kept calling on Jesus and Mary, they tore out his tongue, they wounded him in every part of his body. Finally they ended the Saint's life by cutting off his head.
   
Let us bravely patiently offer up our small sufferings for the love of Jesus, Who died on the cross for love of us.

Bernadine was the son of an Italian governor. Before he was seven years old, his father and mother died, but his good aunt brought him up, and his uncle gave him a good education. He grew to be a tall, handsome boy who was so much fun that all his friends loved to be with him. Yet they knew better that to use any impure words when he was around, for he would not stand for it. Twice when an evil man tried to lead him into sin, Bernadine punched him in the face and sent him running with stones flying after him!
   
The Saint had special love for the Blessed Mother, and it was she who kept him pure. Even when he was a teenager, he would talk to her in prayer, as a child talks with his mother. For the poor, he felt great pity, and once, when his aunt had no extra food to give a beggar, Bernadine cried, "I'd rather go without food myself than leave that poor man with none!"
   
Bernadine became a Franciscan priest and soon began his life's work of preaching. At first, his voice was so hoarse and weak that he could not be heard well. He prayed to Our Lady to change it, and it became clear and strong. Before every sermon, Bernadine read the Holy Bible and prayed before the crucifix. Then after he preached, he knelt again before the crucifix to pray for himself and for those who had listened to him.
   
In those days, bad habits were ruining both young and old people. "How can I save these lost people by myself?" The Saint cried to the Lord. "With what weapons can I fight the devil?" And God answered, "My Holy Name will be enough for you." So Bernadine spread devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus. He used this Name a great many times in every sermon and had people put it over the gates of the cities, over their doorways-every-where. With this devotion and devotion to the Blessed Mother, this great Saint converted thousands of people all over Italy.
   
Let us invoke the Holy Name of Jesus very often. We will realize how powerful it is against every danger we may face.

Felix was born of poor Italian farmers, as a little boy, he used to take his father's cows out out to pasture. He became a shepherd next and when he grew stronger, he took a job ploughing a rich man's fields. Felix got into the wonderful habit of letting everything he was remind him of God's power and goodness. For a while, he thought he might become a hermit, but he finally decided it would be better to join a monastery.
   
St. Felix was thirty years old when he became a Capuchin brother. He had to beg the Superior to let him enter. The Superior led Felix to a crucifix and asked him, "Can you live your whole life on the cross with Jesus?" the Saint proved that he was ready to suffer anything for the love of God. The duty given to Brother Felix was to beg for food for the community. Joyfully he did this hard, humble work daily for forty years in Rome. Even though he was always among people, he never lost the thought of God's presence, and he was so pure that he said he had not once gazed on a woman's face.
   
So humble was St. Felix that he hid all the penances he performed. When someone noticed that he was walking barefoot, he said, "I can walk faster this way." Although he could not read or write, St. Charles Borromeo and St. Philip Neri used to go to him for advice. Felix often said that he knew only six letters: five red ones and one white one. By the five red ones, he meant the five wounds of Our Lord, as he was very devoted to the Passion of Jesus. By the white letter, he meant the spotless purity of Mary. Indeed, by studying and copying these six "letters," Felix became a great saint.
   
A very powerful means to live as the Saints did is to remember that God sees us all the time. If we remember this, we will never do anything displeasing to Him.

Paschal is a Spanish saint. From the time he was seven until he was twenty-four years old, he worked as a shepherd and never had a chance to go to school. Yet he taught himself to read and write, asking everyone he met to help him. This he did so that he could read from religious books.

Paschal was very honest. If any of his sheep damaged someone's crops in any way he would make sure the owner was paid for what was lost.

When he was twenty-four, the shepherd became a Franciscan brother. His companions in the monastery found him to be a kind, humble man who willingly did the most unpleasant and hardest chores. He practiced even more mortifications than the strict rule required so that he could overcome his temptations.

Yet he was a happy soul whose great joy was to be with Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. He would kneel for hours at a time before the altar without letting his joined hands touch the pew, and he loved to serve one Mass after the other. Out of some scraps of paper, St. Paschal made himself a little notebook. In it, in nice handwriting, he wrote down some beautiful thoughts and prayers. After he died, a holy Archbishop read some of these and exclaimed, "These simple souls are stealing Heaven from us!"

St. Paschal's other great love was the Blessed Mother. Every day he said as many Rosaries as he could and he wrote beautiful prayers to our Heavenly Mother. This humble Saint died with the Rosary in his hands just as the bell rang at the consecration of the Mass. The last word on his lips was the holy name of Jesus.

Let us make it a practice never to pass a church without paying a brief visit to Jesus. He lives there for our love and wants to help us in all our needs.

When he was only a child, this son of a noble Italian family became an orphan. His uncle, a bishop, took charge of him and gave him a good education. When he finished his schooling, Ubald had the chance to marry any one of a number of lovely noblewomen, but he wanted to dedicate his life to God. He became a priest, and since his virtue was outstanding, the Pope made him bishop of Gubbio, Ubald's own city.

St. Ubald was so mild and patient that he did not seem to mind any insult. Once a workman repairing the city wall damaged his vineyard very much. The Saint gently pointed it out to him. The workman, who probably did not recognize the bishop, shoved him so hard that he fell into a pile of wet cement and got up all covered with it. Yet he said not one word of complaint and went into his house. The city officials were going to punish the man, but Ubald wanted him to be set free and he himself gave him the kiss of peace.

The holy Bishop did indeed love peace, and he had the courage it takes to keep it. Once, when the people of Gubbio were fighting in the streets, he threw himself between the two angry crowds. He seemed unafraid of the swords clashing and the rocks flying. Suddenly he fell to the ground. The people stopped fighting at once, for they thought the Saint had been killed. But he got up and showed them that he was not even hurt. Then all together, the people thanked God for having stopped them from doing each other more harm.

Another time, when the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa was going to attack the city, St. Ubald went out on the road to talk to him, and he convinced this bold emperor to leave Gubbio alone.

The Saint also had much to suffer from sicknesses. Yet he never spoke about his pains, and if someone tried to show sorrow over them, he would change the subject at once. Even in his last sickness, he managed to get up to say Mass and give the people his blessing.

Let us learn from St. Ubald never to give in to anger, and to forgive those who may hurt us in any way.

This young Frenchman was studying to become a priest when both his parents died. He had to leave the seminary and go home to take care of educating
his brothers. But while he was teaching and training
them, he kept on studying himself. So it was that they turned out to be fine young men, and John Baptist was ordained a priest.

At that time, the noble people in France lived in great luxury, and the common people were terribly poor and ignorant. St. John Baptist felt very sorry for the children of the poor, and began to open schools for them. To provide teachers, he started the Congregation of the Brothers of the Christian Schools.

Although St. John Baptist also taught the children himself, he spent most of his time training the teaching brothers. For them he wrote a rule of life and a book explaining the best way to teach. He was one of the best educators of all time and he believed in teaching in the language of the people, not in Latin, as others did. He grouped the students into classes and made sure they kept silent while the lesson was being explained.

After a while the brothers opened more schools and taught the sons of the working people and nobles, too. Many difficulties faced the new Congregation, but with St. John Baptist's constant prayer and sacrifices, it continued to grow and to spread everywhere.

To please God and to do well in our studies, we shall be quiet during class and listen to the explanation of the lesson.