Catholic Saint of the Day

The Ascension of Our Lord, which occurred 40 days after Jesus Christ rose from the dead on Easter Sunday, is the final act of our redemption that Christ began on Good Friday. On this day, the risen Christ, in the sight of His apostles, ascended bodily into Heaven (Luke 24:51; Mark 16:19; Acts 1:9-11).

Saint Isidore the Farmer (c. 1070 – 15 May 1130) was a Spanish day laborer known for his goodness toward the poor and animals. He is the patron of farmers, rural communities and of Madrid, Spain.

Jesus' choice of 12 Apostles points to a consciousness of a symbolic mission—originally there were 12 tribes of Israel—that the community maintained after the Crucifixion. Acts reveals that Matthias accompanied Jesus and the Apostles from the time of the Lord's Baptism to his Ascension and that, when it became time to replace Judas, the Apostles cast lots between Matthias and another candidate, St. Joseph Barsabbas.

Between May 13 and October 13, 1917, three Portuguese children, Francisco, Jacinta, and Lucia, received apparitions of Our Lady at Cova da Iria, near Fatima, a city 110 miles north of Lisbon. Mary asked the children to pray the rosary for world peace, for the end of World War I, for sinners and for the conversion of Russia.

Saint Leopold Mandic (May 12, 1866 - June 30, 1942) was an ethnic Croatian. Physically malformed and delicate, having a height of only 1.35m (4'5''), with a clumsy walk and stuttering, he developed tremendous spiritual strength. He is called the Saint of Confession. His feast is celebrated May 12.

Saint Mamertus is best remembered as he originator of the penitential practice of Rogation days. This practice is marked by processions and Psalms for the three days preceding the feast of the Ascension.

Father Damien or Saint Damien of Molokai (3 January 1840 – 15 April 1889), was member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. For 16 years he cared for the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of those in the leper colony of Molokaʻi. He eventually contracted and died of the disease, and is widely considered a "martyr of charity".

Saint Pachomius was born about 292 in Egypt. St. Pachomius was the first monk to organize hermits into groups and write down a Rule for them. Both St. Basil and St. Benedict drew from his Rule in setting forth their own more famous ones. Hence, though St. Anthony is usually regarded as the founder of Christian monasticism, it was really St. Pachomius who began monasticism as we know it today.

Saint Victor Maurus (Saint Victor the Moor) was a native of Mauretania. Born in the third century, he is believed to have been a soldier in the Praetorian guard. As an elderly man that he was arrested for the Faith. After severe tortures, including being basted with molten lead, he was decapitated under Maximian in Milan around the year 303. Later a church was erected over his grave.

Saint Rose Venerini (February 9, 1656 – May 7, 1728) was the founder of a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women, often called the Venerini Sisters. Rosa Venerini died a saintly death in the community of St. Mark's in Rome on the evening of May 7, 1728. She was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 15, 2006.