THE FRANCISCAN FRIARS, TOR

Blessed Anthony Grassi Saint of the Day for December 18 (November 13, 1592 – December 13, 1671) Click to hear audio clip ► Blessed Anthony Grassi’s Story Anthony’s father died when his son was only 10 years old, but the young lad inherited his father’s devotion to Our Lady of Loreto. As a schoolboy, he […]

Blessed Pope Urban V Saint of the Day for December 19 (1310 – December 19, 1370) Click to hear audio clip ► Blessed Pope Urban V’s Story In 1362, the man elected pope declined the office. When the cardinals could not find another person among them for that important office, they turned to a relative […]

Saint Dominic of Silos Saint of the Day for December 20 (c. 1000 – December 20, 1073) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Dominic of Silos’ Story It’s not the founder of the Dominicans we honor today, but there’s a poignant story that connects both Dominics. Our saint today, Dominic of Silos, was born […]

Saint Peter Canisius Saint of the Day for December 21 (May 8,1521 – December 21, 1597) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Peter Canisius’ Story The energetic life of Peter Canisius should demolish any stereotypes we may have of the life of a saint as dull or routine. Peter lived his 76 years at a […]

Blessed Jacopone da Todi Saint of the Day for December 22 (c. 1230 – December 25, 1306) Click to hear audio clip ► Blessed Jacopone da Todi’s Story Jacomo, or James, was born a noble member of the Benedetti family in the northern Italian city of Todi. He became a successful lawyer and married a […]

Saint John of Kanty Saint of the Day for December 23 (June 24, 1390 – December 24, 1473) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint John of Kanty’s Story John was a country lad who made good in the big city and the big university of Kraków, Poland. After brilliant studies he was ordained a priest […]

Christmas at Greccio Saint of the Day for December 24 Click to hear audio clip ► The Story of Christmas at Greccio What better way to prepare for the arrival of the Christ Child than to take a brief journey to Greccio, the spot in central Italy where Saint Francis of Assisi created the first Christmas […]

Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord Saint of the Day for December 25 Click to hear audio clip ► The Story of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord On this day, the Church focuses especially on the newborn Child, God become human, who embodies for us all the hope and peace we […]

Saint Stephen Saint of the Day for December 26 (d. c. 36 ) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint Stephen’s Story As the number of disciples continued to grow, the Greek-speaking Christians complained about the Hebrew-speaking Christians, saying that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. So the Twelve called together the […]

Saint John the Apostle Saint of the Day for December 27 (6 – 100) Click to hear audio clip ► Saint John the Apostle’s Story It is God who calls; human beings answer. The vocation of John and his brother James is stated very simply in the Gospels, along with that of Peter and his brother […]