Blessed Among Us

Robert Ellsberg is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Orbis Books and the author of several award-winning books, including All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time; Blessed Among All Women; and The Saints’ Guide to Happiness.

“Every single day I read Robert Ellsberg's concise, fascinating, and inspiring lives of the saints in my copy of Give Us This Day.  And every single day I am amazed by the astounding lives that have been lived out of love for Christ.  Happily, many of these wonderful stories are now gathered together in this marvelous new book, which will guide you through the year with the help of these patrons and companions."James Martin, SJ, author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage

• Introduction xviiiJANUARY1 Mary, Mother of Jesus • St. Zdislava Berka 22 St. Basil the Great • Blessed Marie Anne Blondin 43 St. Genevieve • Lanza del Vasto 64 St. Syncletica • St. Elizabeth Ann Seton 85 St. John Neumann • St. Genevieve Torres Morales 106 St. Gertrude of Delft • St. André Bessette 127 St. Angela of Foligno • St. Raphaela Mary 148 Giotto • Galileo Galilei 169 Blessed Alix le Clercq • Pauline Jaricot 1810 St. Leonie Aviat • Blessed Maria Dolores Rodriguez Sopena 2011 Lambert Beauduin • Mev Puleo 2212 St. Aelred of Rievaulx • St. Marguerite Bourgeoys 2413 Blessed Jutta of Huy • George Fox 2614 Blessed Odoric of Pordenone • Anthony Brouwers 2815 St. Ita • St. Arnold Janssen 3016 St. Joseph Vaz • Blessed Juana Maria Lluch 3217 St. Antony of Egypt • Roberto de Nobili 3418 St. Prisca • St. Margaret of Hungary 3619 St. Paula • Mother Joseph of the Sacred Heart 3820 Alessandro Valignano • Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi 4021 St. Agnes • Mary Angeline McCrory 4222 Blessed William Joseph Chaminade • Satoko Kitahara 4423 Blessed James the Almsgiver • St. Marianne Cope 4624 St. Francis de Sales • Blessed Nikolaus Gross 4825 Dorothy Hennessey • Samuel Ruiz 5026 Saints Timothy and Titus • Blessed Michael Kozal 5227 St. Angela Merici • Mahalia Jackson 5428 St. Thomas Aquinas • Fyodor Dostoevsky 5629 St. Andrei Rublev • Maisie Ward 5830 Mary Ward • Mohandas Gandhi 6031 St. Marcella • St. John Bosco 62FEBRUARY1 St. Brigid of Ireland • Alfred Delp 662 St. Cornelius the Centurion • Blessed Mary Catherine Kasper 683 St. Claudine Thévenet • Mary Elizabeth Lange 704 St. Joan of Valois • St. John de Britto 725 St. Agatha • Pedro Arrupe 746 St. Paul Miki and Companions • Thecla Merlo 767 Blessed Rosalie Rendu •  Blessed Mary of Providence (Eugénie Smet) 788 Blessed Jacoba of Settesoli • St. Josephine Bakhita 809 St. Apollonia • Blessed Marianus Scotus 8210 St. Scholastica • Daniel Egan 8411 St. Evagrius Ponticus • Muriel Lester 8612 Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection • Dorothy Stang 8813 St. Catherine dei Ricci • Georges Rouault 9014 Saints Cyril and Methodius • Brother James Miller 9215 St. Claude de la Colombière • Ben Salmon 9416 St. Verdiana • Walter Burghardt 9617 Martyrs of China • Janani Luwum 9818 Blessed Fra Angelico • Michelangelo 10019 St. Conrad of Piacenza • St. Philothea of Athens 10220 Francis X. Ford • Dorothy Gauchat 10421 St. Robert Southwell • Blessed Maria Enrica Dominici 10622 St. Margaret of Cortona • Hans and Sophie Scholl 10823 St. Polycarp • Blessed Rafaela Ybarra de Vilallonga 11024 Blessed Margaret Ebner • Blessed Josefa Naval Girbés 11225 St. Walburga • Felix Varela 11426 Blessed Isabel of France • Antonio Valdivieso 11627 St. Gregory of Narek • St. Gabriel Possenti 11828 Martyrs of the Plague of Alexandria • St. John Cassian 120MARCH1 George Herbert • Engelmar Unzeitig 1242 St. Agnes of Bohemia • John Wesley 1263 Concepción Cabrera de Armida • St. Katharine Drexel 1284 Blessed Placide Viel • Martin Niemoeller 1305 St. Gerasimus • St. Kieran of Saighir 1326 St. Colette • Jean-Pierre de Caussade 1347 Saints Perpetua and Felicity • St. Catherine of Bologna 1368 St. John of God • St. Marie-Eugenie Milleret 1389 St. Gregory of Nyssa • St. Frances of Rome 14010 The Forty Martyrs of Sebastea • Harriet Tubman 14211 St. Teresa Margaret Redi • James Reeb 14412 Blessed Angela Salawa • Rutilio Grande 14613 St. Matilda • Blessed Dulce Pontes 14814 Fannie Lou Hamer • Chiara Lubich 15015 St. Louise de Marillac • Mother Benedicta Riepp 15216 St. John de Brebeuf • Eusebio Kino 15417 St. Patrick • St. Gertrude of Nivelles 15618 St. Cyril of Jerusalem • Antonio de Andrade 15819 St. Joseph • Blessed Marcel Callo 16020 Mother Catherine Spalding • St. Maria Josefa de Guerra 16221 St. Benedetta Frassinello • Viola Liuzzo 16422 Blessed Clemens August van Galen • Luis Espinal Camps 16623 Blessed Sibyllina of Pavia • St. Rebecca Ar-Rayès 16824 St. Catherine of Vadstena • Blessed Oscar Romero 17025 St. Dismas • Ida B. Wells 17226 Anne Frank • Raoul Wallenberg 17427 St. John of Egypt • The Cloud of Unknowing Author 17628 Moses • Marc Chagall 17829 Micah • Karl Rahner 18030 St. John Climacus • Thea Bowman 18231 John Donne • St. Maria Skobtsova 184APRIL1 Blessed Giuseppe Girotti • Ignatia Gavin 1882 St. Francis of Paola • Carla Ronci 1903 C. F. Andrews • Jean Goss 1924 St. Benedict the Black • Martin Luther King Jr. 1945 St. Juliana of Liège • Pandita Ramabai 1966 St. Mary Crescentia • Blessed Michael Rua 1987 St. John Baptist de la Salle • Blessed Maria Assunta Pallotta 2008 St. Julie Billiart • Martyrs of the Rwandan Genocide 2029 Mother Mary Demetrias Cunningham • Dietrich Bonhoeffer 20410 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin • Howard Thurman 20611 St. Guthlac • St. Stanislaus 20812 Peter Waldo • St. Teresa of Los Andes 21013 St. Martin I • Blessed Margaret of Citta-di-Castello 21214 St. Lydwina of Schiedam • Bishop James A. Walsh 21415 Mother Lurana White • Corrie ten Boom 21616 St. Benedict Joseph Labre • St. Bernadette Soubirous 21817 Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz • Anna Dengel 22018 Cornelia Connelly • Blessed Savina Petrilli 22219 St. Alphege • Blessed Bernard the Penitent 22420 St. Hildegund of Schonau • St. Agnes of Montepulciano 22621 St. Apollonius • St. Anselm 22822 Käthe Kollwitz • Engelbert Mveng 23023 Blessed Maria Gabriella Sagheddu • Cesar Chavez 23224 St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier • Blessed Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad 23425 St. Mark • St. Pedro de San José Betancur 23626 Nano Nagle • Juan Gerardi 23827 St. Zita • Niall O’Brien 24028 Blessed Luchesio and Buonadonna • Jacques Maritain 24229 Blessed Pauline von Mallinckrodt • St. Catherine of Siena 24430 St. Marie of the Incarnation • Daniel Berrigan 246MAY1 Thomas à Kempis • Ade Bethune 2502 St. Athanasius • Takashi Nagai 2523 Saints Philip and James • Elisabeth Leseur 2544 Anna • Mother Mary Ignatius Hayes 2565 St. Jutta • Henry David Thoreau 2586 Blessed Mary Catherine of Cairo • Blessed Anna Rosa Gattorno 2607 St. Rosa Venerini • Demetrius Gallitzin 2628 Blessed Mary Catherine of St. Augustine •  Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich 2649 St. Pachomius • Blessed Theresa of Jesus Gerhardinger 26610 St. Damien of Molokai • Walker Percy 26811 St. Magdalene of Canossa • Horace McKenna 27012 Edel Quinn • Vincent Donovan 27213 St. Mary Mazzarello • René Voillaume 27414 St. Matthias • The Syrophoenician Mother 27615 St. Isidore • Peter Maurin 27816 St. Brendan • Julian of Norwich 28017 Jeremiah • Emily Dickinson 28218 St. Dymphna • Larry Rosebaugh 28419 St. Alcuin • St. Celestine V 28620 Blessed Columba of Rieti • St. Toribio Romo González 28821 Blessed Franz Jägerstätter •  Christian de Chergé and Companions 29022 The Baal Shem Tov • St. Joachima de Vedruna 29223 Girolamo Savonarola • Emil Kapaun 29424 St. Joanna the Myrrhbearer • Maria of Jesus of Agreda 29625 St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi • St. Madeleine Sophie Barat 29826 St. Bede the Venerable • St. Philip Neri 30027 St. Augustine of Canterbury • St. Melangell of Wales 30228 St. Mariana of Quito • Marc Sangnier 30429 Noah • St. Ursula Ledóchowska 30630 St. Joan of Arc • Cardinal Emmanuel Suhard 30831 Saints Mary and Elizabeth • St. Baptista Varano 310JUNE1 St. Justin • Thomas Berry 3142 Marguerite Porete • Anthony de Mello 3163 St. Kevin • St. Charles Lwanga and Companions 3184 Margaret Anna Cusack • Maurice Blondel 3205 St. Boniface • André Trocmé 3226 St. Philip the Deacon • Ann Manganaro 3247 Blessed Anne of St. Bartholomew • Chief Seattle 3268 Anne de Xainctonge • Gerard Manley Hopkins 3289 St. Columba • Blessed Anne Mary Taigi 33010 Antoni Gaudi • Gabrielle Bossis 33211 St. Barnabas • St. Paula Frassinetti 33412 Sigrid Undset • Medgar Evers 33613 St. Anthony of Padua • Martin Buber 33814 St. Elisha • G. K. Chesterton 34015 Hagar the Egyptian • St. Germaine Cousin 34216 St. Lutgardis • Evelyn Underhill 34417 St. Emily de Vialar • Martyrs of “Mother Emanuel” 34618 St. Elizabeth of Schonau • Blessed Osanna of Mantua 34819 St. Juliana Falconieri • Lord John Acton 35020 Blessed Michelina of Pesaro • Cardinal Yves Congar 35221 St. Aloysius Gonzaga • James Chaney and Companions 35422 St. Alban • St. Thomas More 35623 St. Etheldreda • Blessed Mary of Oignies 35824 Ruth and Naomi • Vincent Lebbe 36025 The Hemorrhaging Woman • St. Febronia 36226 Martyrs Under Nero • Hans Urs von Balthasar 36427 Blessed Madeleine Fontaine and Companions • Hannah 36628 St. Irenaeus • St. John Southworth 36829 Saints Peter and Paul • St. Emma 37030 Blessed Ramón Lull • Pierre Toussaint 372JULY1 St. Junipero Serra • Blessed Antonio Rosmini 3762 St. Monegundis • Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim 3783 St. Thomas • Bernard Haring 3804 St. Elizabeth of Portugal • Blessed Catherine Jarrige 3825 St. Anthony Zaccaria • Georges Bernanos 3846 St. Maria Goretti • Blessed Mary Theresa Ledóchowska 3867 Blessed Maria Romero Meneses • Peace Pilgrim 3888 Jan Hus • Angelus Silesius 3909 Rose Hawthorne • St. Pauline of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus 39210 Augustus Tolton • Eve Lavalliere 39411 St. Benedict • Desiderius Erasmus 39612 St. Veronica • Saints Zélie and Louis Martin 39813 Blessed Angelina of Marsciano • St. Clelia Barbieri 40014 St. Kateri Tekakwitha • Cicely Saunders 40215 St. Bonaventure • Blessed Anne-Marie Javouhey 40416 St. Mary-Magdalen Postel • St. Elizabeth Feodorovna 40617 St. Hedwig of Poland • Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne 40818 Bartolomé de Las Casas • St. Camillus de Lellis 41019 St. Macrina the Younger • Rebecca Nurse 41220 Elijah • Pope Leo XIII 41421 St. Margaret • Lawrence Jenco 41622 St. Mary Magdalene • Albert Luthuli 41823 St. Bridget of Sweden • Anne Hutchinson 42024 Saints Boris and Gleb • St. Christina the Astonishing 42225 St. James the Great • St. Christopher 42426 Saints Anne and Joachim • Blessed Andrew of Phu Yen 42627 The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus • Blessed Titus Brandsma 42828 William Wilberforce • Stanley Rother 43029 St. Martha of Bethany • Blessed Beatrice of Nazareth 43230 Blessed Zdenka Cecilia Schelingova • Bishop James E. Walsh 43431 St. Ignatius Loyola • Solanus Casey 436AUGUST1 St. Alphonsus Liguori • The Martyrs of Nowogrodek 4402 St. Basil the Blessed • St. Peter Faber 4423 St. Lydia • Flannery O’Connor 4444 St. John Vianney • Enrique Angelelli 4465 St. Nonna • Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh 4486 St. Afra • Antonio Margil 4507 St. Victricius • St. Bonifacia Rodríguez y Castro 4528 St. Dominic • St. Mary MacKillop 4549 St. Candida Maria of Jesus •  St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) 45610 St. Lawrence • St. Susanna 45811 St. Clare • Eunice Shriver 46012 St. Jeanne de Chantal • William Blake 46213 Florence Nightingale • Blessed Otto Neururer and Jakob Gapp 46414 Michael McGivney • St. Maximilian Kolbe 46615 Jonathan Daniels • John Courtney Murray 46816 St. Roch • Brother Roger Schutz 47017 St. Jeanne Delanoue • Black Elk 47218 St. Helena • Jessica Powers 47419 Blaise Pascal • Mary Magdalen Bentivoglio 47620 St. Bernard • St. Maria de Mattias 47821 Geert Groote • Blessed Victoria Rasoamanarivo 48022 Luis de Leon • Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr. 48223 St. Rose of Lima • St. Joan Antide-Thouret 48424 St. Bartholomew • Simone Weil 48625 St. Genesius the Actor • St. Joseph Calasanz 48826 St. Elizabeth Bichier des Ages •  St. Mary of Jesus Crucified (Mariam Baouardy) 49027 St. Monica • Dom Helder Camara 49228 St. Augustine • Blessed Edmund Rice 49429 Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist • Blessed Santia Szymkowiak 49630 St. Margaret Ward • St. Jeanne Jugan 49831 Saints Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus • John Leary 500SEPTEMBER1 St. Drithelm • François Mauriac 5042 Blessed Margaret of Louvain • French Martyrs of September 5063 St. Phoebe • St. Gregory the Great 5084 St. Rose of Viterbo • Blessed Catherine of Racconigi 5105 Blessed Jean-Joseph Lataste • St. Teresa of Calcutta 5126 Albert Schweitzer • E. F. Schumacher 5147 St. Kassiani • Alexander Men 5168 Saints Natalia and Adrian • Blessed Frederic Ozanam 5189 St. Peter Claver • John Howard Griffin 52010 St. Pulcheria • Blessed Louisa of Savoy 52211 St. Notburga • Mychal Judge 52412 Amos • Stephen Biko 52613 St. John Chrysostom • Dante Alighieri 52814 Marie-Therese de Lamourous • Blessed Pino Puglisi 53015 St. Catherine of Genoa • Martyrs of Birmingham 53216 St. Cyprian • St. Edith of Wilton 53417 St. Hildegard of Bingen • Adrienne von Speyr 53618 Dag Hammarskjöld • Corita Kent 53819 St. Emily de Rodat • Sadhu Sundar Singh 54020 St. Andrew Kim and the Korean Martyrs • Mercy Hirschboeck 54221 St. Matthew • Henri Nouwen 54422 St. Maurice and Companions • Daria Donnelly 54623 St. Thecla • St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) 54824 Blessed Robert of Knaresborough • Blessed Emily Tavernier 55025 Mechthild of Magdeburg • St. Sergius of Radonezh 55226 St. Therese Couderc • Blessed Paul VI 55427 Margery Kempe • St. Vincent de Paul 55628 St. Eustochium • St. Lioba 55829 Saints Michael, Gabriel, Raphael • Blessed Richard Rolle 56030 St. Jerome • Shusaku Endo 562OCTOBER1 St. Thérèse of Lisieux • Romano Guardini 5662 Agneta Chang • Carlo Carretto 5683 St. Theodore Guerin • Blessed Columba Marmion 5704 St. Francis of Assisi • Blessed Bartholomew Longo 5725 Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos • St. Mary Faustina Kowalska 5746 St. Bruno • Blessed Mary Rose Durocher 5767 John Woolman • Eileen Egan 5788 St. Pelagia the Penitent • Penny Lernoux 5809 Blessed John Henry Newman • Mollie Rogers 58210 Blessed Angela Truszkowska • Oskar Schindler 58411 St. John XXIII • João Bosco Bournier 58612 Elizabeth Fry • Caryll Houselander 58813 Rabbi Nachman of Breslau • Madeleine Delbrêl 59014 St. Callistus • Julius Nyerere 59215 St. Teresa of Avila • Jules Monchanin 59416 St. Hedwig • St. Margaret Mary Alacoque 59617 St. Ignatius of Antioch • Ursuline Martyrs of France 59818 St. Luke • Mother Antonia Brenner 60019 St. Isaac Jogues • Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko 60220 Blessed Mary Teresa de Soubiran • St. Mary Bertilla Boscardin 60421 St. Ursula and Companions • St. Margaret Clitherow 60622 Mother Janet Erskine Stuart • St. John Paul II 60823 Maura O’Halloran • Adorers of the Blood of Christ 61024 St. Anthony Mary Claret • Rosa Parks 61225 Saints Daria and Chrysanthus •  The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales 61426 Blessed Contardo Ferrini • Sarah and Angelina Grimké 61627 St. Severinus Boethius • Henri Perrin 61828 St. Simon and St. Jude • Clarence Jordan 62029 St. Marcellus • Blessed Restituta Kafka 62230 Hadewijch of Brabant • St. Dorothy of Montau 62431 St. Alphonsus Rodriguez • Louis Massignon 626NOVEMBER1 Feast of All Saints 6302 Léon Bloy • Mother Mary Walsh 6323 St. Malachy • St. Martin de Porres 6344 St. Charles Borromeo • Raissa Maritain 6365 Saints Zechariah and Elizabeth • Blessed Bernard Lichtenberg 6386 Blessed Joan Mary de Maille • Little Sister Magdeleine of Jesus 6407 Alexander de Rhodes • John Kavanaugh 6428 Blessed John Duns Scotus • Søren Kierkegaard 6449 Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity • Kristallnacht Martyrs 64610 St. Leo the Great • The Lübeck Martyrs 64811 St. Martin of Tours • Catherine McAuley 65012 St. Josaphat • Lucretia Mott 65213 St. Agnes of Assisi • St. Frances Xavier Cabrini 65414 St. Gregory Palamas • Joseph Cardinal Bernardin 65615 St. Gertrude the Great • Blessed Mary of the Passion 65816 St. Margaret of Scotland • Ignacio Ellacuría and Companions 66017 St. Hilda of Whitby • St. Elizabeth of Hungary 66218 St. Roque Gonzalez • St. Rose Philippine Duchesne 66419 St. Mechtild of Hackeborn • Henriette DeLille 66620 Henri Dominique Lacordaire • Frank Sheed 66821 Blessed Mary Frances Siedliska • C. S. Lewis 67022 St. Cecilia • Jeanne Fontbonne 67223 St. Columbanus • Blessed Miguel Pro 67424 St. Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions • St. Joseph Pignatelli 67625 St. Catherine of Alexandria • Margaret Sinclair 67826 Sojourner Truth • Blessed James Alberione 68027 Saints Barlaam and Josaphat • Dom Virgil Michel 68228 Isaiah • St. Catherine Labouré 68429 Mother Jones • Dorothy Day 68630 St. Andrew • Etty Hillesum 688DECEMBER1 St. Edmund Campion • Blessed Charles de Foucauld 6922 Blessed Liduina Meneguzzi • Maura Clarke and Companions 6943 St. Francis Xavier • St. Anuarite Nengapeta 6964 Clement of Alexandria • St. John Damascene 6985 St. Crispina • St. Christina of Markyate 7006 St. Nicholas • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 7027 St. Ambrose • St. Maria Josepha Rossello 7048 Swami Abhishiktananda (Henri Le Saux) • Walter Ciszek 7069 Bernard of Quintavalle • Fulton J. Sheen 70810 Karl Barth • Thomas Merton 71011 Martyrs of El Mozote • Walter F. Sullivan 71212 Our Lady of Guadalupe • Cardinal Avery Dulles 71413 St. Lucy • St. Odilia 71614 St. John of the Cross • Catherine de Hueck Doherty 71815 St. Virginia Centurione Bracelli • St. Mary di Rosa 72016 Blessed Frances Schervier • Maude Dominica Petre 72217 St. Lazarus • St. Olympias 72418 The Samaritan Woman • Alicia Domon 72619 Rahab • Meister Eckhart 72820 The Anointer of Bethany • Origen 73021 St. Peter Canisius • Mothers of the Disappeared 73222 Isaac Hecker • Martyrs of Acteal 73423 St. Marguerite d’Youville • Rabbi Abraham Heschel 73624 John Muir • Chico Mendes 73825 Holy Shepherds • Blessed Jacopone of Todi 74026 St. Stephen • The Pilgrim 74227 St. John • St. Fabiola 74428 Holy Innocents • Blessed Sara Salkahazi 74629 St. Thomas Becket • Sebastian Castellio 74830 Blessed Eugenia Ravasco • John Main 75031 St. Melania the Younger • St. John Francis Regis 752Index 755