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; The Saints' Guide to Happiness; and A Living Gospel: Reading God's Story in Holy Lives. From 1975 to 1980 he was part of the Catholic Worker community in New York City, where he served as managing editor of The Catholic Worker and worked closely with Dorothy Day. He has edited six volumes of her writings, including Dorothy Day: Selected Writings; The Duty of Delight: The Diaries of Dorothy Day; All the Way to Heaven: The Selected Letters of Dorothy Day; and Dorothy Day: Spiritual Writings. He has written and edited many other volumes, including (with Sister Wendy Beckett) Dearest Sister Wendy . . . A Surprising Story of Faith and Friendship. Since the first issue in 2011, he has contributed the “Blessed Among Us” feature for every issue of Give Us This Day. A previous collection of these entries, Blessed Among Us, is also available from Liturgical Press.

"Saints are the living Word of God, the Word made flesh, but their biographies are often too encrusted within sentimentality and piety to serve as an inspiration for us. Ellsberg gives us their essence in this treasure of a book. Nobody writes better about the lives of the saints than Robert Ellsberg!"Ronald Rolheiser, OMI, author of The Holy Longing and Sacred Fire

• Introduction xxJANUARY1 Mary, Mother of Jesus • St. Telemachus 22 Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzan •  St. Seraphim of Sarov 43 Martyrs of the French Revolution • St. Kuriakose Chavara 64 Albert Camus • Gladys Aylward 85 Frank Kennard • Mary Lou Kownacki 106 Holy Magi • Margit Slachta 127 St. Macarius of Alexandria • Edward McGlynn 148 St. Laurence Giustiniani • Blessed Eurosia Fabris 169 St. Philip of Moscow • Sister Rosemary Lynch 1810 Blessed Veronica of Binasco • Steven McDonald 2011 St. Theodosius the Cenobiarch • Elizabeth Prout 2212 Abbot Suger • St. Gerlach 2413 St. Hilary of Poitiers • Jim Forest 2614 St. Mungo • St. Devasahayam Pillai 2815 St. Macarius the Elder • Mother Theresa Maxis 3016 St. Berard and Companions • Mary Slessor 3217 St. Nino • Blessed Peter Donders 3418 Frederic Baraga • Blessed Ladislaus Batthyany-Strattmann 3619 St. Bernard of Corleone • Juliette Colbert Falletti di Barolo 3820 St. Fabian • Abdul Ghaffar Khan 4021 St. Fructuosus of Tarragona • Helmuth James Graf von Moltke 4222 St. Vincent Pallotti • Thich Nhat Hanh 4423 Blessed Henry Suso • Blessed Benedetta Bianchi Porro 4624 St. Xenia of St. Petersburg • Bill W. 4825 Conversion of St. Paul • Bishop Samuel Ruiz 5026 St. Alberic • St. José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero 5227 Baron Friedrich von Hügel • Katharine Bushnell 5428 St. Joseph Freinademetz • Sister Janet Mead 5629 Blessed Mary of Pisa • Blessed Julian Maunoir 5830 St. Hyacintha Mariscotti • Coretta Scott King 6031 Blessed Louisa Albertoni • Dominique Pire 62FEBRUARY1 Blessed Louis Variara • Blessed Benedict Daswa 662 St. Joan of Lestonnac • St. Théophane Vénard 683 St. Blaise • St. Marie Rivier 704 Blessed Justus Takayama Ukon • Mary Elizabeth Lange 725 Blessed Alojs Andritzki • Pedro Arrupe 746 Blessed Maria Theresia Bonzel • Blessed Andrea Carlo Ferrari 767 Benjamin Lay • Blessed Alfredo Cremonesi 788 St. Jerome Emiliani • Paul Wattson 809 St. Miguel Febres Cordero • Marie-Alain Couturier 8210 St. Scholastica • St. Austreberta 8411 St. Caedmon • Marie-Dominique Chenu 8612 St. Julian the Hospitaller • Frederick Douglass 8813 Blessed Jordan of Saxony • Bishop Denis Hurley 9014 St. Valentine • A. J. Muste 9215 Blessed Michael Sopocko •  Twenty-One Coptic Martyrs of Libya 9416 Ben Salmon • Alexei Navalny 9617 Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order • Janani Luwum 9818 Giordano Bruno • Francis X. Ford 10019 Sister Dianna Ortiz • Paul Farmer 10220 Saints Jacinta and Francisco Marto • Blessed Richard Henkes 10421 St. Peter Damian • St. Robert Southwell 10622 Blandina Segale • Hans and Sophie Scholl 10823 St. Milburga • Samuel Mazzuchelli 11024 St. Montanus and Companions • Sister Marie Augusta Neal 11225 Felix Varela • Blessed Caritas Brader 11426 Martyrs of the Plague of Alexandria • St. Porphyry of Gaza 11627 St. Anne Line • Mister Fred Rogers 11828 Blessed Villana of Florence • William Gagnon 120MARCH1 St. David of Wales • William Stringfellow 1242 St. Angela of the Cross • Blessed Engelmar Unzeitig 1263 St. Teresa Verzeri • St. Katharine Drexel 1284 Blessed Ana de Jésus • Shahbaz Bhatti 1305 St. Paul the Simple • Martin Niemoeller 1326 Joseph Donders • Sister Janice McLaughlin 1347 Saints Perpetua and Felicity •  St. María Antonia de Paz y Figueroa 1368 St. Oengus • St. John Ogilvie 1389 St. Gregory of Nyssa • Tom Fox 14010 Harriet Tubman • Marie-Joseph Lagrange 14211 St. Symeon the New Theologian • James Reeb 14412 St. Aloysius Orione • Blessed Rutilio Grande 14613 St. Maximilian • Blessed Agnellus of Pisa 14814 Blessed Giacomo Cusmano • Fannie Lou Hamer 15015 Blessed Artemide Zatti • Vincent Machozi 15216 Victims of the My Lai Massacre • Franziska Jägerstätter 15417 Saints Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus • St. Patrick 15618 St. Salvador of Horta • Blessed Barbara Maix 15819 St. Joseph • St. Abraham Kidunaia 16020 St. Cuthbert • Blessed Mark of Montegallo 16221 St. Nicholas Flue • Nikolai Berdyaev 16422 St. Nicholas Owen • Johan van Hulst 16623 St. Turibius of Mogrovejo • Luis Espinal Camps 16824 Walter Hilton • St. Oscar Romero 17025 St. Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas • Viola Liuzzo 17226 Blessed Camille Costa de Beauregard • Joseph Dutton 17427 Paul-Irénée Couturier • Blessed Giuseppe Ambrosoli 17628 Emmanuel Mounier • Maria von Trapp 17829 Mrs. Barrett • Lev Gillet 18030 Lady Godiva of Coventry • Thea Bowman 18231 St. Maria Skobtsova • Blessed Natalia Tulasiewicz 184APRIL1 St. Hugh of Grenoble • Blessed Vilmos Apor 1882 St. Pedro Calungsod • Blessed María Alvarado Cardozo 1903 St. Richard of Chichester • Edward Dowling 1924 Aristides de Sousa Mendes • Martin Luther King Jr. 1945 St. Mary of Egypt • Bishop Thomas Gumbleton 1966 St. Mary Crescentia • Blessed Michael Rua 1987 St. Henry Walpole • Martyrs of the Rwandan Genocide 2008 Saints Agape, Chionia, and Irene • Blessed Ursulina of Parma 2029 Mary Potter • Dietrich Bonhoeffer 20410 Ezekiel • Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 20611 Marie Madeleine d’Houët • George Zabelka 20812 Egeria • St. Ludovic Pavoni 21013 Peter Waldo • Howard Thurman 21214 Rachel Carson • Corrie ten Boom 21415 Abraham Lincoln • Blessed Lucien Botovasoa 21616 St. Bernadette Soubirous • Blessed Max Josef Metzger 21817 St. Stephen Harding • Blessed Clare of Pisa 22018 St. Mary of the Incarnation • Maria Kaupas 22219 Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz • Agnes McLaren 22420 Blessed Giles of Assisi • Sister Margaret Brennan 22621 Félicité Niyitegeka • Pope Francis 22822 St. Adalbert • Cesar Chavez 23023 St. George • Ten Martyrs of Quiché 23224 St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen • St. Benedict Menni 23425 St. Hugh of Cluny • Queen Emma of Hawaii 23626 St. Stephen of Perm • St. Elena Guerra 23827 Blessed Hanna Helena Chrzanowska • Dorothee Soelle 24028 St. Peter Chanel • James H. Cone 24229 St. Robert Molesme • St. Catherine of Siena 24430 St. Joseph Cottolengo • Daniel Berrigan 246MAY1 St. Joseph the Worker • Takashi Nagai 2502 St. Athanasius • St. Antoninus 2523 Saints Philip and James • Juana de la Cruz 2544 John J. Considine • Rachel Held Evans 2565 Saints Timothy and Maura • Ade Bethune 2586 St. Isidora • Henry David Thoreau 2607 Blessed Columba Kang Wan-suk • St. Ignatius of Laconi 2628 St. Peter of Tarentaise • Blessed Clara Fey 2649 Matteo Ricci • Rosemary Luling Haughton 26610 St. Comgall of Bangor • St. John of Avila 26811 English Carthusian Martyrs • Blessed Michal Rapacz 27012 Alban Butler • Unita Zelma Blackwell 27213 St. Andrew Fournet • Bede Griffiths 27414 Heloise • Emily Dickinson 27615 Peter Maurin • Edward J. Flanagan 27816 Dirk Willems • Blessed Vladimir Ghika 28017 St. Paschal Baylon • Blessed Elzbieta Roza Czacka 28218 St. Felix of Cantalice • Cyprian Davis 28419 St. Dunstan • Blessed Humiliana of Cerchi 28620 Blessed Hendrina Stenmanns • St. Arcangelo Tadini 28821 Blessed Franz Jägerstätter •  Blessed Christian de Chergé and Companions 29022 St. Humility of Florence • St. Rita of Cascia 29223 The Baal Shem Tov • Jacques Ellul 29424 St. Godric • Blessed John of Prado 29625 St. Christopher Magallanes • Sister Irene McCormack 29826 St. Philip Neri • St. Paul VI 30027 Jane Addams • Mothers of the Disappeared 30228 Blessed Margaret Pole • Blessed Stefan Wyszyński 30429 The Widow of Nain • Tony Walsh 30630 St. Joan of Arc • Mary Lou Williams 30831 Saints Mary and Elizabeth • Blessed Mariano of Roccacasale 310JUNE1 St. Simeon of Syracuse • Mary Dyer 3142 Jacques Bunel • Helen Keller 3163 St. Blandina and Companions • St. John the Sinner 3184 Blessed Malgorzata Szewczyk • St. Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad 3205 Blessed Iuliu Hossu • Jürgen Moltmann 3226 St. Marcellin Champagnat • Robert F. Kennedy 3247 Julia Greeley • Matt Talbot 3268 Blessed Maria Droste zu Vischering •  St. Mariam Thresia Mankidiyan 3289 St. Ephrem • Blessed Diana D’Andalò 33010 St. Norbert • Blessed Ignatius Maloyan 33211 Blessed Mary Schininà • Blessed Teofilius Matulionis 33412 Blessed Hildegard Burjan • Anne Frank 33613 Blessed Francisca de Paula de Jesus • James Lawson 33814 St. Methodius of Constantinople • Blessed Cosme Spessotto 34015 St. Edburga of Winchester • Johannes Tauler 34216 Martin Buber • Soweto Martyrs 34417 St. Albert Chmielowski • Martyrs of “Mother Emanuel” 34618 St. Antonina of Constantinople • Frances Margaret Taylor 34819 St. Romuald • William Howard Bishop 35020 Blessed Wladyslaw Bukowinski • Rafael Palacios 35221 James Chaney, Mickey Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman • Blessed Clement Vismara 35422 St. John Fisher • St. Thomas More 35623 St. Joseph Cafasso • Mattie J. T. Stepanek 35824 Nativity of St. John the Baptist •  St. María Guadalupe García Zavala 36025 St. Alban • St. Paulinus of Nola 36226 Blessed Marguerite Rutan • Dom Lorenzo Milani 36427 Antonio de Montesinos • Vincent Lebbe 36628 King David • St. Irenaeus 36829 St. Peter • St. Paul 37030 Pierre Toussaint • Mother Mary Francis Bachmann 372JULY1 St. Oliver Plunkett •  Blessed Marcello Maruzzo and Luis Navarro 3762 St. Willibald • Elie Wiesel 3783 John Corridan • Stan Swamy 3804 St. Procopius • St. Pier Giorgio Frassati 3825 St. Athanasius of Athos • Rafael Cordero y Molina 3846 St. Sisoes • Sister Rose Tillemans 3867 Blessed Peter To Rot • Hugo Enomiya-Lassalle 3888 Blessed Józef and Wiktoria Ulma and Family •  Brother John Beeching 3909 Augustus Tolton • Blessed Marija Petkovic 39210 St. Veronica Giuliani • Martyrs of Damascus 39411 St. Benedict • Mother Theodore Williams 39612 St. John Gualbert • Sister Jacqueline Walsh 39813 Blessed Jacobus de Voragine • St. Alexander Schmorell 40014 St. Francis Solano • St. Kateri Tekakwitha 40215 St. Bonaventure • Blessed Anne-Marie Javouhey 40416 St. Silas • St. Speratus and Companions 40617 Blessed Paul Peter Gojdic • John Lewis 40818 Bartolomé de las Casas •  Blessed Carlos de Dios Murias and Gabriel Longueville 41019 St. Arsenius • Lawrence Jenco 41220 Blessed Giuseppe Beotti • Blessed Vasil Hopko 41421 Joseph Leo Cardijn • Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen 41622 St. Mary Magdalene • Sister Paula Gonzalez 41823 Blessed Joan of Orvieto • St. Bridget of Sweden 42024 St. Kunigunde of Poland • Teresa Janina Kierocińska 42225 St. James the Great • Sister Madeleva Wolff 42426 Ezechiele Ramin • Jacques Hamel 42627 John Gerard • St. George Preca 42828 St. Irene of Cappadocia • Johann Sebastian Bach 43029 Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus • Blessed John Colombini 43230 St. Peter Chrysologus • St. Leopold Mandić 43431 St. Ignatius Loyola • Chiune Sugihara 436AUGUST1 Holy Maccabees • St. Alphonsus Liguori 4402 St. Eusebius of Vercelli • Blessed Joan of Aza 4423 Mother Marie de la Roche • Blessed Pierre Claverie 4444 St. John Vianney • Blessed Enrique Angelelli 4465 Michael Crosby • Tom Cornell 4486 Innocents of Hiroshima and Nagasaki • Charles Strobel 4507 St. Cajetan • Carl Kabat 4528 Fourteen Holy Helpers • St. Dominic 4549 St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) •  Martyrs of Chimbote 45610 St. Lawrence • Luigi Sturzo 45811 St. Clare • Bishop Pedro Casaldáliga 46012 St. Jeanne de Chantal • Ruth Pfau 46213 St. Radegund • St. Maximus the Confessor 46414 Sister Mary Irene Fitzgibbon • St. Maximilian Kolbe 46615 St. Alypius • St. Tikhon of Zadonsk 46816 Blessed Benedict Sinigardi • Blessed John of Alvernia 47017 Blessed Emily of Vercelli • Simon Mpeke 47218 St. Abraham of Smolensk • St. Alberto Hurtado 47419 St. Louis of Anjou • St. John Eudes 47620 St. Bernard • James Foley 47821 St. Humbeline • Simone Weil 48022 Cardinal Gaspar Contarini • Sister Theresa Kane 48223 Carla Piette • John Kaiser 48424 St. Emily de Vialar • Sister Mary Luke Tobin 48625 Blessed María del Tránsito Cabanillas •  Blessed Maria Troncatti 48826 St. Maria Micaela Desmaisières • Raimon Panikkar 49027 Blessed María Pilar Izquierdo Albero • Joshua Casteel 49228 St. Moses the Black • St. Augustine 49429 Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist • Marion Moses 49630 St. Poemen • Blessed Dominic Barberi 49831 St. Aidan • Bishop Leonidas Proaño 500SEPTEMBER1 Sarah • St. Simeon Stylites 5042 St. Giles • J. R. R. Tolkien 5063 St. Phoebe • St. Gregory the Great 5084 Charles Péguy • Henri de Lubac 5105 John Bradburne • St. Teresa of Calcutta 5126 St. Bega • E. F. Schumacher 5147 Blessed Thomas Tsuji • Beyers Naudé 5168 Mother Ann Lee • Blessed Frederic Ozanam 5189 St. Kieran of Clonmacnoise • St. Peter Claver 52010 St. Nicholas of Tolentino • Ignacia del Espíritu Santo 52211 St. John Gabriel Perboyre • Mychal Judge 52412 Thomas Frederick Price • Alcides Jiménez Chicangana 52613 Blessed Louis of Thuringia • Blessed Jacques Laval 52814 Dante Alighieri • Blessed Leonella Sgorbati 53015 Blessed Anton Schwartz • Martyrs of Birmingham 53216 St. Cyprian • St. Richardis 53417 St. Hildegard of Bingen • Mother Frances Warde 53618 Blessed John Macias • St. Joseph of Cupertino 53819 St. Theodore of Tarsus •  Blessed Mario Ghibaudo and Giuseppe Bernardi 54020 St. Andrew Kim and the Korean Martyrs •  St. Joseph Mary de Yermo y Parres 54221 St. Matthew • Henri Nouwen 54422 St. Thomas of Villanova • John August Swanson 54623 Blessed Francisco de Paula Victor •  St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) 54824 St. Phocas the Gardener • Salvo D’Acquisto 55025 St. Ceolfrid • Robert Lax 55226 Saints Cosmas and Damian • The Shreveport Martyrs 55427 Blessed Antonia Luzmila Rivas López • Monika Hellwig 55628 St. Lorenzo Ruiz • Blessed John Paul I 55829 Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael •  St. Hermina Grivot 56030 St. Jerome • Sister Ardeth Platte 562OCTOBER1 St. Thérèse of Lisieux • Délia Tétreault 5662 Donald Hessler • Chuck Matthei 5683 St. Emilie of Villeneuve • Blessed Josef Mayr-Nusser 5704 St. Francis of Assisi • Blessed Antoine Chevrier 5725 St. Anna Schaeffer • Blessed Alberto Marvelli 5746 Blessed Raymond of Capua • Annalena Tonelli 5767 St. Publia • Sister Megan Rice 5788 Holy Simeon • Blessed Jan Beyzym 5809 Saints Andronicus and Athanasia • St. Paulinus of York 58210 St. Francis Borgia • St. Daniel Comboni 58411 St. Maria Soledad • St. John XXIII 58612 St. Ethelburga • St. Carlo Acutis 58813 Blessed Magdalen Panattieri • Willi Graf 59014 St. Peter Balsam • William Johnston 59215 St. Teresa of Avila • Blessed Louis Brisson 59416 St. Gerard Majella • St. Marguerite d’Youville 59617 Richard McSorley • Albert Nolan 59818 St. Luke • St. Peter of Alcántara 60019 St. Isaac Jogues • St. Paul of the Cross 60220 St. Malchus • Dean Brackley 60421 St. Hilarion • St. Laura Montoya Upegui 60622 St. Philip and Companions • Gustavo Gutiérrez 60823 St. Tabitha (Dorcas) • Blessed John Baptist Bullaker 61024 St. Luigi Guanella • Rosa Parks 61225 St. Richard Gwyn • Sadako Sasaki 61426 St. Alban Roe •  Blessed José Gregorio Hernández Cisneros 61627 Sarah and Angelina Grimké • Thomas Keating 61828 Saints Simon and Jude • Clarence Jordan 62029 St. Marcellus • Blessed Rosario Livatino 62230 St. Angelo of Acri • Msgr. Hugh O’Flaherty 62431 St. Thaïs • Jean Cassaigne 626NOVEMBER1 Feast of All Saints 6302 Solemnity of All Souls • Blessed Rupert Mayer 6323 St. Martin de Porres • Nicolo Cortese 6344 St. Charles Borromeo • Bishop Paride Ibrahim Taban 6365 St. Hubert • Giorgio La Pira 6386 Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel • Sister Antona Ebo 6407 Maria Boulding • Richard Gaillardetz 6428 St. Theodore the Studite •  Blessed Eugene Bossilkov and Companions 6449 Kristallnacht Martyrs • Michael Rodrigo 64610 St. Leo the Great • Ruth Burrows 64811 St. Vincent of Saragossa • St. Martin of Tours 65012 Pierre Yves Kéralum • Blessed Carl Lambert 65213 St. Stanislaus Kostka • St. Frances Xavier Cabrini 65414 Pope St. Nicholas I • Stanley Vishnewski 65615 St. Albert the Great • Vinoba Bhave 65816 St. Hugh of Lincoln • Elba and Celina Ramos 66017 St. Elizabeth of Hungary • Henriette DeLille 66218 St. Rose Philippine Duchesne • St. Joseph Moscati 66419 St. Gregory the Wonderworker • Eberhard Arnold 66620 Leo Tolstoy • William Woods 66821 Blessed Miguel Pro • Pat and Patty Crowley 67022 St. Cecilia • Blessed Thomas Reggio 67223 St. Clement I • Thomas Augustine Judge 67424 Bishop Patrick Byrne • John LaFarge 67625 St. Catherine of Alexandria •  Blessed Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi 67826 Sojourner Truth • Blessed Gaetana Sterni 68027 St. Leonard of Port Maurice • Wanda Blenska 68228 St. Stephen the Younger • St. Cuthbert Mayne 68429 Brother Juniper • Dorothy Day 68630 Etty Hillesum • Fritz Eichenberg 688DECEMBER1 Blessed John Ruysbroeck • St. Charles de Foucauld 6922 Jean Donovan • Johann Baptist Metz 6943 St. Francis Xavier • Daniel Rudd 6964 St. John Damascene • Blessed Adolph Kolping 6985 Blessed Jan Franciszek Macha • Nelson Mandela 7006 St. Nicholas • Sister Mary Frances Clarke 7027 St. Ambrose • St. Sabas 7048 Walter Ciszek • Sister Patricia Daly 7069 St. Hipparchus and Companions • St. Juan Diego 70810 Thomas Merton • Gordon Zahn 71011 St. Daniel the Stylite • Donald Cozzens 71212 St. Finnian of Clonard • Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns 71413 St. Lucy • St. Herman of Alaska 71614 St. John of the Cross • Catherine de Hueck Doherty 71815 Prophet Amos • Blessed János Brenner 72016 St. Phileas • Blessed Anthony Grassi 72217 Anointer of Bethany • Dorothy Sayers 72418 Mother Mary Alfred Moes •  Alicia Domon and Léonie Duquet 72619 Cloud of Unknowing Author • Abraham Heschel 72820 Hemorrhaging Woman • Origen 73021 Hagar the Egyptian • Edward Schillebeeckx 73222 Elia Dalla Costa • Blessed Ján Havlík 73423 Holy Shepherds • Angela Maria Autsch 73624 St. Paula Cerioli • Jacques Dupuis 73825 Sister Wendy Beckett • Desmond Tutu 74026 St. Stephen • St. Vincentia López y Vicuña 74227 St. John the Apostle • Blessed Odoardo Focherini 74428 Holy Innocents • Egide van Broeckhoven 74629 Holy Family • Christine Ebner 74830 Danilo Dolci • Doug Venne 75031 St. Gaspar del Bufalo • Sylvester Malone 752Index 755