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You do not need to know the names or the history to begin. Choose one life that interests you, read its introduction, and take your time with the story. These five lives offer different starting points: family, conversion, prayer, poverty, and community.
St. Monica
Feast day: May 4
A mother whose long concern for Augustine included prayer, painful disagreements, and a journey that ended at Ostia.
Read the life →St. Augustine of Hippo
Feast day: August 28
Follow a search for truth through mistaken beliefs and divided desires to Baptism, priesthood, and service as a bishop.
Read the life →St. Francis of Assisi
Feast day: October 4
See how the ambitions of a merchant's son gave way to poverty, care for people with leprosy, and the founding of the Friars Minor.
Read the life →St. Teresa of Avila
Feast day: October 15
A woman who persevered in prayer and founded reformed Carmelite communities while facing illness and opposition.
Read the life →St. Benedict
Feast day: March 21
Begin with a young man seeking a life of prayer and the communities he formed at Subiaco and Monte Cassino.
Read the life →
These are selected lives to explore, with a reason for each choice. Each saint’s page includes the story and its sources.