Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton (1774-1821) was born in New York City in 1774, just two years before the Declaration of Independence.  By birth and marriage, she was linked to the first families of New York and enjoyed the fruits of high society.  Reared a staunch Episcopalian, she learned the value of prayer, scripture, and a nightly examination of conscience.  At 19, Elizabeth married a handsome, wealthy businessman, William Seton.  They had five children before his business failed and he died of tuberculosis.  At 30, Elizabeth was widowed and penniless with five small children to support.  While in Italy with her dying husband, Elizabeth witnessed the Catholic faith in action through family and friends.  Three basic points led her to become a Catholic: belief in the Real Presence, devotion to the Blessed Mother, and conviction that the Catholic Church led back to the apostles and to Christ.  Many of her family and friends rejected her when she became a Catholic.  To support her children, she opened a school in Baltimore.  From the beginning, her group followed the lines of a religious community, which became the Sisters of Charity.  She suffered great trials of sickness, misunderstanding, the death of loved ones (her husband and two young daughters), and the heartache of a wayward son.  She died in 1821 and became the first American-born citizen to be canonized.  Her feast day is Jan. 4.

Born to a Lutheran family in 1638, Blessed Niels Stensenwas a famous scientist. As an adult, he specialized in the area of medicine, particularly in the new science of anatomy. He discovered new organs and glands in the bodies of both animals and human beings. He is renowned for his work on the human brain, providing the basis for research over the following two hundred years. His attendance at a Corpus Christi procession in 1666 moved him to consider Catholicism. After a thorough examination of the original Hebrew and Greek texts of the Bible, he wrote, “I became deeply convinced of the truth of what the Catholics [believe about the Holy Eucharist]”. He convereted to the Catholic faith and was ordained a priest in 1675, and later a bishop. “There is only one human response to the self-giving love which shows itself on the cross and lives in the Church as the true bread of humanity,” he wrote. “The more we discover and say “yes” to this love, the less do we remain as merely ourselves. The love of Christ urges us on.”  He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1988.  His feast day is December 5.

St. Margaret Mary lived in France from 1647 to 1690 and is the apostle of devotion to the Sacred Heart. After four years suffering from paralysis, she was miraculously cured through the intercession of our Lady. As a Visitation nun, she was distinguished for obedience, humility, and love of suffering. Among the many visions she received of Christ, were those in which Our Lord told her to promote devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. From early childhood, she was intensely devoted to the Blessed Sacrament, saying “The Lord wants you to honor His life wholly given to us in the Blessed Sacrament. You must be as a burning candle with no other desire than to be consumed in His honor. Surrender yourself to the Mercy of Providence and let Him do with you according to His designs.” Her feast day is Oct 16.

St. Therese of Lisieux (the “Little Flower”) lived from 1873 to 1897, dying at only 24 years of age.  She entered the Carmelite order at the age of fifteen and became directress of novices in 1895.  Known for her “little way” to holiness, she was canonized in 1925 and is a Doctor of the Church.  In her autobiography, St. Therese expresses her joy after receiving Holy Communion:  “It was a totally heavenly happiness which words cannot express.”  Also, “The best means to reach perfection is through receiving Holy Communion frequently.”   And, “Do you realize that Jesus is there in the tabernacle expressly for you for you alone? He burns with the desire to come into your heart.”  Her feast day is Oct 1st.

Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, serving Christ throughout the world in the “distressing disguise of the poor”. Their life of service to Christ emanates from their profound devotion to Our Lord in the Eucharist. According to St. Teresa, “when you look at the Crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you then; when you look at the Sacred Host, you understand how much Jesus loves you now. The time you spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the best time that you will spend on earth. Each moment that you spend with Jesus will deepen your union with Him and make your soul everlastingly more glorious and beautiful in heaven and will help bring about everlasting peace on earth.” Her feast day is Sep 5.

St. Alphonsus Ligouri was a bishop, doctor of the church, and the founder of the Redemptorist Congregation.  In celebrating Mass, his face was radiant with joy. After the Consecration, he would blush from the intensity of his emotion. He writes, “My most courteous Lord, when you enter my soul in Holy Communion, you unite with and give yourself to me, so that in all truth I can say: My Jesus, now you are all mine.” Regarding Eucharistic adoration, he says, “Pause for a while each day before Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.  Know that the time you spend in devotion before this most divine Sacrament will be the most fruitful in your life; it will comfort you when you die and in eternity. Give your whole self to the Lord who has given all things to you! Approach the Blessed Sacrament “as the burning bush” in order to catch fire and set others ablaze. St. Alphonsus died in 1787 at the age of 91. His feast day is Aug. 1.

St. Kateri is the first member of a North American tribe to be declared a saint. She was born in 1656 in a village along the Mohawk River in New York. Her father was a Mohawk chief, her mother a Christian Algonquin raised among the French. When St. Kateri embraced the Catholic faith and rejected her tribe’s customs by refusing to marry or take part in pagan ceremonies, she was shunned and punished by her tribe. Yet, she remained steadfast in her love of God. Kateri astounded the Jesuits with her deep spirituality and her devotion to the Eucharist. She took every opportunity to receive Jesus in the Eucharist. Because of her inspiring devotion, many strove to be near her when she received communion. Her feast day is July 14th. 

St. Thomas Aquinas was an Italian Dominican friar who lived in the mid-1200s. His feast day is Jan 28. He is famous for his remarkably clear and prodigious teachings on the Eucharist, especially in his Summa Theologica. But Thomas was also the author of many of our best-known and loved Eucharistic hymns, including  

• Panis Angelicus (Bread of Angels)  sung by Josh Groban  
• Adore te Devote (Humbly I adore thee) Gregorian Chant 
• O Salutaris hostia (O saving victim)   Gregorian Chant 
• Pange Lingua Corperis (Now, my tongue, the mystery telling)  Gregorian Chant 
• Tantum Ergo Sacramentum (Come Adore) sung by Daughters of Mary 

Click to download audio file for “St. Thomas Aquinas in a minute.“