Gregory II Born c. 669, Pope/St. Gregory II was the scion of a noble Roman family. Under Sergius I, Gregory was the librarian and the keeper of the purse; he accompanied Pope Constantine when the pope traveled to Constantinople to protest the anti-western canons of the Second Trullan (or Quintisext) Council (692). Successful, the two returned to Rome in 711. Gregory was elected to the papacy in 715 and resisted the iconoclasm of Emperor Leo III the Isaurian. He also resisted taxes the Emperor imposed, and the emperor plotted to kill the pope. In 716, Gregory peacefully regained papal territory from the Lombards, and when King Liutprand of the Lombard s threatened to invade Rome in 729, Gregory disuaded him. Gregory sponsored the missionary activities of St. Boniface in Germany, and, like Gregory I, Gregory II converted his family mansion into a monastery. Gregory died of natural causes in 731.
Generations of Catholics have admired this young saint, called her the "Little Flower", and found in her short life more inspiration for own lives than in volumes by theologians. Yet Therese died when she was 24, after having lived as cloistered Carmelite for ... continue readingMore Female Saints
St. Michael the Archangel - Feast day - September 29th The name Michael signifies "Who is like to God?" and was the warcry of the good angels in the battle fought in heaven against satan and his followers. Holy Scripture describes St. Michael as "one of the chief ... continue reading
The name Gabriel means "man of God," or "God has shown himself mighty." It appears first in the prophesies of Daniel in the Old Testament. The angel announced to Daniel the prophecy of the seventy weeks. His name also occurs in the apocryphal book of Henoch. He was the ... continue reading
Sabas was born at Mutalaska, Cappadocia, near Caesarea. He was the son of an army officer there who when assigned to Alexandria, left him in the care of an uncle. Mistreated by his uncle's wife, ... continue reading