Saint Biography

Iedereen die ooit naar de Efteling is geweest, kent de "Danse Macabre". Deeltjes uit "Le carnaval des animaux" doen het goed in reclamespots. Weinig mensen weten dat die muziek uit de pen vloeide van Camille Saint-Saëns. In zijn veelbewogen leven van 1835 tot 1921 componeerde hij een gigantisch oeuvre in elk denkbaar genre, tot filmmuziek aan toe. Een briljant man die ook karikaturen tekende, toneelstukken en gedichten schreef en publiceerde over archeologie, astronomie, botanie en filosofie. Thijs Bonger vertelt het levensverhaal van dit fenomeen.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Pilot und Erschaffer des "Kleinen Prinzen": Leben und Werk in einer Kurzbiografie! Alles, was man wissen muss, kurz und knapp. Infotainment, Bildung und Unterhaltung vom Feinsten!

Among all the various figures in 19th century America who left controversial legacies, it is hard to find one as influential as Joseph Smith (1805-1844), the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Mormonism, and the Latter-Day Saint movement. Revered as a prophet on the level of Moses by some, reviled as a perpetrator of large-scale fraud by others, what everyone can agree on is that Joseph Smith founded a religious movement that played a crucial role in the settlement of the West, especially in Utah.

While a young man, Devi Mukherjee worked with Mahatma Gandhi in the Indian resistance movement and was imprisoned for five months. After release, Devi began a spiritual quest throughout India, traveling some 45 years at various times.

With these words began an extraordinary correspondence between Roy Tester, a double-murderer serving a life sentence in the notorious Arkansas prison, Tucker Maximum Security Prison, and Doug Carnine, a meditation teacher and lay Buddhist minister on the other side of the country. In the letters that followed - more than 700 over seven years - these two men, along with three other prisoners at Tucker Max, developed a profound spiritual partnership that changed all of their lives.

Saint Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897) - also known as Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face - lived a short life. She died at the age of 24 from consumption - what we now call tuberculosis. However, in her short life, she inspired many nuns in the Carmelite community of Lisieux, Normandy. She was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1925 and wrote much regarding the path of humility and holiness befitting a Christian.

Qui es-tu, petit Van ? Quel vertige devant le courage de cet enfant espiègle, la douceur de ce grand persécuté, l'abandon de celui qui reçoit tout parce qu'il n'a rien, ce petit Vietnamien qui remue ciel et terre !

Jose Ibarra was born in Los Angeles, CA, raised by a Catholic family. He attended Catholic school from kindergarten to high school. Jose was inactive in the Catholic Church for many years 'til a call was made—a call that changed the course of his life. At the age of 30, he came back to the church after experiencing a break-up from a girlfriend. Now, after being active in the Catholic Church for almost seven years, he is deeply involved with the Hispanic young adult ministry and mission work with the Oblates of Mary of Immaculate.

St. Teresa stands among the greatest of the mystics. It was her pursuit of Christ, not her pursuit of visions, that set her apart as one of the most notable saints in the history of Christendom. It is her dedication to her Lord, her bridegroom, not her experiences, that render her worthy of imitation.

Biographies will only take you so far. It's impossible to truly understand Francis of Assisi without hearing his own words. A scholar and lover of Francis, Sweeney has added six writings to his best-selling compilation, additional texts that we're most certain came from Francis himself. Now, short writings such as The Form of Life He Wished for Clare, The Sermon to the Birds, and The Source of True Joy combine with Francis's rules, letters, messages, songs, praises, canticles, and final spiritual testament in a most ideal introduction to the saint.

Pope St. John Paul II was known for many things. In his youth, he had a passion for the theater. He eventually became one of the most charismatic and influential bishops in the Roman Catholic College of Cardinals. During his long pontificate, he was one of the most beloved, but also most controversial, people in the world. Still, in order to understand what motivated his life, it is crucial to understand that he was - above all else - a thoroughly devoted and convicted disciple of Jesus Christ.

Learn about the life of Saint Martin De Porres.

Nacido en la ciudad italiana de Asís en el seno de una adinerada familia burguesa, Giovanni Bernardone abandonaría la comodidad y los privilegios económicos para vivir en la más profunda pobreza dedicado de lleno a su fe católica. Guiado por la voz divina y los estigmas sagrados de Dios, pasaría a convertirse en Francisco de Asís, fundador de una orden religiosa que predicaba una vida austera y simple al servicio del prójimo.

Although he was born in what was considered the backwaters of the Roman Empire, Saint Augustine of Hippo has long been renowned for his early religious and philosophical thought. He has been called a doctor of the Church for his unrivaled ability of patching up even the most complex of theological questions. He tackled such things as the condition of the soul and the omnipotence of God. During the course of his tenure as bishop of the North-African city of Hippo, Augustine often gained as many critics as he did followers.

Just who was Saint Patrick? Many know him as the figure behind the huge festival of fun and drinking that takes place every year on March 17. But look a little more closely and see that there is more to the patron saint of Ireland than meets the eye.

La sua esile figura, avvolta nel sari bianco bordato di celeste, percorreva le strade di Calcutta per chinarsi sulle sofferenze di persone morenti...

San Pio da Pietrelcina è il santo del nostro tempo che ha fatto parlare molto di sé fin dalla sua giovinezza: bilocazioni, miracoli, intercessioni e poi le stimmate...

November is usually quiet in Holcomb, Kansas, but in 1959, the town is shattered by the quadruple murder of the Clutter family. Suspicion falls on Nancy Clutter's boyfriend, Bobby Rupp, the last one to see them alive. New Yorker Carly Fleming, new to the small Midwestern town, is an outsider. She tutored Nancy, and (in private, at least) they were close. Carly and Bobby were the only ones who saw that Nancy was always performing, and that she was cracking under the pressure of being Holcomb's golden girl.

The witness of the lives of the saints is a powerful testimony to the reality of God's plan and the possibility for truly following it in one's life. So often we do not see this witness. We see hypocrisy and mediocrity among Christians. That is why we must look to the saints - the ones who really followed the words of Christ and let them be carried out fully in their lives. The saints also give us a reason to hope. Saints were not born; they were made through lives of cooperation with God's grace despite many difficulties, weaknesses, and temptations.

Ram Krishna Das Vaishnaba, or Dude Dehari Baba, or Milk Baba was so named because he lived forty-five years entirely on one small cup of milk per day. No other food ever passed his lips. Baba lived in a small room by the Bagmati river at Pashiputinath temple, five kilometers outside of Katmandu. His beautiful matted hair, or jata, was over twenty-six feet long. Baba was a lifelong devotee of Lord Rama and God Brother and confidant of Neem Karoli Baba, the iconic guru of Baba Ram Das.