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This beautiful event (Luke 1:26-38) took place in Nazareth, when Mary is already betrothed to Joseph. The Archangel Gabriel comes to Mary, greets her as highly favoured, tells her not to be afraid, that she will bear a son Jesus, and that her elderly cousin Elizabeth is already pregnant (with John the Baptist). The church...

Zeno of Verona (d. 371) should be the patron saint of all ministers who suspect that the more things change, the more they remain the same. For instance:  ethnic diversity…church-planting… teaching…. concern for the poor… women’s ministry in the church… sound like modern-day Christian concerns?   Not a bit of it – this was the life...

In the month of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice of Himself for us, the martyrdoms of Carpus, Papylus and Agathonice are well worth remembering.  What they said as they died could be said by the many thousands of Christians who are facing persecution all over the world today. Carpus, Papylus and Agathonice lived in Pergamum (Asia Minor)...

Anselm is a good saint to remember next time someone asks you to prove that there is a God.  His brilliant and original Proslogion, written 1077-8, sets out the ‘ontological’ proof for God’s existence.  Nearly ten centuries later, it is still studied by theological students as one of the great philosophical ‘proofs’ of God’s existence....

It’s perhaps typical of the English that they should have a patron saint who isn’t English, about whom next to nothing is known for sure, and who may not have existed at all. That didn’t stop him being patriotically invoked in many battles, notably at Agincourt and in the Crusades, and of course it is...

Have you seen the film How to Train your Dragon? It’s set in a Viking village under attack from dragons, who steal livestock and burn down houses. Hiccup, the village Chief’s son, invents a machine to capture dragons. However, when he catches one of the most dangerous dragons, he cannot kill it, when he sees...

The Saint of an English Army before he was Patron Saint of England, St George may have been a soldier, but he was no Englishman.  He was an officer in the Roman army under Diocletian, who refused to abandon his faith during the Terror, and was martyred at Lydda in Palestine about the year 300...

Tertullian was born in Carthage, North Africa, about 155 AD. He had pagan parents and his father may have been a centurion. Carthage was a prestigious Roman colony and Tertullian was given a good education in Greek, Latin, literature, history and philosophy. On arrival in Rome, Tertullian probably worked as a lawyer. In Rome, he...

If you have ever been in trouble for simply doing good, then Zita is the saint for you.  Born in 1218 to poor but devout parents in Monsagrati, Zita was sent at the age of 12 to work as a servant for the rich Fatinelli family in nearby Lucca. Zita was pious, generous and hard-working....

Many of us can show great dedication in pursuit of a career that will bring us a good salary or position.  Peter Chanel should be the patron saint of anyone who shows quiet determination in doing what they believe to be God’s call upon their life; regardless of the harsh personal consequences. Chanel was born...

Catherine of Siena, who was born 1347, should be the patron saint of anyone who has grown up in a large family, and mastered the two vital skills for survival:  how to stand up for yourself, and how to make peace with others. Catherine had siblings!  At least 19 of them.  Her father was a...

Mark, whose home in Jerusalem became a place of rest for Jesus and His 12 apostles, is considered the traditional author of the second gospel.  He is also usually identified as the young man, described in Mark 14:51, who followed Christ after his arrest and then escaped capture by leaving his clothes behind. Papias, in...