Saints of the Rosary

Santo Domingo de Guzman
Founder of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans). Born at Calaroga, in Old Castile, c. 1170. He became a priest with thoughts of misionary work in Northern Europe. But then he saw the dangers in the Albigensian heresy. He lived and preached in evangelical poverty, gathered others around him and founded the Order of Preachers. Dominic labored in France, Spain and Italy. Consumed by work and penance, he died 6 August, 1221.

San Pedro Martir

Born of heretical parents in Verona in 1206. At age 15, he met Saint Dominic in Bologna and begged admission to the Order. He soon became a celebrated preacher and engaged in disputes with the heretics all over Northern Italy. Enraged, his enemies ambushed and killed him on the road to Milan. In his own blood, he wrote: Credo in unum deum. He is the first Dominican martyr.

San Jacinto de Odrowatz

Also known as the Polish Saint Dominic, he was born of the noble family of Odrowatz.He performed astounding miracles and cures. On every occasion of his life, our Lady was to lighten the load for him, and as a last favor, she appreared to tell him that he would die on the Feast of the Assumption.

Santa Margarita de Ungria

Of royal patronage, she was offered to God before her birth in 1242 in petition that her country would be delivered from the Tartar Invaions. In fulfillment of the vow, she spent her childhood in the monastery. Shortly after when her parents obtained papal dispensation for her to marry the king of Bohemia, she refused and said.: I esteem infintely more the King of heaven... than the crown offered to me by the king of Bohemia.

Santo Tomas de Aquino
This great Dominicanteacher lived only for 49 years (1225-1264). But he traveled much, from his birthplace at Aquino in central Italy to Cologne, to Paris, to Rome and to the monastery near Naples where he died. Thomas prayed much and dedicated his brilliant talents investigating the sublime truth of God in the light of faith and the human intellect. Canonized in 1323, he is the patron of all Catholic schools and is titled "the Angelic Doctor."

San Raymundo de Peñafort
A Spaniard born in 1175, he became a rpiest and professor of philosophy and canon law. A co-founder of the Order of the Redemption of Captives, he studied Arabic and the Koran so as to dialogue with Muslims. He died a centenarian on January 6, 1275 and was a declared a saint in 1601.

San Alberto Magno
A doctor and teacher of the church, he is a patron of scientists and philosophers. His most attentive student concerning Aristotelian philosophy was Saint Thomas. He became provincial and then Bishop of Ratisbon but after two years returned to teaching. A profound and holy professor, he died at Cologne in 1280.

Santa Ines de Montepulciano
She was born in 1268 and embraced the religious life at an early age. Because of her precocious wisdom and sanctity, she became superior in her community at the age 15. Later she founded a monastery of Dominican nuns in Montepulciano and became its first prioress. She died in 1317 at age 49 and was canonized in 1726.

Santa Catalina de Sena
The 23rd child of hard-working parents, she was born in Siena, Italy in 1347. She showed early signs of unusual sanctity, joined the Third Order of Dominicans and became a spiritual guide to many. She influenced public affairs and encouraged the pope to leave Avignon in 1377 and return to Rome. She dictated spiritual writings, died in 1380, and was declared Doctor of the Church in 1970.

San Antonio de Florencia
Born at Florence in 1389 and joined the Dominican in adolescence, he was soon promoted to positions of responsibility becoming sucessively prior of Cortons, Naples and Rome. In 1446, he reluctantly became Archbishop of Florence and was noted for his mercy to the poor as well as for his prudence and good counsel.

San Vicente Ferrer
Born in Spain in 1350, he recieved the Dominican habit at the age of seventeen. In his turbulent epoch, he was an angel of peace, preaching the word of God with special stress on penance and the Last Judgement. He was outstanding for the gift of prophecy, worked astonishing miracles and brought back thousand to the practice of their faith.

San Pio Quinto
Elected pope in 1566, he accomplished great reforms in the Church, notably among the clergy and in the Roman Missal. By his prayers, especially the rosary, this Pope of the Rosary obtained from God the naval victory for the Christians at Lepanto. After fulfilling every duty of the "Pastor Bonus," he died on May 1, 1572.

San Luis Beltran
The patron of all Dominican Novices and formation personnel, he volunteered for the foreign missions and was sent to Latin America. There he labored for over seven years among hostile Indian tribes of Colombia, Venezuela and the West Indies. He converted countless numbers through the miraculous gift of tongues.

San Juan de Colognia
Born in Germany towards the end of the 16th century, he was sent to work in Holland, where he brought relief to the catholics cruelly persecuted by heretical Calvinists. With 18 other religious of different orders and secular priests, he was hanged in 1572 for the defense of the Holy Eucharist and the Primacy of the Pope. He was beatified in 1675 and was canonized by Pius IX on June 29, 1867.

Santa Catalina de Ricci
Remarkable for her spirit of penance and life of contemplative prayer, she recieved many extraordinary favors form God including the mystical espousals and sacred stigmata. Nonetheless, she was also an eminently practical person and an able adminsitrator for 36 years as prioress of her community.

Santa Rosa de Lima
The first saint of the Americas, she was born in Lima, Peru in 1586. An intelligent and efficient woman, she took Saint Catherine of Siena as her model. At 15, she recieved the habit of the Third Order Dominican. In obidience to her parents, she did not enter the Convent but lived at home a humble life of penance and mystical prayer.

San Martin de Porres
Today's humble saint, son of a white Spanish father and a black Panamanian mother, was born in Lima, Peru in 1579. As a boy, he learned the art of healing. As a Dominican, he served as infirmarian, healed the illness of the poor and also of animals. He led a life of profound prayer, penance and extraordinary spiritual gifts. He is the patron saint of the poor and the sick.

San Juan Macias
A cooperateor-brother like Saint Martin, he was born in Ribera, Spain in 1585. Embracing the Dominican way of life in 1623, he became a porter and set about at once serving the poor who came to the priory gate for alms. He is distinguised for his great devotion to the rosary and untiring supplications for the souls in purgatory.
Procession Sponsor: Angelicum College QC

Santa Magdalena de Nagasaki
She was left on her own resources at the age of twenty two when her parents perished in the great persecution in Japan. She placed herself under the direction of a Dominican father, Jordan of St. Stephen, and recieved the habit as a tertiary. At a public hearing presided over by the Mandarin, after her arrest and torture, she stood up and cried out her profession of faith. She was martyred in 1634.

San Vicente Liem de la Paz
The first Vietnamese Dominican, he was born in Tra'Lu in 1731. He recieved the Dominican habit in Manila and continued his studies at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Intramuros. Already a priest, he asked to return to his land to work among hnis people; he labored for 14 years until he was captured and martyred on November 7, 1773.

San Francisco de Capillas
Francis was born in Baquerin de Campos, Palencia, Spain on August 14, 1607. He entered the Dominican Priory of St. Paul of Valladolid. He arrived in Manila in February 1632, where he was ordained priest. In 1641, he attended the Provincial Chapter held in Manila and asked the new Provincial to send him to China. In 1642, he left for China with his friend, Fr. Francis Diez. He went to the villages and town in Fogan and Funing converting huge numbers of Chinese. He was captured and remained incarcerated for two months. He died on January 15, 1648. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 1, 2000.

Santo Tomas Khuong
Thomas Khuong belonged to a noble family on Tonkin and could well be a son of a Mandarin. A Christian since childhood, he became a priest and a Dominican tertiary. He was imprisoned many times because of his faith. When he was in his 80's in 1859, he was arrested again. The judge tried in vain to make him trample on the crucifix and invited him in vain to persuade his Christian follwoers to apostatize but he firmly replied, "to redeem mankind, Christ voluntarily suffered death... I too, want to give love for love, spilling all my blood for him." While genuflecting to adore the crucifix, his head was cut off, it was the 30th of January 1860.

Beata Margarita de Castelo
Born a dwarf, deformed, and blind, Margaret was abandoned by her parents but found refuge in the homes of the poor. By her radiant charity, she became a source of hope and consolation for the poor, the outcast, the sick and the imprisoned, to whom she ministered tirelessly as a Lay Dominican. She is Patorness of Pro-Life Philippines.

Beata Juana de Aza
The mother of Saint Dominic, she was beatified by Pope Leo XII in 1828. Devotion to her persisted through the centuries despite the poverty of records. The mother of three priestsm, one of whom died a death of heroic charity and two who were raised to the altars of the Church, she can safely be judged to have been not only a valiant woman but also a saintly one. Her picture, as that of any mother can be seen reflected in her sons.

San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila
The Filipino proto-martyr, Lorenzo was born in Binondo, Manila. As a young man, he became a member of the Rosary Confraternity. Implicated in a crime of unclear circumstances, he left his wife and children and set sail for Okinawa in 1636 together with other Dominican Missionaries. Arrested, they were brought to Nagasaki where they underwent hideous torments for their Christian faith, giving up their souls to God on September 28, 1637.

Descriptions: from the La Naval Novenario 2006