He may not have been born in Canada, but he was exiled and died there, and a national shrine of Canadian martyrs is named for him. He is Blessed Bishop Vasyl Velychkovsky (feast day: June 27), a Ukrainian Greek Catholic bishop martyred for the faith after the Soviet Union’s takeover of Ukraine during World War II.
He was a traveling salesman in his home country of France who became a Franciscan priest and ministered over 50 years in Europe, the Holy Land, and ultimately Canada, earning praise as “another St. Francis of Assisi.” His name is Blessed Frédéric Janssoone, OFM, and his feast day is Aug. 5.
A great proponent of devotion to the Blessed Virgin, Blessed Marie-Élisabeth Turgeon (feast day, Aug. 17) chose “All for Jesus through Mary” as the motto of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.
“For God to be able to pour his grace in profusion into the soul of a person, he has to find Jesus living in them.” So declared Blessed Dina Bélanger (feast day, Sept. 4), a Canadian nun and mystic.
After the heartbreaking losses of her husband and children, Blessed Émilie Tavernier Gamelin (feast day: Sept. 24), remained faithful to Christ and went on to become the foundress of the Sisters of Providence, dedicated to serving the poor in Quebec, Canada.
The Canadian Martyrs, also known as the North American Martyrs (feast day Sept. 26), are a group of 17th century Jesuit priests and volunteer missionaries martyred for proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ in modern-day New York State and Canada.
Called the “Mother of Universal Charity,” by Pope St. John XXIII on her beatification, St. Marguerite d’Youville (feast day: Oct. 16), foundress of the Sisters of Charity (the “Grey Nuns”), is the first native Canadian to be declared a saint in the Catholic Church.
Join Fr. Chris Alar, MIC, Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC, Fr. Mark Baron, MIC, and more dynamic speakers for the Third North American Congress on Mercy (NACOM) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, from November 15-17.
On the feast day (Jan. 6) of St. André Bessette, we share an excerpt from The Saint I Knew! Exciting "Encounters" with Holiness by Kevin Wilson, published by Marian Press.
