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St. Cletus was converted and ordained by St. Peter. He became the third pope around the year 76, and his reign ended around the year 89. During that time he ordained a number of priests. He was martyred between 89 and 91. His relics are in St. Linus Church, Vatican City. St. Cletus is mentioned in the Canon of the Roman Mass.

St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, a martyr, was born in Germany in 1577. He was a lawyer and a philosophy teacher. However, he was appalled by the corruption of his fellow lawyers, and he decided to leave his profession to become a priest and Franciscan friar. He gave away his wealth to poor people, particularly poor seminarians. St. Fidelis guarded his friary and healed soldiers. He also preached to Calvinists and others in Switzerland. St. Fidelis was murdered April 24, 1622, in Switzerland because of his preaching.

St. George lived in the third century. All that is definitely known about him is that he was a soldier and a martyr. The best known story about St. George involves villagers in Libya with a dragon problem. The dragon ate two sheep each day, and the villagers had to give the dragon maidens when there weren’t enough sheep. St. George heard about the dragon problem when a princess was to be eaten by the dragon. He crossed himself and killed the dragon in one blow. He then gave a sermon and converted many of the villagers. Although St. George was given a large reward, he gave it to the poor. St. George was tortured and beheaded in Palestine around the year 304. St. George is patron saint of chivalry, sheep and horsemen.

St. Anselm of Canterbury was born to a noble family in Piedmont, Italy, in 1033. He became a Benedictine monk in Normandy, France. He was a counselor to Pope Gregory VII, Pope Urban II and William the Conqueror. St. Anselm fought against the English king’s encroachment on the independence of the church. He died in Canterbury, England, in 1109. St. Anselm is considered one of the great theologians of the Middle Ages and was proclaimed a doctor of the church by Pope Clement XI in 1720.

St. Galdinus, a Milanese noble, was born in Milan, Italy, in 1100. He supported the Roman pope during the schism in 1159. He left Milan in 1161 when the city was besieged in support of the anti-pope, and yet St. Galdinus was still elected bishop of the city. He later became a cardinal, an archbishop and a papal legate to Lombardy. After the war, he helped rebuild Milan. St. Galdinus died in 1176 right after a sermon against heresies.

St. Robert of Chaise-Dieu, a Benedictine abbot and founder, was born in Auvergne, France, in the 11th century. After becoming a priest, he founded a hospice and cared for the poor. He made a pilgrimage to Rome, after which he decided to retire and live as a hermit in Auvergne. He attracted so many followers (about 300) that he began the Benedictine Abbey of Casa Dei (later to be called Chaise-Dieu). He died around the year 1067.

Ss. Basilissa and Anastasia were disciples of Ss. Peter and Paul. Noble Roman women, Ss. Basilissa and Anastasia found and buried the remains of Ss. Peter and Paul. For that deed, Emperor Nero had the women arrested and beheaded. They died around the year 68.

Ss. Tiburtius, Valerian and Maximus lived in the second or third century. They are included in the Acts of St. Cecilia, and their tombs were popular during the Middle Ages. St. Tiburtius was the brother St. Cecilia, who is patron saint of musicians, and St. Valerian was St. Cecilia’s husband. The two men were arrested for burying the bodies of martyrs, and they were beheaded near Rome. St. Maximus was a Roman soldier or official who died with them.

St. Martin I became the 74th pope in 649, but he did not have imperial approval. During the Lateran Council, St. Martin I condemned Monothelitism, the belief that Christ had no human will. The emperor, who had ruled that no one talk about Christ’s will at all, had St. Martin I arrested and tortured. The pontiff died from injuries sustained in his imprisonment around the year 655. St. Martin I is considered the last martyred pope.

St. Julius I, the son of a Roman named Rusticus, became the 35th pope in the year 337. He built a number of churches in Rome. He supported St. Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, when the Arians tried to keep him out of Alexandria. St. Julius I confirmed the right of bishops to appeal to the Vatican to right of wrongs.

St. Stanislaus was born to noble parents in 1079 in Poland. After the death of his parents, he gave his inheritance to the poor. He became a priest and then vicar-general of the Krakow cathedral. He then became bishop of Krakow in 1072 and preached against sinful living. St. Stanislaus was murdered by King Boleslaus the Cruel after St. Stanislaus excommunicated him because of his war crimes and attempt to steal land from the church. The reaction of the people was so great that Boleslaus fled and, consumed by guilt, became a monk. St. Stanislaus is patron saint of Krakow, Poland.