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St. Mark was the first bishop of Jerusalem who was not descended from a Jewish family. It is said that he was martyred after about 20 years.

St. Luke the Apostle was a physician who became one of the first converts to Christianity. According to legend, he was a painter who may have completed portraits of Jesus and Mary. After meeting St. Paul, the two evangelized Greece and Rome. St. Luke wrote the Gospel according to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. He died circa 74 in Greece. He may have been martyred. St. Luke is patron saint of artists, bachelors and physicians.

St. Ignatius of Antioch was born circa the year 50 in Syria. He converted to Christianity and eventually become the bishop of Antioch, Syria. He served during the persecutions of Domitian and Trajan. The latter ordered that St. Ignatius be killed by wild animals in Rome. The trip to Rome took months, during which the saint wrote letters to churches. It is said that he was the first to use the term the Catholic Church. He was thrown to wild animals and died circa 107. St. Ignatius of Antioch is patron saint of the church in the eastern Mediterranean.

St. Theophilus lived circa 181. Although he intended to read Scriptures in order to attack Christianity, he converted. He was an apologist who wrote three books. The saint developed the doctrine of Logos (Word) and the word Triad to describe the relationship of the three persons in one God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He served the church as bishop of Antioch.

St. Bruno the Great, the youngest son of King Henry I and St. Matilda, was born in 925. He was a courtier for his brother, Emperor Otto I, before becoming abbot of Lorsch and Corvei. The saint later became archbishop of Cologne. He founded the monastery of St. Pantaleon at Cologne. He died in 965 in Rheims, France.

St. Paulinus of York was born circa 584 in Rome. He was a monk in Rome, and Pope Gregory the Great, a saint, sent him to be a missionary among the Anglo-Saxons in 601. He converted people in Kent for more than two decades before becoming bishop of York in 625. He converted many, including King Edwin (also a saint) in 627, while serving as the first missionary to evangelize in Northumbria. This saint also served as bishop of Rochester. He died Oct. 10, 644. St. Paulinus of York is patron saint of Rochester, England.

St. Denis served as a missionary in Paris, and he later became the first bishop of Paris. The non-Christians were angry over the saint’s success in converting people, so the Roman governor imprisoned him. Along with Ss. Rusticus and Eleutherius, he was martyred during Valerius’ persecutions. The saint died when he was beheaded circa 258 in Montmartre. St. Genevieve built a basilica over his grace. St. Denis is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers as patron saint against headaches. He is also patron saint against strife and frenzy.

St. Justina of Padua lived in the third century. She took private vows of chastity and devotion to God when she was a young woman. She was martyred circa 304 during Diocletian’s persecutions. St. Justina is patron saint of Padua, Italy.

St. Placid lived in the sixth century. It is said that he was placed into the care of St. Benedict after the saint saved him from drowning. St. Placid accompanied St. Benedict at Monte Cassino and Subiaco. One legend credits St. Placid with founding St. John the Baptist Monastery in Messina, Sicily. St. Placid’s disciples include Eutychius, Faustus, Donatus and Firmatus.

St. Francis of Assisi was born in Italy circa 1181. During a serious illness, he converted to Christianity after a vision of Jesus. He literally followed the example of Jesus. He begged for sustenance and preached about peace and purity. He helped the sick, visited hospitals and treated all people as his siblings. After beginning to attract followers in 1209, he received a papal blessing and founded the Franciscans. Clare of Assisi became his spiritual student in 1212, after which the Poor Clares were founded. St. Francis lived with animals, and composed songs to God. He received stigmata circa 1224 and died Oct. 4, 1226. St. Francis of Assisi is patron saint of animals, ecology and peace.

St. Candidus was a Roman martyr who was buried on Esquiline Hill.

St. Therese of Lisieux was born Jan. 2, 1873, in France. At the age of 8, she was cured from an illness after a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary smiled at her. When she was 15, she became a Carmelite nun. St. Therese named her path to God as “the little way.” This “little way” is based on loving and trusting God. Miracles have been attributed to her. She died in Lisieux, France, of tuberculosis in 1897. In 1997, Pope John Paul II declared her a doctor of the church. St. Therese is patron saint of sick people.