Saints Fun Facts: Bl. Odoric of Pordenone

Bl. Odoric of Pordenone

  Franciscan missionary and traveler. Born Odoric Mattiussi at Villanova, near Pordenone, Italy, he entered the Franciscans in 1300 and became a hermit. After several years, he took to preaching in the region of Udine, northern Italy, attracting huge crowds through his eloquence. In 1316 he set out for the Far East, journeying through China and finally reaching the court of the Mongol Great Khan in Peking. From 1322 to 1328 he wandered throughout China and Tibet, finally returning to the ... continue reading

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St. Addal

A disciple of Christ sent by St. Thomas to the court of King Abgar the Black, the second century Osroene ruler. Legendary accounts claim Abgar wrote to Christ asking Jesus to cure him of an intolerable and incurable illness. Abgar's court was in Edessa in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Addal cured Abgar and converted the king and his people to the faith. One of these was Addai, who became Addal's successor. Addal is also supposed to have sent another disciple, Man, to various sites along the ... continue reading

St. Ado of Vienne

An archbishop and scholar, Ado was born in Sens and educated at the Benedictine abbey of Ferrieres. Abbot Lupus Servatus, an outstanding humanist of the time, trained Ado, and was impressed with the obvious holiness of the young man. A noble by birth, Ado renounced his inheritance and became a Benedictine, in time assigned to the monastery of Prum, near Trier, Germany. Ado's holiness made him enemies, and he was forced to leave Prum. He went to Rome on a pilgrimage and remained there for two ... continue reading

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