We ask you, humbly, to help.

Hi reader, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you. Help Now >

Martyrs of Alexandria

Facts

Death: 261

In the middle of the third century, a plague spread through much of the Roman Empire. The illness was so lethal and so contagious that in just one day five thousand died from it in Rome. The plague was similarly catastrophic in Alexandria, Egypt. Frightened by the disease, many of the pagan residents abandoned those among them stricken with it, casting them into the streets to die alone. The dead were left unburied, filling the city with the stench of death. Amid these horrors, many of Alexandria's persecuted Christians, the clergy and the laity, voluntarily came forward to nurse the dying pagans as well as their own plague victims. These Christians knew the grave danger of contagion to which they were exposing themselves. Many contracted the plague from those they had tended. The bishop of Alexandria who recorded these events, Saint Dionysius, regarded the Christians who died from the plague in this manner as virtual martyrs of Christian charity in having sacrificed their lives to nurse those who had persecuted them. Their identity as martyrs was later promulgated in the Church's book of recognized saints, the Roman Martyrology.

Support Catholic Online

Get Your Copy Today!

Saints Jewelry, Medals and Gifts by Catholic Online Shopping

More Saints

Browse Saints by Alphabet

Saint Feast Days by Month

Browse Patron Saints by Alphabet

Browse Saints by Category

Popular Saints

Sort by Year:
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013

Rank

Saint

67.

St. Juan Diego

68.

St. Blaise

69.

St. Vincent de Paul

All Popular Saints

Saint Videos

Watch Who is St. Teresa of Calcutta Anyway? HD

Image of Who is St. Teresa of Calcutta Anyway? HD video

Saint of the Day

St. Philip Neri

St. Philip Neri was a Christian missionary and founder of the Congregation of the Oratory, a community of Catholic priests and lay brothers. He was born in Florence on July 21, 1515 as one of four ... continue reading

More Saint of the Day

May 2019
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

Saint of the Day by E-Mail

Female Saints

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton was the first native born American to be canonized by the Catholic Church. Born two years before the American Revolution, Elizabeth grew up in the upper class of New York society. She was a prolific reader, and read everything from the Bible ... continue reading

More Female Saints

St. Natalia of Nicomedia
Bl. Nemesia Valle
St. Nennoc
St. Nicarete
All Female Saints

Saint Calendar by Month

Browse Saints Medals by Alphabet by Catholic Online Shopping

Angels

St. Michael the Archangel

Saint Michael the Archangel isn't a saint, but rather he is an angel, and the leader of all angels and of the army of God. This is what the title "Archangel" means, that he is above all the others in rank. St. Michael has four main responsibilities or offices, as we ... continue reading

St. Gabriel, the Archangel

St. Gabriel is an angel who serves as a messenger for God to certain people. He is one of the three archangels. Gabriel is mentioned in both the Old and the New Testaments of the Bible. First, in the Old Testament, Gabriel appears to the prophet Daniel to explain his ... continue reading

Angel Resources

What are angels?
Do they really exist?
Why did God Create Angels?
Angels with Names
Guardian Angels
Man lower than Angels?
Angels of the Church
The Fallen Angels
The Nine Choirs of Angels
Angel Encounters
Angels in the Bible
Prayers to the Angels

Saints Fun Facts

St. Henry

St. Henry, son of Henry, Duke of Bavaria, and of Gisella, daughter of Conrad, King of Burgundy, was born in 972. He received an excellent education under the care of St. Wolfgang, Bishop of Ratisbon. In 995, St. Henry succeeded his father as Duke of Bavaria, and in ... continue reading

St. Hilary

Pope from 461-468 and guardian of Church unity. He was born in Sardinia, Italy, and was a papal legate to the Robber Council of Ephesus in 449, barely escaping with his life from this affair. Hilary was used by Pope St. Leo I the Great on many assignments. When Leo ... continue reading

More Saints

All Saints' Day
All Souls' Day
Day of the Dead
Stigmata
California Missions

Church Doctors
Saints FAQs
700+ New Saints
3,200+ extended bios
Saints with images

Christian Saints & Heroes

Image of Vincent was born in the Third Century in Huesca, Spain and born again to eternal life only four days into the fourth century. He lived in Saragossa where he served the holy Bishop Valerius as a Deacon.He was one of the scores of Christians who suffered brutal persecution under the evil Roman emperor named Diocletian. Diocletian is associated with the last of the ten persecutions of the nascent undivided Christian Church of the first millennium of our history. Like many early deacons of the undivided Church such as Stephen, Lawrence and Ephrem, the hagiography which has been passed down through the Church records his holiness of life and heroic virtue. He lived the way he died, as a sign of the power of the Gospel and the truth of the presence of the Risen Jesus Christ in our midst.

Feast of the Deacon St Vincent Calls the Church and her Deacons to Heroic Virtue

By Deacon Keith Fournier

Vincent was a man like us who encountered the same Risen Lord Jesus whom we have encountered. He struggled with the choices which always accompany living the Christian life in the midst of a culture which has squeezed God and His truth out of the center of its ... continue reading

More Christian Saints & Heroes

Santuario de Lourdes inaugura ano jubilar de Santa Bernardette Soubirus
Reflection on the Silence of St. Joseph, the Guardian of the Redeemer