Our Patron saints

"To holy people the very name of Jesus is a name to feed upon, a name to transport. His name can raise the dead and transfigure and beautify the living." - St. John Henry Newman

  • SAINT john henry newman

    1801-1890

    Feast Day: September 24


    Canonized on October 13, 2019, St. John Henry Newman spent the first half of his life as an Anglican before converting to the Roman Catholic faith. He was a priest, popular preacher, writer, and theologian in both Churches. Born in London, England, he studied and ministered at Oxford. After 1833, Newman became a prominent member of the Oxford Movement, which emphasized the Church's debt to the the Church Fathers and challenged any tendency to consider truth as completely subjective. His historical research led Newman to become a Roman Catholic in 1845 and a priest two years later. When Newman was named a cardinal in 1879, he took as his motto "Cor ad cor loquitur," heart speaks to the heart. He died 11 years later. Three years after his death, a Newman Club for Catholic students began at the University of Pittsburgh. In time, his name was linked to Catholic ministry centers at public universities in the United States, including the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

  • Blessed pier giorgio frassati

    1901-1925

    Feast Day: July 4


    Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati is a saint for the modern world. He was born in 1901 in Turin, Italy, and died of polio at the young age of 24. He lived his few years with passion and holiness. Pope St. John Paul II called him a "man of the beatitudes." He had a deep piety and intense interest in Catholicism, even though his parents were not religious. For Frassati, Christ was the answer to everything. All of his actions oriented toward Christ and began in contemplation of Jesus. Frassati loved the poor through his constant and mostly hidden service to the poorest of Turin and through spirited political activism. He was an avid outdoorsman and loved hiking. He never passed up a chance to play a practical joke and loved to laugh. Frassati also lived his faith through discipline with his school work, which was a tremendous cross for him as he was a poor student. He died on July 4, 1925, and his body was found incorrupt in 1981.

St. Teresa of calcutta

1910-1997

Feast Day: September 5


A beloved saint of modern times, St. Teresa of Calcutta (or Mother Teresa) was a woman who lived to the full the beauty of sacrificial love. Called to religious life at a young age, St. Teresa served for many years with a religious community in India as a teacher. In her mid-30s, the Lord gave her a "call within a call" to serve the poorest of the poor, and after a time of testing that call, she founded the Missionaries of Charity, a religious community that now has thousands of sisters serving around the world, as well as a women's contemplative order and a brotherhood of priests. In the midst of great apostolic fruitfulness, Mother Teresa struggled for years with spiritual darkness, yet remained a joyful presence of God's love in our world. Today, she continues to inspire us to do all things with love and to abide in Christ, known especially to us in the Eucharist and in the poor, as the source of that love.


Image Courtesy of the Artist, Mark Weber

Available for sale at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help

All proceeds support vocations to the priesthood in the Diocese of Green Bay.

Blessed Solanus Casey

1870-1957

Feast Day: July 30


A native of Wisconsin, Blessed Solanus Casey heard God's call to the priesthood after seeing a woman assaulted and asking what he could do to make the world better. Seminary proved to be a struggle for the Irishman's son, who did not speak German, the language of instruction at the school. "Thanking the Lord ahead of time" for providing the right religious order for him, he joined the Capuchins and was ordained a priest, although limited in service again because he was not a German-speaker, like his brother Capuchins. He celebrated his first Mass in Appleton, although he served for most of life in Michigan, New York, and Indiana. His deep humility proved to be fertile ground for the Lord's work through him. Although unable to hear confessions, people flocked to him for counsel and prayer, and miracles of God's healing and provision were attributed to his intercession, even in his lifetime.


Image Courtesy of the Artist, Mark Weber

Available for sale at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help

All proceeds support vocations to the priesthood in the Diocese of Green Bay.