Portal:Saints/DYK/2

• ...that Saint Augustine of Hippo, once a hedonistic rhetorician, wrote the Confessions, considered one of the first autobiographies in Western literature? His conversion to Christianity in 386 AD profoundly shaped Catholic theology.
• ...that Saint Clare of Assisi, a follower of Saint Francis of Assisi, repelled an army by holding up the Eucharist? In 1240, her act of faith at San Damiano is said to have protected her convent from Saracen invaders.
• ...that Saint John Bosco, patron of youth, used street performances like juggling to attract children to his religious classes? His educational work in 19th-century Turin led to the founding of the Salesian order.
• ...that Saint Bernadette Soubirous, visionary of Lourdes, hid her terminal illness to avoid attention while serving as a nun? Her visions of the Virgin Mary in 1858 made Lourdes a global pilgrimage site.
• ...that Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, was a former soldier who developed the Spiritual Exercises during a year-long retreat? His writings continue to guide Catholic spiritual retreats worldwide.