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St. Peter Damian is one of the thirty (at time of writing) Doctors of the Church . He was a major reformer against the scandals of the church in his day, and was an influence on Dante Alighieri and St. Francis of Assisi .  Lifetime: 988 to 1072 Region:  Northern Italy Patronages:  Faenza and Font-Avellano, Italy; Insomniacs Iconograpy:  Quill and book; Knotted rope; Grey robes Feast Day: February 21 Peter was the last born to a large noble family who was, despite their titles, rather poor. He became an orphan at a young age, and was adopted by an older brother. Unfortunately, this brother didn't seem to take in young Peter out of the kindness of his heart; Peter was treated like a slave, underfed and forced to care for the brother's pigs. One of Peter's other brothers, who was a priest, eventually took pity on Peter and gave him money to go to school. This brother's name was Damian, and Peter was so moved by his sibling's kindness that he added the brother's na...

Honestly, what could I say about saints Peter and Paul to fit in a blog post? Libraries already exist about each of them, and I'm nowhere near qualified to contribute anything noteworthy to that canon.  Instead, I'd like to share Pope Francis' homily from today, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. (Translation by Catholic News Agency ) Lifetime:  First century Region:  Rome, Roman empire Patronages:  Fishers; Gentiles; Theologians; The Papacy Iconograpy:  Peter: keys to the kingdom; Paul: book or scroll of epistles; Together: lifting up a church building Feast Day:  June 29 On the feast of the two Apostles of this city, I would like to share with you two key words: unity and prophecy. Unity. We celebrate together two very different individuals: Peter, a fisherman who spent his days amid boats and nets, and Paul, a learned Pharisee who taught in synagogues. When they went forth on mission, Peter spoke to Jews, and Paul to pagans. And when their paths cro...