Welcome to the next edition of Saints of the Week! Today, I have 7 Saints for you to share with your students and children. Their Feast Days fall during the week.
This week’s saints and feasts are:
- 10/12 – Saint Carlo Acutis
- 10/13 – Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa
- 10/14 – Pope St. Callistus I, Martyr
- 10/15 – St. Teresa of Avila
- 10/16 – St. Margaret Mary Alocoque
- 10/17 – St. Ignatius of Antioch
- 10/18 – St. Luke, Evangelist
Each Saint will have the:
- dates of birth and death (when available)
- patronage
- Link to their resource or story page
- associated virtues
- virtue challenge and/or simple ways to celebrate the feast
- liturgical color
Along with the virtue, I will add a suggested virtue action for you to suggest to your students. I will also include the liturgical color for the day. You can use this as a catechetical teaching moment to discuss the different liturgical seasons and vestment colors.
I tried to choose Saints from different countries, time periods, and with various vocations. Feel free to swap out other favorite Saints this week if you wish! This is just a guide that follows the Liturgical Year Feast Days. Please let me know if you would like any other resources for these guides, and I will try my best to add them for you. I kept these guides very open-ended so that you can tailor them to your students, and check out the suggested discussion questions below.
Be sure to visit this post for more information on our Saints of the Week Guides. And, if you’re new at Amazing Catechists, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter (in the sidebar) so that you never miss an issue of Saints of the Week!
Discussion questions:
- What do you think a day in the life of this saint was like?
- What difficulties or challenges did this saint face? How did he or she overcome them?
- How did the saint exhibit virtue in his or her life? How can we work to imitate this virtue?
- What else can this saint teach us about living a good life and how to grow closer to Christ?
10/12: St. Carlo Acutis (1991-2006)
Feast Day: October 12
Liturgical color: Green
Patronage: computer programmers, computer users
Quick Facts:
- born in Milan, Italy
- created websites that glorified God and evangelized
- died of leukemia at age 15
- canonized by Pope Leo XIV in 2025
Virtue: Justice, piety, courage charity, faith, hope
Virtue Challenges: Carlo used his talents of computer programming to glorify God. Make a presentation, booklet, or blog post about the faith and share it online.
10/13: Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa (1904-1955)
Feast Day: October 6
Liturgical color: green
Patronage: Those suffering from illness and paralysis
Quick facts:
- paralyzed and bed ridden
- member of the Salesian Operators
- prayed for the salvation of souls from her bed
- mystic and visionary
- every Friday she was able to leave her bed and she relived the Passion of Christ for 3 hours
- lived only on Holy Communion for the last 13 years of her life
Virtues: Piety, faith, courage
Virtue challenge: Read the Bread of Life Discourse (John 6:22-59), and discuss what it means for Jesus to be the “Bread of Life.”
10/14: Pope St. Callistus I, Martyr (Martyred c. 223)
Feast Day: October 14
Liturgical color: red
Patronage: Cemetery workers
Quick facts:
- born a slave
- wrongly accused of stealing money
- oversaw the Christian cemeteries of Rome
- 16th pope
Virtues: Faith, perseverance
Virtue challenge: Pray the Eternal Rest prayer for the dead today.
10/15: St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
Spanish School; St Teresa of Avila in Ecstasy; The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/st-teresa-of-avila-in-ecstasy-142779
Feast Day: October 15
Liturgical color: white
Patronage: sick people; against bodily ills or sickness, against headaches, against the death of parents, lace makers or lace workers, people in need of grace, people in religious orders, people ridiculed for their piety
Quick facts:
- Doctor of the Church
- Carmelite nun
- wrote the great spiritual work, Interior Castle
- Famous quote: “Know that even when you are in the kitchen, our Lord moves amidst the pots and pans.” – Saint Teresa of Avila
Link to Divine Office (see About Today)
Virtue: Piety, love of God, obedience
Virtue challenge: Find time today to say some extra prayers, and really try to be aware of God’s presence in all that you do.
10/16: St. Margaret Mary Alocoque (1647-1690)
Feast Day: October 16
Liturgical color: green
Patronage: of those suffering with polio, devotees of the Sacred Heart, loss of parents
Quick facts:
- nun from France
- Jesus appeared to her many times throughout her life, and told her to spread the devotion of the Sacred Heart
- loved making visits to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament
- her body was found to be incorrupt
Virtues: Humility, patience, kindness, piety
Virtue challenge: Attend adoration.
10/17: St. Ignatius of Antioch (c. 50 – c. 107)
Feast Day: October 17
Liturgical color: Red
Patronage: Against throat diseases
Quick facts:
- pagan who converted to Christianity
- martyr
- Apostolic Father
- bishop
Link to Divine Office (see About Today)
Virtue: Faith
Virtue Challenge: Learn about the different parts of the Mass.
10/18: St. Luke, Evangelist (Died c. 74)
Feast Day: October 18
Liturgical Color: Red
Patronage: artists, bachelors, bookbinders, brewers, butchers, doctors, glass makers, glassworkers, glaziers, gold workers, goldsmiths, lacemakers, lace workers, notaries, painters, physicians, sculptors, stained glass workers, surgeons, unmarried men
Quick facts:
- born to pagan Greek parents
- physician
- wrote the Gospel of Luke
- name means “bringer of light”
Link to Divine Office (see About Today)
Virtues: Faith, Love of God
Virtue challenge: Read parts of the Gospel of Luke today.
References:
- catholicsaints.info
- gospeltodaycatholic.com/
