Saint Didacus was a Spanish Franciscan known for his spiritual insights and his penitential practices. He was a missionary to the Canary Islands and aided the sick in Rome. His travels and ministries did not distract him from prayer and contemplation.

Blessed John Duns Scotus was one of the most influential Franciscans in the worlds of philosophy and theology. He is probably best known for his defense of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Scotus served on the faculties of both Oxford University and the University of Paris.

As the cathedral church of the diocese of Rome, Saint John Lateran is the cathedral of the pope, the bishop of Rome. Long before the Vatican was constructed, Saint John Lateran was the home of the popes and the focal point for the Church. Saint Francis visited Pope Innocent at the Lateran Palace.

Saint Leo the Great held strong convictions about the importance of the Bishop of Rome and of the Church. He viewed the Church as the presence of Christ in the world. Dedicated to building up the Church in all areas, Saint Leo the Great was also a man of deep spiritual convictions.

Saint Martin of Tours is often depicted as a soldier mounted on a horse sharing his cloak with a poor man. He became a monk and then a bishop, but he never lost his love for the poor. He spent a good deal of energy fighting for the Church, and for mercy toward heretics.

Saint Josaphat dedicated his life to healing the split within the Ruthenian Church. While he made some headway, sadly the division extends to today. But his life and efforts were not in vain, for both influenced many Orthodox Christians to be united with Rome.

Although she was born in Italy, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini was the first United States citizen to be canonized. She was sent to the United States by Pope Leo XIII and spent the rest of her life working with Italian immigrants, particularly in New York City and Chicago.

What are these features? We say them when we recite the Niceno-Constantinopolitan creed during every Sunday liturgy: the Church is one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic. Indefectibility and perpetuity mean that the Church cannot lose any of these features, and they will exist in every age, from moment the Church was established until the Second Coming.

Recently, I attended a city council meeting in Temecula, California, to hear what people had to say concerning a proposed resolution to make Temecula a sanctuary city for the unborn and for the city council to, as a unified group, oppose Proposition 1, which, among other things, seeks to enshrine abortion into the constitution of California.