FRESH Exemplars – FRESHImage

The history of Christianity is full a heroes, some of whom the Christian Tradition refers to as saints. At FRESHImage, those who are officially recognized as saints and some of those who have not yet been so recognized are called FRESH Exemplars, because they so beautifully manifest lives of Faith and Respect (Love), lives that are centered on the Eucharist and so thoroughly nourished by Scripture that it’s almost as if they had walked out of its very pages. For this reason, they show us what it means to live a life of Hope and be a source of hope in a world so deeply troubled. These heroes of the Christian faith each have something unique to teach us about who God is, and who He calls each of us to be in relationship with Him and one another. Learn more about these great individuals here and be inspired to be the saint God created you to be, allowing Him to bathe the world in His saving love through you!

St. Augustine of Hippo On The Christian Life of Prayer-Pt. 2

In part one of this article on St. Augustine’s understanding of the Christian life of prayer we saw that for Augustine, prayer forms the Christia...

St. Augustine of Hippo on The Christian Life of Prayer-Pt. 1

In his biography of the life of his saintly teacher, Possidius, the Bishop of Calama, describes St. Augustine of Hippo as a man who exemplified t...

St. Monica and Spiritual Motherhood

Among other things, the celebration of the life of St. Monica today represents the fulfilment of a son’s prayer. At the end of Book Nine of his C...

St. Alphonsus Liguori: Living in Friendship with God-Pt. 2

In Part One, we saw how, though not without difficulty, St. Alphonsus left the potential power, wealth, and prestige that were before him, togeth...

St. Alphonsus Liguori: Living in Friendship with God-Pt. 1

Last year, hoping to fill in a gap in current research, a group of psychologists from Columbia University and Michigan State University, sought t...

St. Anthony of Padua: Finding Human Dignity-Pt. 2

As we saw at the end of the first part of this reflection, over the course of the first part of his life, Anthony (born Fernando), had gone from ...

St. Anthony of Padua: Finding Human Dignity-Pt. 1

Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Doctor, June 13 Tony, Tony, look around, something’s lost and must be found! Growing up in a Catholic home, ...

The FRESHLife of the Venerable Augustine Tolton-Part II

“Father Augustine Tolton, United States of America, diocese of Alton, Illinois” (From Slave to Priest: The Inspirational Story of Father Augustin...

The FRESHLife of the Venerable Augustine Tolton-Part I

“They must be free” he said pointing to their three little children asleep on the pallet. “They must learn to read and write; they must go to sch...

Benedictine Feast of All Saints

Indeed, He sent the Holy Spirit upon all men that He might move them inwardly to love God with their whole heart and their whole soul, with all t...

Memorial of St. Gertrude the Great

November 16 Today the Church celebrates one of the most loved ecclesial mystic heroes of the Middle Ages; Saint Gertrude of Helfta or better-k...

Understanding Sanctity with Dorothy Day

November 8th, 2022 marks the 126th birthday of Servant of God, Dorothy Day. The title “servant of God” is given to those whose cause for canoniza...

Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, & Companions

Blessed Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues, & Companions, Martyrs! Today's memorial celebrates some of those who gave their ...

St. Luke the Evangelist: Living as Theophilus

Blessed Memorial of St. Luke the Evangelist! St. Luke famously dedicated his two part work, Luke and Acts, to a figure named Theophilus: “Inas...

St. Ignatius of Antioch: A Threefold Eucharistic Lesson

Blessed Memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr! Today’s memorial offers us the occasion to reflect upon the radical, totalizing n...

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque: Loving the Sacred Heart

Happy Memorial of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque! St. Margaret Mary is especially known for her promotion of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus...

St. Teresa of Avila: Alone God Suffices

Happy Memorial of St. Teresa of Avila, Virgin and Doctor! Let nothing disturb you, nothing affright you; All things are passing; God never ...

St. John Henry Newman: Conscience as the Voice of Love

We often hear the word "conscience" bandied about in public discourse, but do we really know what the term means? The Church has consistently tau...

St. Faustina & the Love of the Divine Madman

Happy Memorial of St. Faustina Kowalska! “Hidden Jesus, Eternal Love, our Source of Life, divine Madman, in that You forget yourself and see o...

Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi

Happy Feast of St. Francis of Assisi! “Let all of us, brothers, look to the Good Shepherd Who suffered the passion of the Cross to save his sh...

St. Thérèse of Lisieux: The Elevator of Divine Love

Happy feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Virgin and Doctor of the Church! Born in Alençon, France on January 2, 1873, Thérèse was the ninth...

St. Jerome: The Slow Work of Sanctity

Happy feast of St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church! Friends, what comes to mind when we think of the saints? For starters, perhaps paintings, ima...

St. Ignatius of Loyola: A Theo-Dramatic Life

All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time pl...

St. Benedict: A Guide to Sanctity

July 11 Each Sunday the Church proclaims belief in "the Communion of Saints" as it says the Creed. We say it so quickly and by rote memory, it...

St. Catherine Labouré & The Miraculous Medal

This month of May, when we begin to see more of the sun and blossoms budding; the Church turns Her collective heart to Mary. Our Blessed Mother, ...

St. Catherine of Siena: A Life Lived In Excess

At the end of his Gospel, John the Evangelist writes: “But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written dow...

My Eucharistic Offering: Servant of God Sr. Thea Bowman

“I bring myself, my black self, all that I am, all that I have, all that I hope to become… as gift to the Church,” Sister Thea Bowman in her Addr...

Perpetua & Felicity: Striving for Eternal Happiness

The desire for happiness is a universal human experience. From of old philosophers have constructed their theories of what it means to live a goo...

Polycarp: A Patron Saint for Lent

February 23rd Today the Church commemorates one of the most acclaimed figures of its early life, St. Polycarp, bishop and martyr. The greatnes...

St. Antony of Egypt: A Signpost for Our Times

(Memorial of St. Antony of Egypt, January 17) We live in what seems increasingly with each passing day, precarious times. Lately, for the comm...

FRESH Exemplar: St. Albert the Great

November 15 Happy Memorial of St. Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor. The saint celebrated by the Church today is one of the most impressi...

FRESH Exemplar: St. Frances Xavier Cabrini

November 13 Happy Memorial of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini The saint the Church celebrates today, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, is a reminder t...

FRESH Exemplars: St. Leo the Great

November 10 Happy Memorial of St. Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church! What does it mean to be great? St. Leo, whom the Church cel...

FRESH Exemplar: St. Charles Borromeo

November 4 Happy Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo! “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Mt. 5:8). This passage from the ...

FRESH Exemplar: St. Martin de Porres

November 3 Happy Memorial of St. Martin de Porres! Today we celebrate the memorial of St. Martin de Porres, illegitimate child of an Africa...

FRESH Exemplar: St. John Paul II: Fear Not!

October 22 Happy Memorial of St. John Paul II!Fear not! So goes one of the most often repeated commands of the Bible, a message St. John Paul ...

St. Paul of the Cross: The Virtuous Life as Imitation of Christ

Happy Memorial of St. Paul of the Cross! Today the Church celebrates the memorial of St. Paul of the Cross, founder of the Passionists religio...