May 12
ST. NEREUS, ST. ACHILLEUS AND ST. PANCRAS
Sts. Nereus and Achilleus were Roman soldiers who died around 304. They were probably Praetorian guards under Emperor Trajan. We know little else about them.

May 13
ST. ANDREW FOURNET
St. Andrew Fournet was born on December 6, 1752. He was from Maille, a little town near Poitiers, in France. Andrew's parents were religious people. Mrs. Fournet had her heart set on Andrew becoming a priest.

May 14
ST. MATTHIAS
St. Matthias was one of Our Lord's seventy-two disciples. He had been a follower of Jesus during his public life. St. Peter asked the 120 people gathered in prayer to choose an apostle to replace Judas.

May 15
ST. ISIDORE THE FARMER
Saint Isidore was born in 1070, in Madrid, Spain. His parents were deeply religious. They named their son after the great St. Isidore, archbishop of Seville, Spain.

May 16
ST. UBALD
St. Ubald lived in twelfth-century Italy. He was an orphan raised by his uncle, a bishop. Ubald was given a good education. When he finished his schooling, he had the chance to marry. But he became a priest instead. Eventually, the pope made him bishop of Gubbio, the city of his birth.

May 17
ST. PASCHAL BAYLON
St. Paschal, a Spanish saint, was born in 1540. From the time he was seven, he worked as a shepherd. He never had the opportunity to go to school. Yet he taught himself to read and write.

May 18
ST. JOHN I
St. John I was a priest of Rome. He became pope after the death of Pope St. Hormisdas in 523. At that time, Italy's ruler, Theodoric the Goth, was an Arian. (The Arians did not believe that Jesus is God.) Theodoric let Catholics alone at the beginning of his reign. Later, however, he changed and became arrogant and suspicious of everyone.