Ordinary Lives, *Extraordinary* Journeys

In this episode of Everyday Saints, a Catholic podcast telling real saint stories in plain, everyday language, we tell the true story of St. Teresa of Calcutta — known to most of the world as Mother Teresa. For nearly fifty years, while she was founding hospices, winning the Nobel Peace Prize, and becoming the most recognizable image of Christian charity on the planet, she was privately writing to her spiritual directors that she couldn't feel God's presence at all. These letters were only made

In this episode of Everyday Saints, a Catholic podcast telling real saint stories in plain, everyday language, we tell the true story of St. Genesius of Rome — an actor who built his career mocking Christians on stage for the Emperor Diocletian, during the worst persecution in Roman history. One night, in the middle of performing a comedy sketch making fun of Christian baptism, Genesius said the words as a joke — and for the first time, meant them. He stopped the performance, told the emperor an

In this episode of Everyday Saints, a Catholic podcast telling real saint stories in plain, everyday language, we tell the true story behind the man you already think you know: St. Nicholas of Myra. Before he was Santa Claus, he was an orphan who gave away a fortune in secret, dropping gold through windows in the dead of night so three sisters wouldn't be sold into slavery. Before that generosity ever made it into a Christmas poem, Nicholas spent years imprisoned and tortured for his faith durin

In this episode of Everyday Saints, a Catholic podcast about the real lives of the saints, we tell the story of St. Mary of Egypt — one of the most extraordinary and least-known figures in Christian history. At 12 she ran away to Alexandria. For 17 years she lived entirely for herself. Then, on a whim, she joined a boat of pilgrims to Jerusalem — and at the door of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, something she couldn't explain stopped her cold. What followed was 47 years alone in the desert, a

In this episode of Everyday Saints, a Catholic podcast about the real lives of the saints, host John O'Connor tells the story of St. Thomas the Apostle — one of the most misunderstood figures in the entire New Testament. You know him as Doubting Thomas. Here is what you do not know. Before he ever demanded proof, he was the only disciple willing to say out loud what following Jesus might actually cost. And after the moment history remembers him for — standing in a locked room, face to face wit

In this episode of Everyday Saints, a Catholic podcast about the real lives of the saints, host John O'Connor tells the story of St. Moses the Black — a former slave, murderer, and leader of a violent gang of seventy-five men who terrorized the Nile Valley in fourth century Egypt. He once swam a river at night with a sword in his teeth to settle a score over a barking dog. He died thirty-five years later with his hands open — greeting the men who came to kill him. Without raising a hand in def

In this episode of Everyday Saints, a Catholic podcast about the real lives of the saints, host John O'Connor tells the story of St. Paul — one of the most recognizable names in all of Christianity, and one of the most misunderstood. Before he wrote half the New Testament, he was dragging Christians out of their homes and throwing them in prison. He stood and watched the first Christian martyr get stoned to death — and approved. Then a blinding light knocked him off his feet on a road outside

In this episode of Everyday Saints, a Catholic podcast about the real lives of the saints, host John O'Connor tells the story of St. Margaret of Castello — one of the newest saints in the Catholic Church, canonized by Pope Francis in 2021, and one of the most overlooked. She was born blind, severely disabled, and a dwarf. Her own wealthy parents were so ashamed of her that they sealed her into a small room beside a chapel when she was six years old. When a pilgrimage they took her on didn't pro