Church Triumphant: 25 Men and Women who Gave Their Lives to Christ

By John Paul Wohlscheid

In a culture that views good as evil and evil as good, and where it often takes courage to live according to God’s ways, we need the saints. If the demands of life leave you little time to read, but you want to learn from the lives of holy men and women, this book is for you.

Since the foundation of the Catholic Church, 2000 years ago, God has blessed His people with an abundance of grace. Many men and women have lived lives of such great holiness that the Church has declared them saints. They came from many different backgrounds, cultures, and ethnicities. While faced with the same frailties and temptations as you and I, a common thread that united them all: their love for Jesus Christ.

The saints can benefit every one of us today in many ways. We can benefit by turning to them for their intercession and by imitating their virtuous lives. This book contains 25 short biographies including Venerable Bishop Sheen, known for his work on television and radio; Saint Gianna Molla, a working mom who laid down her life for her unborn baby; and Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American to be recognized as a saint.

Take the time out of your busy day to learn about the lives of the saints. Let them inspire you to fight the good fight and remain steadfast on the steep and narrow road that leads to Eternal Life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Paul Wohlscheid
• Release date: Apr 5, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310540523

John Paul Wohlscheid

John Paul was born and raised in West Michigan. He discovered detective stories at an early age through the magic of Old Time Radio. Since then he has devoured hundreds of hours of radio shows (such as Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, Boston Blackie, Richard Diamond and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar) and mystery stories. With all this knowledge, he decided to take a crack at recreating those hard-boiled stories of yesteryear. Someday he plans to expand into scifi and westerns.

Book preview

Church Triumphant

by John Paul Wohlscheid

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Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2015 John Paul Wohlscheid

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Also by John Paul Wohlscheid, Published at Smashwords

Don’t Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth

Trouble is My Client

Dedication

I would like to thank everyone who contributed to this project. I would like to thank my parents for encouraging me. I would like to thank Jeannie, Enda, Allison, and Cheryl for taking the time to beta-read this book and point out some problem. I would like to thank the member of the Indie Catholic Authors group on Google+ for their support and prayers.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

ASIA

St. Gonsalo Garcia

EUROPE

St. Andreas Wouters

Blessed Charles I of Austria

Blessed Charles de Foucauld

St. Clement Maria Hofbauer

St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows

St. Gerard Majella

St. Gianna Molla

Blessed John Henry Newman

St. Maria Goretti

St. Maximilian Kolbe

St Nicholas

St Peter Julian Eymard

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati

St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

Pope St. Pius X

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

MIDDLE EAST

St. Charbel Makhluf

NORTH AMERICA

Venerable Bishop Frederic Baraga

Venerable Fulton J. Sheen

Blessed José Luis Sánchez del Río

St. Kateri Tekakwitha

St. Marianne Cope

Blessed Miguel Pro

Servant of God Father Patrick Peyton

AFTERWORD

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Introduction

This e-book originally started as a weekly addition to my parish’s bulletin. I wanted to be able to teach my fellow Catholics about the saints and to inspire them to lead holy lives. In recent years, there has been a decided de-emphasis on Catholic education, especially concerning the saints. I wanted to combat this by exposing my fellow parishioners to the huge variety of men and women who make up the Church Triumphant, those who made it to Heaven. Recently, I have decided that I want to spread this knowledge beyond my own parish. I tried getting into other bulletins, with very limited success. Most church bulletins do not have room for even short stories about the saints. Since I have already published a couple of e-books, I decided that this medium was my best bet to reach more people. On top of that, Easter seemed to the best release date I could think of. I have always loved reading the lives of the saints and I hope you do, as well. If you enjoyed this book, have questions or suggestions, you can contact me at wohlscheid (at) gmail dot com.

God Bless,

John Paul Wohlscheid

Lent 2015

Asia

St. Gonsalo Garcia (1556 - February 5, 1597)

St. Gonsalo Garcia was born around 1597 in the fortified city of Bassein in the Portuguese quarter of India. His father was a Portuguese soldier and his mother was a native. As he grew up, Gonsalo stayed with the local Jesuits. While there, he became friends with Fr. Sebastian Gonsalves, who become Gonsalo’s mentor. He also studied Grammar, Philosophy and Roman History with the Jesuits.

When he was thirteen, Gonsalo asked Fr. Sebastian for permission to join the missionaries to Japan. However, his request was denied, because he was too young but was approved two years later. Once the missionaries reached Japan, Gonsalo worked as a catechist. He would walk the streets drawing children to him with his kindness and a fluent understanding of the Japanese language. He worked for eight years in the Japanese missionary fields with the Jesuits. He tried to join the Jesuit order, but he was turned down because of his native origin. Losing hope, Gonsalo left the Jesuits.

He moved to the Japanese city of Alacao and worked as a merchant. His work flourished. Through his business transactions, he came into contact with many high-ranking members of Japanese society, even the Emperor. Even though he was successful in business, Gonsola yearned to become a member of a religious order. Eventually, he was accepted by the Franciscans. He moved to Manila and worked as a catechist there. Once again, his fluency in Japanese came in handy. In 1593, he joined a Spanish delegation to Japan as a translator. After some initial problems, the Franciscans became quite successful in their missionary efforts. The local king, Taikosama, was