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October 10 across 2,026 years of Catholic history

Catholic history · Real stories · Every day

Catholic Saints for Kids

Junior Edition · October 10, 2026

True stories of the saints for curious readers ages 10–12.

A bearded priest in a black cassock stands on a stone landing below fortress walls reading a letter with a red wax seal, a young priest beside him, two Japanese men with a sea chest at the left and a sailing ship anchored in the harbour behind.
About this picture

AI-generated image, in the manner of the Portuguese painters of c. 1620, based on The stormy voyage of St. Francis Xavier after leaving Japan (André Reinoso and collaborator, c. 1619, Museu de São Roque, Lisbon) View source artwork.

Start here 3 min read

The big question

Letter chases St. Francis Xavier across Asia for two years

Saint Ignatius of Loyola put St. Francis Xavier in charge in India, but his friend had just sailed for Japan.

Where he was
Kagoshima, in Japan
Time it took
More than two years
When
October 10, 1549 AD
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More from this edition

A sepia engraving of a hillside farm with vines, where a man in a felt hat and a slight boy carrying a book walk up a dirt track toward a priest in a black cassock and hat seen from behind, while a group of boys play ball in the field beyond.
About this picture

AI-generated image, in the manner of a monochrome relief engraving of the Turin devotional press of the 1850s, from the paper's reference portrait based on Dominic Savio (Pupil of the Ven. Don Bosco), frontispiece plate to 'The Life of Dominic Savio' by St. John Bosco (unknown engraver, after the likeness published by St. John Bosco in 1859 AD; 1915 AD, Internet Archive) View source artwork.

Story 04 3 min read

The big test

Given a day to learn a page, he took eight minutes

A twelve-year-old blacksmith's son wanted St. John Bosco to take him to Turin to study for the priesthood, and the priest set him a test first.

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A gold-ground mosaic of a young woman in a deep-blue mantle drawn over a white head-covering, standing before a brick wall, while a bearded Roman officer in a red cloak with a short sword at his hip points towards her, a soldier in brown stands behind them and two young men in plain tunics watch from the left.
About this picture

AI-generated image in the manner of a Ravennate wall mosaic of about 500 AD, after the medallion of St. Perpetua in the vault of the Archiepiscopal Chapel, Ravenna (c. 500 AD) View source artwork.

Story 06 2 min read

Standing up

A prisoner facing death makes a Roman commander blush

Saint Perpetua, twenty-two and sentenced to the wild beasts, spoke up for the prisoners, and the commander eased their prison and let her brothers in.

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Today in the Church for kids

Saturday in the Twenty-seventh Week of Ordinary Time

Saint of the day for kids

Saint Francis Borgia

Saint Francis Borgia was the Duke of Gandía, in Spain, and St. Ignatius of Loyola let him join the Jesuits in 1546 AD. Two years later, in 1548 AD, St. Francis made his final vows at Gandía, and he later led the Jesuits of Spain.

On this day in the Church for kids

  • 1891 In New York the Archbishop preached a goodbye sermon and gave a blessing called Benediction to St. Frances Xavier Cabrini and her sisters, who were ready to sail on to Central America the next morning.Source
  • 1894 At Lisieux Isidore Guérin moved the remains of St. Zélie Martin and the four Martin children who died young into the tomb of St. Louis Martin in the town cemetery.Source
  • 1982 Pope St. John Paul II declared Maximilian Kolbe a saint in St. Peter's Square and ruled that St. Maximilian Kolbe should also be honoured as a martyr.Our reportSource