St. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897, France) experienced great loss during childhood, losing her mother when she was only four years old. As a child, she appears to have struggled with severe anxiety. Yet she had a profound love for our Lord and dedicated her life to him as a Carmelite nun. Pope Francis has spoken of her “spirit of humility, tenderness and goodness” and stated “[t]he Church needs hearts like Thérèse's, hearts that draw people to love and bring people closer to God.”

St. John of God (15th century, Spain) is a patron saint for those who live with mental illness and face mental health challenges. In his mid-life, St. John was perceived, perhaps wrongly, as having a mental illness, and was sent to a psychiatric facility where he experienced horrific treatment. In response to his experience there, he prayed that “those suffering from mental disorders might have refuge and that I may be able to serve them as I wish” (Francisco de Castro, Historia, 1585). St. John subsequently dedicated himself to ministering to the poor, sick, and people living with mental illness.

St. Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680, North America) was the daughter of a Mohawk chief and an Algonquin Catholic woman in what is now upper New York State. When St. Kateri was only four years old, a smallpox epidemic killed her parents and younger brother and left her with impaired eyesight and scarred facial features. She also experienced isolation, family pressure, and marginalization from her earliest years of life. In her late teenage years, she was drawn to the Catholic faith, finding refuge and purpose with the Jesuit missionaries. She was a Christ-like example to all who encountered her. St. Kateri died at the young age of 24.

St. Martin de Porres (1579 – 1639, Peru), born Juan Martin de Porres Velazquez, grew up in poverty and experienced stigma and intergenerational trauma most of his life because of the circumstances of his birth. St. Martin’s mother was a freed woman of African descent from Panama, and his father, a Spanish nobleman, abandoned St. Martin and his sister for many years. St. Martin was publicly disparaged because of his mixed heritage. Despite the suffering he endured, St. Martin devoted himself to the poor and vulnerable. Filled with God’s love, he is said to have experienced ecstasies and bilocation. Pope Gregory XVI beatified St. Martin in 1837, and St. John XXIII canonized him in 1962.