Saints & Blesseds
The Order’s calendar honors five canonized saints, a company of blesseds, and many venerables and servants of God. Their lives show the charism in different states of life: founder, reformer, preacher, mystic, wife, mother, and martyr.
Born at Faucon in Provence around 1154, John studied and taught in Paris before his ordination. At his first Mass on 28 January 1193 he received the vision of Christ between two captives that gave the Order its mission and its cross. He gathered the first community at Cerfroid, obtained the approval of Innocent III in 1198, and died in Rome on 17 December 1213.
A hermit at Cerfroid, Felix joined John de Matha’s project and is venerated as co-founder. The Order acknowledges that the documentary evidence for his life is weaker than for John’s, while honoring his role in the community’s contemplative dimension. He died around 1212.
Born at Almodóvar del Campo in 1561, he entered the Trinitarians at Toledo and became a celebrated preacher. He led the Spanish reform, approved by Clement VIII in 1599, and founded numerous discalced houses. He died at Córdoba on 14 February 1613 and was canonized in 1975.
Born at Valladolid around 1552, Simon spent most of his Trinitarian life in teaching and government. He was a sought-after spiritual director and a tireless servant of the poor, and he promoted devotion to the Holy Name of Mary. He founded the Congregation of the Slaves of the Holy Name of Mary in Madrid in 1611. He died in 1624 and was canonized in 1988.
Born at Vic in 1591, Michael entered the Trinitarians as a young man and later joined the reformed branch. He was known for deep contemplation, joyful charity, and a special love for the young. He died at Valladolid in 1625 and was canonized in 1862. He is protector of Trinitarian youth.
Born at Andújar around 1522, Mark was a Trinitarian preacher in the Alpujarras. He was killed for the faith at La Peza in 1569 during the Morisco revolt. He was beatified in 1899.
Born in Rome in 1774, Elisabetta married and raised four daughters amid great suffering. She combined prayer and works of mercy with fidelity to her family and was beatified in 1994. Her diary is a notable spiritual witness.
Born at Siena in 1769, Anna Maria married in Rome and had seven children. She cared for the poor and sick, advised families, and was known for deep prayer and discernment. She died in 1837 and was beatified in 1920.
Born at Dima in 1901, Dominic entered the Trinitarians and was ordained in 1925. Tuberculosis ended his planned missionary work, and he died at Belmonte in 1927 at the age of twenty-five. He was beatified in 1983.
María Francisca Espejo Martos was born at Martos in 1873 and professed as a Trinitarian sister in 1894. She was arrested during the Spanish persecution and killed on the night of 12–13 January 1937.
Benedetto Odescalchi was born at Como in 1611, became a cardinal, and was elected pope in 1676. He was a reformer of the Church’s government and a benefactor of the Trinitarian mission. He died in 1689.
Trinitarian martyrs of the Spanish Civil War from the regions of Cuenca and Jaén. They were beatified in 2007. The Order also honors other groups of twentieth-century martyrs, including those beatified in 2013.
The Order’s calendar also lists several blesseds and saints who were members of Trinitarian confraternities or tertiaries rather than friars. They are noted under patrons and associates below. The confraternity named in these entries is the historical Confraternity of the Most Holy Trinity, not the Third Order. See Confraternities of the Most Holy Trinity.
These figures are not all members of the Trinitarian Order. The distinctions are given so that patrons and associates are not confused with the Order’s own saints and blesseds.
The Church has also recognized a wider company of Trinitarian men and women whose causes are at earlier stages. Among them are:
This is a selected list, not a complete catalogue of causes. Titles and dates should be checked against the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints and the Order’s postulation.
Items marked Secondary are academic or reference works, not official publications of the Order. Official texts are normative where they differ.
