September 17th is the feast day of Saint Robert Bellarmine, Doctor of the Church, and patron saint of catechists and catechumens. He was born in 1542 at the height of the Protestant Reformation. Like many saints, he was from a noble family and suffered form an assortment of health issues. He became a Jesuit and soon became a professor of theology writing in defense of the Catholic Church against the Protestant reformers. Like his fellow patron of catechists, St. Charles Borromeo, Bellarmine wrote his own catechism for catechists to use to teach the faith. Unlike some bishops and cardinals who lived austere lives, Bellarmine gave much of his riches to the poor. He is a Doctor of the Church, and patron saint of catechists and catechumens.

St. Robert Bellarmine, pray for us.