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BEIRUT (CNS) — On a gloomy, rainy Saturday morning in Beirut, 92-year-old Julia enthusiastically greeted her visitors, Christian and Muslim youth, who had come to set up a Christmas tree in her modest apartment.

The singers are, by and large, those whose only prior singing experience is from the pew, but it's free and open to all.

As a youth Dominic tended sheep on the foothills of the Pyrenees where he learned to appreciate solitude. He then pursued the quiet life as a monk.

A London-born clerk to Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury, Thomas studied canon law abroad and was ordained a deacon.

Raised Episcopalian in colonial New York City, Elizabeth married William Magee Seton, a merchant. The couple had five children.

Named for St. John Nepomucene, patron saint of his native of Bohemia, John entered the seminary and was nearing ordination when he departed for the United States to become a missionary.

Born in Canada and orphaned at the age of 10, André worked for three years in the United States as a weaver and manual laborer.

Over the past decade there has been an ever-growing awareness and discussion of gender identity and transgenderism.

A colorful, artistic and quite musical celebration honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the diocese, sandwiched an outdoor Mass that nodded to Mary’s title born in Mexico nearly 500 years ago and her title mirroring the day’s notable feast, that of the Immaculate Conception.

Christmas came a bit early for the Missionaries of Charity who serve in the Diocese of Gallup, New Mexico, which has half of its territory in Arizona. And it wasn’t just a stocking-stuffer either.