The older a person gets, the more they can usually appreciate the incredible potential that exists within every young child.

What will they learn? What will they discover? Will they have a family of their own? What will be their greatest highs? What will be their darkest lows?

Maybe it’s because most of us realize that we haven’t used our own potential to its fullest extent.

The saints are far from perfect, but they are individuals whom the Church holds up as examples of people who truly followed after Christ, lived in God’s grace, and demonstrated heroic virtue. But they all started out as young children like everyone else: full of potential that could have been used for great good or not. That’s what I think of when I look at this windows into the past. There’s so much potential there – and, by God’s grace, it was used for great good. May that be the case in all of our lives.

Each picture from the saints childhood is followed by a picture of them as an adult, which in most cases is the image with which most people are familiar.

1) Bl. Mother Teresa

EWTN
EWTN

Born in the Ottoman Empire in 1910, Bl. Mother Teresa was a member of the Sisters of Loreto at first, but eventually founded her own religion congregation, the Missionaries of Charity. She spent most of her life serving the poor in India, although she traveled the world as the Missionaries of Charity and her fame grew.

Evert Odekerken / Wikimedia Commons
Evert Odekerken / Wikimedia Commons

2) St. John Paul II

http://tomperna.org/
tomperna.org

Born Karol Wojtyla in Poland in 1920, St. John Paul II was elected pope in 1978. He had one of the longest and most prolific papacies in history.

Dennis Jarvis / Flickr
Dennis Jarvis / Flickr

3) St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Public Domain
Thérèse age 8, 1881 / Public Domain
Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
Thérèse age 2 1/2, 1875 / Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

St. Thérèse of Lisieux was a French Discalced Carmelite nun in the 19th century. Though she died at the age of 24 in obscurity, the autobiography she wrote on her deathbed has inspired the faith of millions. St. John Paul II gave her the title of Doctor of the Church for her spiritual insights – the youngest person to ever receive that honor.

Public Domain
Public Domain

4) St. Katharine Drexel

Katherine age 7, 1865 / Public Domain
Katherine age 7, 1865 / Public Domain

St. Katharine Drexel was the heiress of a large fortune, which she used to fund the missionary work in the U.S. of her religious congregation, Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.

Public Domain
Public Domain

5) St. Maximilian Kolbe

paperdali.blogspot.com
paperdali.blogspot.com

St. Maximilian Kolbe was a Franciscan friar who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz.

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

6) St. Josemaría Escrivá

Josemaría age 1, 1903 / josemariaescriva.info
Josemaría age 1, 1903 / josemariaescriva.info

St. Josemaría Escrivá was a Spanish priest who founded Opus Dei, an international organization of laypeople and clergy dedicated to helping all people live a life of holiness, regardless of the circumstances of their life.

www.stpeterslist.com
www.stpeterslist.com

7) St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)

Edith age 3, 1894 / www.baltimorecarmel.org
Edith age 3, 1894 / www.baltimorecarmel.org

Born Edith Stein, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross was raised in an observant Jewish family, though she became an atheist as a teenager. After earning a doctorate in philosophy, she converted to Catholicism and became a Carmelite nun. Due to her Jewish background, she was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where she died in gas chamber in 1942.

www.carmelites.net
www.carmelites.net

8) St. Padre Pio

EWTN
EWTN

St. Padre Pio was a 20th century Capuchin priest known for his holiness, mystical experiences, and miraculous abilities. (See: 3 Fascinating, Rare Videos of St. Padre Pio, the 20th Century Stigmatist)

Roberto Dughetti / Wikimedia Commons
Roberto Dughetti / Wikimedia Commons

9) St. Bernadette Soubirous

Bernadette age 14, 1858 / Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
Bernadette age 14, 1858 / Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

When she 14 years old, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous several times over the course of several weeks in Lourdes, France. Disliking the attention her experiences brought, she joined the Sisters of Charity of Nevers. She died at the young age of 35. The site of the apparitions is now a major pilgrimage site, with a large number of reported miracle healings there since the 19th century.

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

10) St. Mary MacKillop

parra.catholic.org.au
parra.catholic.org.au

St. Mary MacKillop was a foundress of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart, which serves the rural poor in Australia and other places around the world.

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

11, 12, & almost 13) Bl. Jacinta Marto, Bl. Francisco Marto, and Lúcia Santos (open cause for canonization)

From left: Lúcia (age 10), Jacinta (7), and Francisco (9) in 1917 / Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
From left: Lúcia (age 10), Jacinta (7), and Francisco (9) in 1917 / Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

Bl. Jacinta Marto, Bl. Francisco Marto, and Lúcia Santos were just children when they experienced several apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal in 1917. Both Bl. Jacinta Marto and Bl. Francisco Marto died within a few years of the apparitions, but Lúcia Santos lived to age 97, dying in 2005 (partly explaining why the other two children are beatified, but Lúcia is not). Below is a picture of Lúcia in her old age.

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eponymousflower.blogspot.com
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