St. Nimbus of Our Lady of Sorrows
"How sad it is to sin. To hurt the One who loves you more than anyone could over something so meaningless and avoidable."
During his life, St. Nimbus was no different than the other priests and nuns on the planet, Tonitrus. He had an intense devotion to our Lady of Sorrows and constantly meditated on her sorrows and said her rosary. This all started when he first saw the cross and understood why Jesus had to suffer and die. It was then he made daily sacrifices for the sins of everyone in the universe. St. Nimbus would cry at the thought of sin to the point where he cried tears of blood. This humble saint's life came to an end one day due to natural causes.
During his funeral, tears were coming down St. Nimbus' face. A statue of Our Lady of Sorrows in the church then started to cry along with Jesus on the cross. It then suddenly rained during the funeral and the rain didn't stop for an entire month. On the planet Tonitrus, it's normal for the rain to last for weeks over several locations, but the entire planet was covered in a downpour never seen before. After the month of rain was over, the planet that was mostly controlled by heretics converted to Catholicism. This miracle draws millions of people to the planet to stay there for a month in its rainy weather to test if the rumors were true. The skeptics come back as Catholics after testing the rumors or are at least enamored by the Church. Because of this miracle, St. Nimbus was quickly canonized, devotions to Our Lady of Sorrows skyrocketed, and the planet of Tonitrus has firmly been in the Catholic Space Empire's control.
St. Peregrinus, The Holy Fist of God
"God has many ways of executing justice. Among them is a lowly sinner like me who has the honor of being one of His many weapons of judgment and justice."
Being away from the action is the safest place to fight from. St. Peregrinus knew this best as both a sniper and a weapons developer. He grew up as a rebellious child constantly fighting whoever he thought was a threat to him until he was arrested and forced into the Catholic Space Empire's army. While in the army, he learned obedience, patience, and an appreciation for creation as he would be making weapons and robot servants as part of his penance. His fellow soldiers reported that St. Peregrinus was a different person than the one who entered the army, especially after the times he went into the adoration chapel. As a soldier, he would snipe his targets from a distance, but this distance was never too safe for him because he could be discovered if the enemy had the right scanning tech to find him. He was transferred to weapons development when he proved his proficiency in making sniper drones.
No one knew at the time that someone who made drones would eventually be making weapons for space ships. The people who knew him were surprised that St. Peregrinus developed such a knowledge to make proficient space ship weapons for both large vessels and small fighters. His knowledge would grow to his magnum opus, The Holy Fist of God. This space weapon fires pillars of lasers down on a planet that could crack through any planetary defense and could theoretically crack through the planet itself. The less morally concerned members of the weapons development team wondered how they could make the Holy Fist of God into a planet-destroying weapon, however, St. Peregrinus kept that knowledge from them. Despite their best efforts, no one has been able to upgrade the weapon's devastating power without completely compromising the ship firing the weapon.
The weapons that St. Peregrinus developed has brought an end to wars that many thought would last years. No other empire has been able to develop the same kind of weapons that St. Peregrinus has made, and because of his deeds, St. Peregrinus was canonized. His body is currently held at the primary weapons development facility on the Catholic Space Empire's homeworld of Earth. It is said that he whispers and gives inspiration to the many hard workers there.
Pope St. Peter XX, The Rock of the Empire
"Everything in existence is God's. The Church is God's body. Therefore, everything that belongs to God belongs to His Holy Catholic Church."
Pope St. Peter XX was the pope during the time when humanity was used to colonizing the stars and several new countries and faiths started to develop. At first, he was hopeful that space exploration and the new God-given opportunities for innovation would put humanity on the path to an era of peace and technical revolution. Instead, humanity kept fighting and falling into error as it always has. Tired of this, Pope St. Peter XX took all of the resources of the Church and founded the Catholic Space Empire. No one took the Church seriously, but when she took over Earth, moon, and Mars, then she became the top priority. Many enemy countries who hadn't submitted to the Church tried in vain to destroy her only to be made fools of.
Because of the Church's example, humanity lost faith in godlessness and the worship of space and technology. The planets who weren't under the control of the Church quickly became ruled by worshippers of the majority religion and more empires started to rise up. Still, the Catholic Space Empire reigns supreme among them and doesn't engage in open conflict unless given a reason. One more event of note happened when an enemy empire launched a missile from orbit to destroy the statue of Pope St. Peter XX when the Earth was under attack. The missile itself didn't damage the statue nor anything or anyone around it. Mysteriously, a missile malfunctioned on the ship that attacked the statue destroying the space ship that attacked it.
St. Basilica, Seed of Healing
"Just as He nourishes us by giving Himself over to us through bread and wine, so shall I nourish others by giving my life to their service."
Humanity's exploration of the stars has led to many new discoveries and innovations in many fields. One of these fields is medication. Because of the Catholic Space Empire's power, resources, and divine mission to help the sick, it is the place to find the best kinds of healing. St. Basilica was one of the many innovators in medicine. She would mix holy water in her medicines and constantly pray for the health of everyone in the universe. Mystics in the Church would say that her prayers and the heart that she put into her work were more healing than the materials that she used. Even her touch and presence was said to have healed the hearts and bodies of those she came into contact with.
After she died of natural causes, she was buried in the field of herbs that she constantly watched over just like she wanted. Today, the herbs are known to cure most kinds of wounds and infections. The herbs are incorruptible and never wither nor can they be damaged. A war that was fought for the planet had an invading empire try to forcibly take the herbs only to find that they would not be uprooted. Some of the soldiers tried to taste the herbs to test their healing properties only to be poisoned and die shortly after.
St. Agradecido, Unending Joy of God
"Always be in a state of rejoicing and good spirits because God is infinitely merciful. If He could save a wretched sinner like I, then anyone can be saved."
If you're of a different faith other than the faith of the ruling planet, you are likely to live a more difficult life than most. The Catholics on the planet, Bescheiden, were a minority constantly abused and discriminated against. They could only work for less than minimum wage and worship in their own homes. Even though the Church was at war with the Protestants that owned the planet, they were too far to send any kind of aid to them. St. Agradecido was Protestant royalty at the time who constantly used the Catholics under his rule for his sick enjoyment. It wasn't until one of the Catholic servants dared him to prove the power of the rosary is false did he consider becoming Catholic.
After praying the rosary for a month, he had private talks with his slaves who convinced him to become Catholic. His parents caught him once and told him to either renounce the faith or be exiled. He chose exile and became a member of the only Catholic community on the planet. It was thought that when St. Agradecido lived in the impoverished conditions that Catholics typically lived in that he would eventually betray them, but he never did. In fact, he seemed to be happy and his smile never went away.
When asked how he could stay so happy, he said that, "Because of God's mercy and forgiveness! I spent my entire life in sin, but he has saved me from my sin and brought me to His Church to work out my salvation as His servant."
St. Agradecido was always in high spirits. When he would starve or suffer because of hard work, he would still smile because he could use this suffering to pay for his sins and the sins of the universe. When he would commit minor sins, he would still smile because of God's mercy. His happiness was so infectious everyone around him was infected with the same divine joy. Even the guards who watched over him were becoming joyful. This infectiously divine joy didn't stop after he died due to being overworked as his face continued to smile and no one could change his expression. On the contrary, it spread all throughout the capital. This loosened laws against Catholics and within two months, almost everyone in the capital became Catholic.
Because of the planet's conversion, the Catholic Space Empire was able to quickly end the war with the Protestant empire. St. Agradecido is credited with the Church's victory and his body is currently held in the castle he once lived and the planet is renamed Selig or overjoyed/blissful in his honor and because of how happy people are on the planet.
St. Curieux, Divine Discoverer and Inventor
"Many are the mysterious and wonders of life. These are but a few of the countless gifts God has given us."
Curiosity is what drives many to live. God gives a healthy dose of curiosity to those He wants to be inventors and innovators. Some would say that He gave an overdose of curiosity to St. Curieux who was so curious about the universe that he created the first warp drive to get people from one part of the universe to the next within minutes. At first, he used this invention for his own small ship to explore the galaxy and document new lifeforms, plants, and microorganisms. It wasn't until he was hired by the Church did he fully embrace his potential.
The Church gave him a team and whatever materials he asked for within reason. Despite their limitations, he would still be given whatever he wanted because of the results he produced. He was able to make large ships warp through space within a year and created new kinds of armor with seemingly useless materials. Everything that he created seemed to be blessed by God because they would never fall apart nor be seriously damaged. There was always a backup plan within the ship's design so that whatever damage suffered could be repaired or at least temporarily negated.
The rate at which he came out with new materials and the test trips he would survive is so numerous that every success was considered a miracle. Currently, his body is kept in a coffin on the same ship he first used for space travel. He is said to intercede for tireless workers, innovators, and the curious.
St. Ryoshi, Subjugator of Nature
"Nature was made to be subject to man and to subjugate it is our responsibility."
Aliens species are real, but they are only as smart as the animals on Earth. Nevertheless, they are still unique in their mannerisms and abilities. There are many dangerous alien species on different planets with many different groups within the Church that hunt down these aliens to either eliminate them entirely or relocate them. St. Ryoshi was a poacher at first and would kill alien creatures for sport and to sell them for the highest bidder. It wasn't until he came across a hunter from the Church did he consider hunting for her. The hunter, who would later be his wife, tried to get him to stop poaching, but when he would listen to reason, the hunter challenged St. Ryoshi to a sword duel. After winning the duel, St. Ryoshi joined the Church and the hunter's group as a hunter for the Church.
He would learn what it means to be a servant of God and the value in their work. As a hunter for the church, he would eventually become one of the best. St. Ryoshi and his wife, St. Tora, became known as the Tiger and Lion of the Church because of their hunts that no one thought they would return from. They've cleared thousands of areas for the Church to inhabit and many alien specimens to learn from. Their methods of hunting have been passed down to the other groups of hunters as well as other military groups to teach them how to fight. The two saints did have one encounter with an enemy empire where they had to fight off an entire legion over the course of a week. They managed to beat them using their environment and local wildlife. This momentous victory was considered among one of their many miracles. Their intercession is called upon for both hunts, battle, and survival.
Pope St. Ferrum, The Unbreakable Wall of the Empire
"Our Lord is always with us. Who can stand against us? No heresy can replace us. No heathen can destroy us. We have already won."
There are many stories of hopeful saints who have never lost hope in God once they got a taste of it, but they pale in comparison to the hope of Pope St. Ferrum. When he became pope, the Church was at war with various different heretical and heathen empires. Resources were draining, planets were being lost, and people were losing faith. That was until he made his speech to the faithful.
"We are the people of God," he said in his speech, "Everyone who stands against His Holy Church will be grounded to dust and forgotten in the burning pits of Hell."
This new pope instilled fear, loyalty, and hope in one two-hour-long speech. There were many who listened to it that claimed that the universe shook at the pope's message. His words were then backed up by victory after victory. On the rare defeat, he wouldn't be shaken as he viewed it as a test from God to see if he would lose faith. Everyone was implored to pray all the mysteries of the rosary as this became the time when the most rosaries were said as recorded by a mystic who heard this said by the Blessed Virgin Mary. This was a time when the Catholic Space Empire was at its strongest in terms of faith, military power, control of star systems, and the number of members as hundreds of thousands of people submitted themselves to God and His Church.
The Church's enemies breathed a sigh of relief the day Pope St. Ferrum. It was a short time of relief as the Church never lost its momentum with its prayers nor its victories. This circumstance has made the other empires form alliances and conspire together to somehow stop the Church's ever-growing spread.
St. Huo, Warmth of the Forgotten
"We are called to be like God, and like God, we are to be merciful and charitable to one another."
Inhospitable planets are typically transformed into hospital planets with technology to control the atmosphere and surface. Most of these planets become large cities with few areas of vegetation and nature. Other inhospitable planets are given the bare minimum of effort so that they can become prison planets. The prison planets controlled by the Catholic Space Empire are hardly different than prison planets controlled by other empires with the excuse for the poor living conditions being that of penance. Groups have formed among the laity to give the prisoners better living conditions so that they don't feel like they're being mistreated.
St. Huo was a normal prison priest who held daily mass and helped the prisoners cope with their living conditions. He was known as a gentle soul who brought a feeling of relaxation and comfort to those he visited. It is known that he was once a prisoner who repented from his sins and continued to serve his penance in prison to help others repent and pay their penance. With what little money he made, he tried to improve the prison's conditions with better food, clothes, and beds. St. Huo would eat and sleep in the same conditions as the prisoners and neglected to stay in the warm room provided for him. Instead, he gave the room to a prisoner sentenced for life.
This saint died of the conditions he lived in but after his death, St. Huo's body emitted heat like a radiator that warmed whoever was near it. His body couldn't be moved nor is his body currently rotting. Instead, his incorruptible body acts as comfort for the freezing prisoners and is said to sometimes speak words of comfort to the most hopeless of prisoners.
St. Tadashi, Eye of Truth
"Whoever is a slave to sin is blind. Only the just see clearly."
St. Tadashi was one of the most high ranking members of the alliance of heresies against the Catholic Space Empire. Every victory against the Church was credited to him and his fellow heretics and it is said that he had hundreds of plans on how to assassinate the pope. One terrible loss that dealt an embarrassing blow to his ego made St. Tadashi make the foolish decision of leading the next battle from a command site on the field. Again, he failed and was captured by the Church. He was interrogated, but wouldn't budge since he thought the Church was controlled by Satan. It took two months of various kinds of interrogators, converters, and prayer to convert St. Tadashi from his heresy.
After his conversion, St. Tadashi not only became a great strategist for the Church, but also a great interrogator and investigator. He found more spies and heretics within the Church than anyone else in his division. Some mystics say that he had the ability to read souls and see their true intention. Because of this, St. Tadashi was primarily asked to go into the private affairs of the Church and weed out any traitors. Weeks of investigation lead to the discovery of hundreds of traitors within the Church that was secretly selling the Church's secrets and strategies while also spreading misinformation. This discovery rewarded St. Tadashi with the highest honors and praise that few get. He would continue his loyal service until his natural death when his many sons and daughters would take over his role. His children are said to be better than their father as he said they would to ensure the protection of the Church and her faithful.
