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Today is Thursday, June 3, 2021.

Today is also the feast day of some incredible Ugandan saints, St. Charles, Luonga, and companions.

Now, if you have yet to hear of these brave and

holy men from Uganda, you are in for a treat. So St. Charles Luonga, he lived in the 1800s in

Uganda. He was born in rural Uganda, but he was incredibly smart, very good looking, and soon he was handpicked to

go and serve in the palace of the king. So the king of Uganda was not a Christian. He was not a

holy man. He engaged in all sorts of immoral behavior, and he ruled Uganda with full power,

with complete authority. But while he was king,

missionaries of the Catholic faith arrived in Uganda, and they began to win souls for Jesus.

One of the first people converted and baptized was Charles Luonga. He fell in love with Jesus Christ, and after he was baptized, he not only learned everything he could about the faith, but he began to preach and convert others.

Soon, many of the young men working in the palace of the King of Uganda, had taken Jesus and become baptized and devoted their lives to this faith.

Now, as they converted, many of the men in the palace refused to join the king in his immoral

behavior. They knew there was a better way. They were called to live sinless lives. So of course, the king was enraged.

He sought out the Christians, and finally he had the entire palace court stand before him and

renounce Jesus Christ. Anyone that would not renounce Jesus Christ was immediately sentenced to death.

So many men, including Charles Luonga, were convicted of being Christians.

They were marched 37 miles away from the palace, where palace guards built huge fires,

and they threw these men who were Christian onto the fire.

Now, they willingly died. St. Charles Luwanga died peacefully,

still believing fully in Jesus Christ.

The true amazing fact here, though, is that the Ugandan king thought that

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