St. Charles Lwanga
Feast 06-03 · Canonized 1964
Patron of
About
Charles Lwanga was born around 1860 in the kingdom of Buganda, in present-day Uganda. He served as a page in the court of King Mwanga II and became a leader among the young Christian converts who had embraced the faith through the White Fathers missionaries.
When King Mwanga turned against the Christians, Lwanga protected the younger pages and baptized several of them before their arrest. He and his companions were burned to death at Namugongo on June 3, 1886.
He was canonized in 1964 by Pope Paul VI and is venerated as a patron of African youth and of converts.
Suggested prayer
O God, who gave Charles Lwanga courage to baptize the younger pages before his arrest and to die in the flames at Namugongo, grant through his intercession that young people and all martyrs may remain faithful to Christ even unto death. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
