July

St. Junípero Serra

Apostle of California

Miguel José Serra was born to a farming family on the island of Majorca. He entered the Franciscans at seventeen, taking the name Junípero after one of the companions of St. Francis, and became a brilliant professor of philosophy at the university in Palma. In 1749, at thirty-five, he left his teaching post and sailed for New Spain. Soon after landing at Veracruz he injured his leg on the long walk to Mexico City, and it troubled him for the rest of his life. He served for nine years among the Pame people in the Sierra Gorda mountains and then for years as a preacher of missions throughout Mexico.

For reflection: Junípero left a professor’s chair for a missionary’s road. Zeal for the Gospel asks us to go where we are sent, and to love those we meet there.

Read more: Twenty-One Bells · The Encyclopedia of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds

St. Elizabeth of Portugal

Queen and Peacemaker

Elizabeth was a daughter of King Peter III of Aragon and was named for her great-aunt, St. Elizabeth of Hungary. At about twelve she was married to King Denis of Portugal. He was an able ruler but an unfaithful husband. Elizabeth bore his infidelities with patience, and she even cared for the children he fathered by other women.

Read more: The Encyclopedia of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds

St. Marie-Hermine of Jesus and Companions

Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, Martyrs of China

Irma Grivot was born in Beaune, France, in 1866. In 1894 she entered the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, a congregation of Franciscan sisters founded by Bl.   Mary of the Passion, and took the name Marie-Hermine of Jesus.

For reflection: Seven sisters chose to stay with the children in their care. Faithful love does not run when danger comes.

Read more: The Encyclopedia of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds

St. Gregory Grassi and Companions

Franciscan Martyrs of China

Gregory Grassi was born in Piedmont, Italy, in 1833 and entered the Franciscans as a young man. As a young priest he went to China as a missionary, and in 1876 he was made bishop in the province of Shanxi. For more than thirty years he built up the Church there, founding orphanages, schools and a seminary for Chinese priests.

For reflection: Gregory had prayed for martyrdom since boyhood and received it in old age. God hears the deepest desires of our hearts.

Read more: The Encyclopedia of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds

St. Nicholas Pieck

Guardian of Gorkum and Martyr

Nicholas Pieck was born at Gorkum (Gorinchem) in Holland, to a Catholic family who held a high place in the town. He studied at Leuven, entered the Franciscans and became a learned preacher, known for his clear explanations of the Catholic faith. He was named guardian of the friary in his native town.

Read more: The Encyclopedia of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds

St. Willehad of Denmark

Elder Martyr of Gorkum

Willehad was born in Denmark and entered the Franciscans there. When the Lutheran Reformation took hold in Denmark in the 1530s, the friaries were closed and the friars driven out. Willehad left his homeland and found a new home among the Franciscans of Gorkum, in Holland.

For reflection: Willehad was exiled once for his faith and gave his life for it at ninety. It is never too late to bear witness.

Read more: The Encyclopedia of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds

St. Veronica Giuliani

Mystic and Abbess

Orsola Giuliani was the youngest of seven daughters of a well-to-do family in the Marches of Italy. Her mother died when she was a child, after entrusting each of her daughters to one of the five wounds of Christ. Orsola was strong-willed and quick-tempered, but drawn from early childhood to the Passion of Christ.

For reflection: Veronica was strong-willed by nature, and grace turned that strength into fidelity. God uses even our temperament for His purposes.

Read more: The Encyclopedia of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds

St. John Jones

Welsh Friar and Martyr

John Jones was born into a Welsh family that remained Catholic through the Reformation. As Catholic practice was outlawed in Britain, he left for the continent, where he joined the Franciscans and was ordained a priest. In Rome he lived with the friars at the friary of Ara Coeli on the Capitoline Hill.

For reflection: John returned to a land where his priesthood was a crime. The sacraments were worth his life to him; may they be precious to us.

Read more: The Encyclopedia of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds

St. John Wall

English Franciscan and Martyr

John Wall was born in Lancashire, probably at Chingle Hall near Preston, to a Catholic family. He studied at the English College at Douai and then at the English College in Rome, where he was ordained a priest in 1645.

For reflection: For twenty years John quietly served a hidden flock. Faithful pastoral care, even in obscurity, is precious in God’s eyes.

Read more: The Encyclopedia of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds

St. John of Dukla

Preacher of Lwów

John was born in the small town of Dukla, in southern Poland. As a young man he spent time living as a hermit in the woods near his home before entering the Conventual Franciscans. He served as a preacher and as guardian of friaries at Krosno and at Lwów, today Lviv in Ukraine.

For reflection: John kept preaching even when he could no longer see. The light of faith shines brightest in those who keep going in darkness.

Read more: The Encyclopedia of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds

Bl. Angelina of Marsciano

Foundress of the Third Order Regular Sisters

Angelina was born to a noble family in the castle of Montegiove in Umbria. At fifteen she was married to Giovanni, Count of Civitella del Tronto. Two years later he died, leaving her a young widow without children.

For reflection: Angelina turned the loss of her husband into a new beginning for many women. God can bring new life out of our sorrows.

Read more: The Encyclopedia of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds

St. Emmanuel Ruiz and Companions

The Martyrs of Damascus

Emmanuel Ruiz was born in northern Spain in 1804. He entered the Franciscans and was sent to the Holy Land, where the friars of the Custody have served the Christian holy places for centuries. He learned Arabic and in time became guardian of the Franciscan friary in Damascus, in Syria.

For reflection: Friars and laymen stood together and died together for Christ. In faith, the Church is one family.

Read more: The Encyclopedia of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds

St. Francis Solano

Wonder-Worker of South America

Francis Solano was born to a respected family in Andalusia and entered the Franciscans at twenty. He served as novice master and was known for his care of the sick, especially during an epidemic of plague in southern Spain, when he nursed the dying until he caught the disease himself.

For reflection: Francis brought the Gospel with music and joy. Beauty, too, can open hearts to God.

Read more: The Encyclopedia of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds

St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio

The Seraphic Doctor

Giovanni di Fidanza was born in Bagnoregio, a hill town north of Rome. As a child he was cured of a serious illness, and he later credited St. Francis with saving his life. He studied at the University of Paris, entered the Franciscans there and studied under Alexander of Hales. He became a master of theology in 1257, at the same time as his friend St. Thomas Aquinas.

Read more: Saint Bonaventure · The Encyclopedia of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds

St. Simon of Lipnica

Preacher of Kraków

Simon was born in the small town of Lipnica in southern Poland and studied at the University of Kraków. In 1453 St. John of Capistrano preached in Kraków, and many young men, inspired by him, joined the Franciscans of the Observance. Simon entered their new friary in the city in 1457.

For reflection: Simon preached the Holy Name and then laid down his life for the sick. Words about Jesus become credible when we act like Him.

Read more: The Encyclopedia of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds

St. Lawrence of Brindisi

The Apostolic Doctor

Giulio Cesare Russo was born in the southern Italian port of Brindisi. He lost his father as a child and was educated by his uncle in Venice. At sixteen he entered the Capuchins at Verona, taking the name Lawrence.

For reflection: Lawrence used every gift he had, from languages to diplomacy, for the Gospel. God asks us to put all our talents at His service.

Read more: The Encyclopedia of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds

St. Kinga

Duchess of Poland and Poor Clare

Kinga, also called Cunegunda, was the daughter of King Béla IV of Hungary, the niece of St. Elizabeth of Hungary and the sister of St. Margaret of Hungary and Bl. Jolenta. As a girl she was married to Bolesław, who became Duke of Kraków. The couple agreed to live together in chastity, and Bolesław came to be known as “the Chaste.” Kinga was a wise and generous duchess. When the Mongols invaded Poland in 1241, she and her husband fled. After the invasion she gave her own dowry to help rebuild the ruined country. A beloved legend tells that she threw her engagement ring into a salt mine in Hungary, and that it was found at Wieliczka in Poland, where the great salt mines were then discovered. She is honored as patron of salt miners.

For reflection: Kinga gave her dowry to rebuild her people’s land. True nobility is measured by generosity.

Read more: The Encyclopedia of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds

Bl. Louise of Savoy

Princess and Poor Clare

Louise was the daughter of Bl. Amadeus IX, Duke of Savoy, and Yolande of France, sister of King Louis XI. Her father, known for his holiness and his love of the poor, died when she was a child. In 1479 she married Hugh of Chalon, a nobleman of Burgundy. The marriage was happy, and husband and wife shared a life of faith. Louise made their household a place of prayer and charity. She took care that her servants were treated well and that the poor of their lands were helped. Hugh died in 1490, leaving Louise a young widow without children. Refusing offers of remarriage, she gave away her possessions, and in 1492, with two of her ladies-in-waiting, she entered the Poor Clare monastery at Orbe, in what is now Switzerland.

Read more: The Encyclopedia of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds

Bl. Antonio Lucci

Bishop of the Poor

Angelo Nicola Lucci was born in Agnone, in the mountains of southern Italy, and entered the Conventual Franciscans, taking the name Antonio. He was a gifted student, earned a doctorate in theology and taught for many years in Franciscan schools in Agnone, Ravello and Naples, and later at the Franciscan college of St. Bonaventure in Rome. His learning and holiness drew the attention of Pope Benedict XIII, who asked him to write in defense of Catholic teaching. In 1729 the pope made him Bishop of Bovino, a poor diocese in the region of Apulia, and consecrated him himself.

For reflection: Antonio left the lecture hall to become a shepherd and gave everything to his flock. Knowledge is meant to be spent in service.

Read more: The Encyclopedia of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds

Bl. Mary Magdalene Martinengo

Capuchin Poor Clare of Brescia

Margherita Martinengo was born into one of the noblest families of Brescia in northern Italy. Her mother died a few months after her birth. She was educated by nuns and grew up intelligent, sensitive and drawn to prayer.

Read more: The Encyclopedia of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds

Bl. Mary Teresa Kowalska

Capuchin Poor Clare and Martyr

Mieczysława Kowalska was born in Warsaw in 1902. As a young woman she entered the Capuchin Poor Clare monastery at Przasnysz, north of Warsaw, receiving the habit in 1923 and taking the name Mary Teresa. She made her final vows in 1927.

For reflection: Sister Mary Teresa offered her life for her sisters’ freedom. Love that suffers for others shares in the love of Christ.

Read more: The Encyclopedia of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds

Bl. Solanus Casey

Porter of Detroit

Bernard Francis Casey was the sixth of sixteen children of Irish immigrant farmers in Wisconsin. As a young man he worked as a lumberjack, prison guard and streetcar operator before deciding to become a priest. His studies, conducted in German and Latin, were a struggle.

For reflection: Solanus was considered too slow to preach, and God made him a channel of grace for thousands. Thank God ahead of time.

Read more: The Encyclopedia of Franciscan Saints and Blesseds