Saint of the Day - John Leonardi (October 9th)
Channel: House of Prayers for Everyone (HOPE)
Date: 2023-10-08

Every Oct. 9th, the Catholic Church honors the memory of Saint John Leonardi, an Italian Roman Catholic priest and founder of the "Clerks Regular of the Mother of God".

Early Life

John was born in 1541, the youngest of seven children born to middle-class parents in Diecimo in the Republic of Lucca. At age 17, he began his ten-year study to become a certified pharmacist's assistant in Lucca.

Soon after, John studied for the priesthood and was ordained on December 22, 1572, as a member of the now-defunct Apostolic Clerics of St. Jerome. He dedicated himself to the Christian formation of adolescents in his local Lucca parish. He also gathered a group of laymen around him to work in hospitals and prisons.

Lucca Fathers

In 1574, Father John founded a group charged with deepening Christian faith and devotion which became part of the wider movement of the Counter-Reformation. This group, later known as Lucca Fathers, helped spread the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and devotion to the Forty Hours, as well as spreading the message of the importance of frequent communion.

In 1583, their association was recognized by the Bishop of Lucca with the approval of Pope Gregory XIII. In 1595, his congregation was confirmed by Pope Clement VIII, after which Father John assumed the religious name "Giovanni of the Mother of God". 

Their congregation received an approval from Pope Paul V on January 14, 1614. The pope issued a papal decree approving the union of the Lucca Fathers with the Piarists of Saint Joseph Calasanz. However, Pope Paul V issued another decree in 1617 constituting the Piarists as a separate congregation.

Clerks Regular of the Mother of God

Leaders within Lucca opposed the establishment of a new religious order for political reasons so acted to stop its formation. While ultimately ineffective, their efforts forced Giovanni Leonardi to spend most of his life outside Lucca, with special exceptions he was under the protection of the pope.

In 1596, Pope Clement VIII nominated Giovanni as Commissary Apostolic for the reform of the Benedictine monks of the Order of Monte Vergine. In 1601, the Cardinal Protector appointed him to carry out a similar work among the Vallombrosans.

Along with Cardinal J. Vivès, they founded the Seminary of the Propagation of the Faith for the philosophical and theological training of missionary priests in 1603. This community would formally be designated "Clerks Regular of the Mother of God" in 1621.

Death and Sainthood

Unfortunately, he was no longer around by then as he died of influenza on October 9, 1609. It is said that he contracted this deadly disease while ministering to his brothers suffering from the epidemic raging in Rome at the time.

John Leonardi was venerated for his miracles and his religious fervor. His memory was held so high in Rome that Pope Leo XIII added his name to the Roman Martyrology, and ordered Roman clergy to celebrate his Mass and Office, an honor otherwise strictly limited to beatified popes.

He was beatified in 1861 and canonized in 1938 by Pope Pius XI. His relics are enshrined under an altar in the Church of Santa Maria in Campitelli in Rome.

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Image attributed to the following:
- By Emmanuel Laffon - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2772974