St. Leonard of Port Maurice
Born: December 20, 1676
Died: November 26, 1751
Canonized: June 29, 1867, by Pope Pius IX
Feast Day: November 26
Patron Saint of: parish missions
Preacher and ascetic writer, b. 20 Dec., 1676, at Porto Maurizio on the
Riviera di Ponente; d. at the monastery of S. Bonaventura, Rome, 26 Nov., 1751.
The son of Domenico Casanova and Anna Maria Benza, he joined after a brilliant
course of study with the Jesuits in Rome (Collegio Romano), the so- called
Riformella, an offshoot of the Reformati branch of the Franciscan Order [see
FRIARS MINOR, II, B, (2)]. On 2 October, 1697, he received the habit, and after
making his novitiate at Ponticelli in the Sabine mountains, he completed his
studies at the principal house of the Riformella, S. Bonaventura on the Palatine
at Rome. After his ordination he remained there as lector (professor), and
expected to be sent on the Chinese missions. But he was soon afterwards seized
with severe gastric haemorrhage, and became so ill that he was sent to his
native climate ofPorto Maurizio, where there was a monastery of the Franciscan
Observant (1704). After four years he was restored to health, and began to
preach in Porto Maurizio and the vicinity. When Cosimo III de' Medici handed
over the monastery del Monte (that on San Miniato near Florence, also called
Monte alle Croci) to the members of the Riformella, St. Leonard was sent hither
under the auspices and by desire of Cosimo III, and began shortly to give
missions to the people in Tuscany, which were marked by many extraordinary
conversions and great results. His colleagues and he always practised the
greatest austerities and most severe penances during these missions. In 1710 he
founded the monastery of Icontro, on a peak in the mountains about four and a
quarter miles from Florence, whither he and his assistants could retire from
time to time after missions, and devote themselves to spiritual renewal and
fresh austerities.
In 1720 he crossed the borders of Tuscany and held his celebrated missions in
Central and Southern Italy, enkindling with zeal the entire population. Clement
XII and Benedict XIV called him to Rome; the latter especially held him in high
esteem both as a preacher and as a propagandist, and exacted a promise that he
would come to Rome to die. Everywhere the saint made abundant conversions, and
was very often obliged both in cities and country districts to preach in the
open, as the churches could not contain the thousands who came to listen. He
founded many pious societies and confraternities, and exerted himself especially
to spread the devotion of the Stations of the Cross -- the propagation of which
he greatly furthered with the assistance of his brethren -- the devotion to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus, the perpetual adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament,
and devotion to the Immaculate Conception. One of his most ardent desires was to
see the last-named defined as a dogma of faith by the Holy See. Besides the
celebrated stations in the Colosseum at Rome, St. Leonard erected 571 others in
all parts of Italy, while on his different missions. From May to November, 1744,
he preached in the Island of Corsica, which at that time belonged to the Republic
of Genoa and which was frightfully torn by party strife. In November, 1751, when
he was preaching to the Bolognese, Benedict XIV called him to Rome, as already
there were indications of his rapidly approaching end. The strain of his
missionary labors and his mortifications had completely exhausted his body. He
arrived on the evening of 26 November, 1751, at his beloved monastery of S.
Bonaventura on the Palatine, and expired on the same night at eleven o'clock at
the age of seventy-five. In the church of this monastery (which must soon make
way for the excavations of the ground occupied by the palace of the Caesars) the
partly incorrupt body of the saint is kept in the high altar. Pius VI pronounced
his beatification on 19 June, 1796, and Pius IX his canonization on 29 June,
1867. The Franciscan Order celebrates his feast on 26 November, but outside this
order it is often celebrated on 27 November.
The numerous writings of the saint consist of sermons, letters, ascetic
treatises, and books of devotion for the use of the faithful and of priests,
especially missionaries. The "Diary" (Diario) of his missions is written by Fra
Diego da Firenze. A treasure for asceticism and homiletics, many of his writings
have been translated into the most diverse languages and often republished: for
example his "Via Sacrea spianata ed illuminata" (theWay of the Cross simplified
and explained), "Il Tesoro Nascosto" (on the Holy Mass); his celebrated "Proponimenti",
or resolutions for the attainment of higher Christian perfection. A complete
edition of his works appeared first at Rome in thirteen octavo volumes
(1853-84), "Collezione completa delle opere di B. Leonardo da Porto Maurizio".
Then another in five octavo volumes, "Opere complete di S. Leonardo di Porto
Maurizio" (Venice, 1868-9). In English, German, etc., only single works have
been issued, but a French translation of the entire set has appeared: "OEuvres
completes de S. Leonard de Port-Maurice" (8 vols., Paris and Tournai, 1858), and
"Sermons de S. Leonard de Port Maurice" (3 vols., Paris).
