Saint’s Life Story

His Early Life 

Paul  Jerome Casanova was born in Porto Maurizio, Liguria, Italy, on December 20, 1676 . He was the son of Domenico Casanova and Anna Maria Benza.  Throughout his early life, Paul Jerome thanked God for giving him such an excellent father.

Sent to College to be a Doctor

At the age of 13, Paul Jerome was sent to the Jesuit Roman College. His uncle Augustine, with whom he was living, wanted him to become a physician. Paul studied medicine, but when he refused his uncle’s wish that he become a doctor and announced he had other plans, Augustine disowned him.

Joined Franciscans Taking the Name Leonard

Paul Jerome joined the Franciscans of the Strict Observance at Ponticelli on October 2, 1697. He took the name Leonard, after a relative who had been kind to him. Leonard continued and completed his studies at the St. Bonaventura on the Palatine in Rome.  He was ordained there in 1703. For five years, Leonard had to stop preaching because he was spitting blood.

Poor Health

After his ordination, he remained there as lector (professor), and expected to be sent on the Chinese missions. After ordination, Leonard contracted a bleeding ulcer and was spitting blood. In 1704 to help his recovery, he was sent to his hometown of Porto Maurizio (Port Maurice) where there was a monastery of the Franciscan Observants.  When his healing continued to elude him even in the mild climate of Liguria, he vowed that he would devote him entire life to the conversion of sinners, if God would make him well again.

Recovered and Started Preaching

Leonard recovered and, in 1709, he went to the San Francesco del Monte monastery in Florence. From there, Leonard preached all over Tuscany and held his celebrated missions in Central and Southern Italy with tremendous effect for the next 44 years. He became guardian of San Francesco, founded a retreat for religious at nearby Incontro, where the friars retired twice a year to practice the eremitical life.

Missions around Rome

In 1730, Leonard was appoint guardian of Saint Bonaventure’s in Rome. He spent the next six years conducting missions around Rome, preaching to soldiers, sailors, convicts, and galley-slaves in addition to conducting parochial missions. Pope Benedict XIV appointed him to several complex diplomatic assignments. In Genoa and Corsica, in Lucca and Spoleto the citizens expected a bejeweled cardinal to represent the intentions of the pope. Instead, they were confronted by a humble, shoeless, muddy friar to confound their hostility and pride.

His contemporary, Saint Alphonsus Liguori, said Leonard was the finest missioner of his day. In 1736, he was released from this position to continue his evangelization in Umbria, Genoa, and the Marches of Ancona. His missions now attracted such huge crowds that they were often held in the open air.

Stations of the Cross Devotion

Leonard is primarily responsible for the popularity of the Stations of the Cross devotion, of which he was an ardent promoter (reputedly setting up almost six hundred Stations throughout Italy, even in the Colosseum in Rome), and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, the Sacred Heart, and the Immaculate Conception.

His Writings

The Leonard’s numerous writings consisted 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 written by  friar Diego da Firenze
• Via Sacra spianata ed illuminata ((the Way of the Cross simplified and explained)
• Il Tesoro Nascosto (on the Holy Mass)
• Collezione completa delle opere di B. Leonardo da Porto Maurizio (A complete edition of his works appeared first at Rome in thirteen octavo volumes (1853–84))

His Death

The strain of his missionary labors and his mortifications had completely exhausted his body. Leonard arrived on the evening of November 26, 1751, at his beloved monastery of St. Bonaventura on the Palatine. He died on the same night at eleven o’clock at the age of 74.

Born:                    December 20, 1676 in Porto Maurizio, Liguria, Italy

Died:                    November 26, 1751 age 74 in Rome, Italy

Beatified:            June 19, 1796 by Pope Pius VI

Canonized:         June 29, 1867 by Pope Puis IX

Feast Day:          November 26

Patron Saint:     Imperia, Italy; Parish Missions; Preachers

Sources:

• • Katherine I Rabenstein. Saints of the Day, 1998.  from https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-day-leonard-of-port-maurice
  • Leonard of Port Maurice – Wikipedia

Prayers

Video Link

St. Leonard of Port Maurice – YouTube (Franciscan Media)