November 26

Saint Leonard of Port Maurice

Roman Martyrology

Franciscan preacher who spread the Stations of the Cross across Italy

Leonard was born Paolo Girolamo Casanova in 1676 at Porto Maurizio, a small port on the Ligurian coast of Italy. Sent to Rome to study, he joined a strict branch of the Franciscans in 1697 and was ordained a priest in 1702. He hoped to go as a missionary to China, but a serious illness kept him in Italy.

After he recovered, he spent more than forty years preaching parish missions up and down Italy, travelling mostly on foot. He drew large crowds, heard confessions for hours and urged people to make peace with their enemies. He was best known for promoting the Stations of the Cross, setting up hundreds of them; in 1750 he erected the stations inside Rome's Colosseum. Worn out after a last journey, he died in Rome on 26 November 1751.

Pope Pius IX declared him a saint in 1867, and he is remembered as a patron of parish missions.

But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Galatians 6:14 · BSB

A prayer

Faithful God, you sent Leonard through the towns of Italy to call people back to you and to lead them, step by step, along the way of Christ's cross. Give us hearts that turn to you again, the courage to make peace with others, and the grace to follow Jesus in our daily lives. Amen.