Blessed Mark, who was born in Montegallo, Italy, studied medicine, married and worked as a doctor for some years. At a certain point, he and his wife both agreed that their true vocations were to religious life. So they parted, she to become a Poor Clare, while he entered the Franciscan community in Fabriano. After his talents as a preacher were discovered, he embarked on a preaching tour that essentially lasted forty years. In prayer one day he heard a voice that said, “Brother Mark, preach love!” This became his central theme – the love of God and one’s neighbor.
In his dedication to the poor, Mark sought to find a remedy for the terrible suffering cause by predatory loan sharks. He established what were called monti di pieta – essentially pawn shops that offered small loans in exchange for some modest collateral. Later these became banks that lent money at little or no interest. He easily raised the necessary funds through his preaching.
Eventually, age and the strenuousness of his itinerant ministry caught up with him. In Vincenza, where he lay dying on March 19, 1496, he asked to hear the Passion read aloud. Upon hearing the words, “It is consummated,” he breathed his last.
St. Catherine was raised in luxury in a noble family in Bologna. Yet, at fourteen, she persuaded her family to let her join a community of Franciscan tertiary. From an early age she had experienced visions of Jesus, “who would enter into her soul like a radiant sunshine to establish there the profoundest peace.” But there were also demonic thoughts that sometimes plunged her into despair. Through constant prayer she vanquished such doubts, and one night during the Christmas Vigil she was rewarded by a vision of the Blessed Mother, who offered her the great privilege of holding her infant Son. “I leave you to picture the joy of this poor creature,” she wrote, “when she found herself holding the Son of the eternal Father in her arms. Trembling with respect, but still more overcome with joy, she took the liberty of caressing Him, of pressing Him against her heart and of bringing His face to her lips…”
After some years Catherine was directed to take charge of a convent of Poor Clares in Bologna. Her reputed gifts of healing and prophecy – as well as her deep kindness – attracted many novices. Whenever she had to correct a young sister, she would insist on sharing in her punishment. When on of the novices was tempted to leave, Catherine pledged to take her place in purgatory until the end of time if only she would remain. (The novice stayed.)
Among her last instructions: “If you would have all, you must give all.” She died on March 9, 1463, and was canonized in 1712. Apart from several devotional books, Catherine left behind a number of hymns and paintings. She is honored as a patron of artists.
Benedict Sinigardi was born to a wealthy and noble family in Arezzo. In 1211, he heard St. Francis preach in his town, and his heart was immediately won. Abandoning his life of luxury, he was welcomed into the Order of Friars Minor, receiving his habit from St. Francis himself. At twenty-seven, he was appointed provincial of the Marche region. Afterward, he was sent on a missionary journey that took him to Greece, Romania, and Turkey. He built the first Franciscan monastery in Constantinople and then went on to the Holy Land, where he served as provincial for sixteen years. In his old age, he returned to Arezzo, where he died in 1282.
There are no surviving writings by Blessed Benedict, but he is credited with estab- lishing the Angelus Prayer, a commemoration of the Incarnation, which became one of the most popular devotions in Christendom. Deriving its name from the first words, “The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary,” the prayer consists of the recital of three verses from Scripture with an accompanying response, interspersed by a Hail Mary. It was traditionally recited three times a day, and in many towns in Europe it is still signaled by the ringing of church bells at noon.
It is very suggestive that we stop in the middle of the day for a moment of Marian prayer. It is now unique, because we are in the place where, according to tradition, it was the custom to recite the Angelus Domini.
Agnes was born in Prague, where her father was the king of Bohemia. Despite the privileges of her station, she enjoyed no freedom to decide her own destiny. She was simply a commodity to be invested wherever she might bring the highest return for her family and its dynastic interests. Starting at the age of three, she was shipped to various kingdoms and betrothed to strangers she had never met. Through chance or providence, all these arrangements came to naught. Finally, when she was to be paired with King Henry III of England, she wrote to the pope asking him to prevent the marriage on the grounds that she wished to consecrate herself to Christ. Surprisingly, Henry yielded, granting, “If she had left me a for a mortal man, I should have made my vengeance and left, but I cannot take offense if she prefers the King of Heaven to me.”
What inspired this bold intention? Agnes had been deeply affected by the arrival in Prague of the first Franciscan friars, followed shortly by five Poor Clare sisters. In 1236, her royal life behind her, she formally joined them. Agnes received a number of personal letters from St. Clare, a precious window on the early Franciscan movement. Clare addressed Agnes as “the half of her soul and the special shrine of her heart’s deepest love.” Speaking as a “mother” to “her favorite daughter,” she commended Agnes for the poverty she had chosen, thus securing a place on “the path of prudent happiness.” “Place your mind before the mirror of eternity!” she counseled her. “Place your soul in the brilliance of glory! Place your heart in the figure of the divine substance! And transform your whole being into the image of the Godhead itself through contemplation.”
Agnes spent forty-four years as a Poor Clare and inspired many other noble women in Europe to follow her example. She died in 1280 and was canonized in 1989.
St. Margaret was raised in a poor family in Tuscany. Following the death of her mother when Margaret was just eleven, a new stepmother turned her out of the house. Eventually, with few apparent options, she eloped with a young nobleman, who kept her as his mistress. Though she bore him a son, he would not marry her. When he was eventually murdered, Margaret took this as a sign of God’s judgment on her life.
Penniless, she returned to her father’s house, but he would not take her in. Now homeless as well as destitute, she made her way to Cortona, where she had heard of the compassion of the Franciscan friars. She introduced herself by walking through town with a rope around her neck, a sign of her penitence. The friars quickly urged her to quit this spectacle and also curbed her proclivity for extremes of asceticism. Eventually she was accepted as a Franciscan tertiary. With other women she formed a nursing community, caring for the sick and the poor. Nevertheless, stories of her former life continued to generate gossip. She observed, “I see more Pharisees among Christians than surrounded Pilate.”
Over time, as reports spread of her holiness and her purported miracles, as well as her private colloquies with Christ, Margaret attracted more positive attention. The Franciscans urged her to embark on a public crusade to call sinners to conversion. Penitents from all over Italy, and as far away as France and Spain, made their way to Cortona to hear her spiritual discourses.
She died on February 22, 1297. She was canonized in 1728.
Show now that thou art converted; call others to repentance…. The graces I have bestowed on thee are not meant for thee alone.
—A message from the Lord to St. Margaret of Cortona
