MEMORIAL OF POPE SAINT LEO III; SAINT GUY (VIGNOTELLI) OF CORTONA, PRIEST AND SAINT JOHN OF SAHAGUN (OR SAINT FAGONDEZ), PRIEST ~ FEAST DAY: JUNE 12TH Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Pope Saint Leo III; Saint Guy (Vignotelli) of Cortona, Priest and Saint John of Sahagun (or St. Fagondez), Priest. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this special feast of the Holy Trinity, we humbly pray for the sick and dying, the poor and the needy. We also pray for peace, love and unity in our families and our world. And we continue to pray for the Church, the Clergy, for persecuted Christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world.🙏🏽

POPE SAINT LEO III: Pope St. Leo III (d. 816 A.D.) was a Roman cardinal who was unanimously elected pope on the same day his predecessor was buried. He lived during a time of tension between the popes and emperors and their respective rights, powers, and responsibilities. Unlike his predecessor, Leo recognized Charlemagne as the protector of the See of Rome, which won him many enemies among the Roman nobility. As a result, Pope St. Leo III was attacked by a mob who cut out his eyes and tongue so that he could no longer serve in his office. He survived the attack, but was imprisoned by his attackers and deposed from his office under false accusations. Leo’s eyes and tongue were miraculously restored, and he was able to escape his captivity and flee to Charlemagne for protection. Charlemagne in turn took up the Holy Father’s cause, escorted him back to Rome, and put his enemies on trial. A few days later, at the Christmas Mass of 800 A.D., Pope St. Leo III crowned Charlemagne as the Holy Roman Emperor. As the Roman Pontiff, Pope St. Leo III was known for being an effective administrator and for improving the Roman churches. He also paved the way for a more unified Europe, and for greater cooperation across national borders between the Church and the secular European nations to maintain their collective Christian identity. His feast day is June 12.

Pope Saint Leo III ~ Pray for us🙏🏽

SAINT GUY (VIGNOTELLI) OF CORTONA, PRIEST: St. Guy (Vignotelli) of Cortona was a Priest and nothing is known about his birth and early life. He was a devout young Christian of Cortona.  He worked with his hands to supplement an inheritance and gave to the poor whatever he did not need for his own use.  He provided hospitality in 1211 to St. Francis of Assisi and one of his companions on his first visit to Cortona.  At the end of their common meal St. Guy asked to become a member of the followers of the Seraphic Saint.  When told that he would have to abandon everything, rising from the table, he immediately arranged for the sale of his possessions; then together with his guests distributed all of his proceeds as alm.  He became a Franciscan and occupied a small cell on a bridge over a stream. Since he was a well-educated man, he was ordained to the priesthood.  He showed great holiness, powerful eloquence, and extraordinary gifts to his people. He performed miracles – one of which was raising back to life, a girl who had drowned.  He died at the age of 60 about 1245, after receiving a vision of St. Francis coming once again to Cortona, this time to lead him to paradise!

PRAYER: Lord God, You alone are holy and no one is good without You. Through the intercession of St. Guy help us to live in such a way that we may not be deprived of a shame in Your glory. Amen. Saint Guy (Vignotelli) of Cortona, Priest ~ Pray for us🙏🏽

SAINT JOHN OF SAHAGUN (OR SAINT FAGONDEZ), PRIEST: Saint John of Sahagun (or St. Fagondez), Confessor, Augustinian (1430-1479), one of the greatest preachers Spain has ever known, Preacher, Social Reformer, Defender of workers. St. John was a peacemaker and worker for justice in society. A sincere and humble man, he was a noted preacher, whose devotion to the Eucharist marked all aspects of his life. He was born Juan González de Castrillo on 1419 at Sahagun (St. Fagondez), Léon, Spain and died on June 11, 1479 at Salamanca, Spain of natural causes. (However, there is a possible alternative cause of his death – he may have been poisoned by a woman whose lover, a nobleman, broke off their relationship after hearing  Saint John preach. For this reason, he is sometimes listed as a Martyr.). From his early youth he gave signs of his future sanctity. He was the fruit of the ardent prayers of his pious and respected parents, John Gonzalez de Castrillo and Sancia Martinez after sixteen years of sterility; God blessed them afterwards with several children. St. John, the oldest of seven children. He was entrusted to the Benedictines of the monastery of St. Fagondez and he received his first education from the Benedictines of his native place. According to the custom of the times, his father procured for him the benefice of the neighbouring parish Dornillos, but this caused St. John many qualms of conscience. He was later introduced to Alfonso de Cartagena, Bishop of Burgos (1435-1456) who took a fancy to the bright, high-spirited boy, had him educated at his own residence, gave him several prebends, ordained him priest in 1445, and made him canon at the cathedral. As a young priest he was already regarded as a Saint, so ardent was his devotion at Holy Mass. He entered the Order of Saint Augustine soon after he had bestowed on a poor man half of his clothing, and the following night experienced so great an increase in the love of God, that he referred to this as his conversion. Out of conscientious respect for the laws of the Church, St. John resigned all and retained only the chaplaincy of St. Agatha, where he laboured zealously for the salvation of souls.

He distributed to the poor virtually all the wealth accruing to him from several benefices, while he himself lived in great poverty; but soon he renounced all of these and finding that a more thorough knowledge of theology would be beneficial, he obtained permission from his bishop to enter the University of Salamanca to study theology, he made a four years’ course, and merited his degree in divinity. During this time he exercised the sacred ministry at the chapel of the College of St. Bartholomew (parish of St. Sebastian), and held the position for nine years. He was then obliged to undergo an operation for stone, and during his illness vowed that if his life were spared, he would become a religious. On his recovery in 1463, he applied for admission to the Order of Hermits of St. Augustine, at the church of St. Peter, at Salamanca, and on 28 Aug., 1464, he made his profession.

He made such progress in religious perfection that he was soon appointed master of novices, and in 1471 prior of the community. Great was his devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, and at Mass he frequently saw the Sacred Host resplendent in glory. He was gifted with special power to penetrate the secrets of conscience, so that it was not easy to deceive him, and sinners were almost forced to make good confessions; he obtained wonderful results in doing away with enmities and feuds. In his sermons he, like another St. John the Baptist, fearlessly preached the word of God and scourged the crimes and vices of the day, though thereby the rich and noble were offended. He soon made many enemies, who even hired assassins, but these, awed by the serenity and angelic sweetness of his countenance, lost courage. Some women of Salamanca, embittered by the saint’s strong sermon against extravagance in dress, openly insulted him in the streets and pelted him with stones until stopped by a patrol of guards. Saint John was also very zealous in denouncing the vices of impurity, and it was in defense of holy purity that he met his death. A lady of noble birth but evil life, whose companion in sin he had converted, her partner broke off their relationship after hearing Saint John preach (for this reason, he is sometimes listed as a Martyr) , contrived to administer a fatal poison to the Saint. After several months of terrible suffering, borne with unvarying patience, Saint John went to his reward on June 11, 1479. This painful death and the cause for which he suffered it, have caused several of his historians and panegyrists to say that he won a martyr’s crown. A great many striking miracles followed at his tomb and elsewhere, even by the simple invocation of his name. Soon after death his veneration spread in Spain. The process of beatification began in 1525, and in 1601 he was declared Blessed. New miracles were wrought at his intercession, and on October 16,1690, Alexander VIII entered his name in the list of canonized saints. Benedict XIII fixed his feast for 12 June. His relics are found in Spain, Belgium, and Peru. His life written by John of Seville towards the end of the fifteenth century with additions in 1605 and 1619, is used by the Bollandists in “Acta SS.”, Jun., III, 112. He’s Patron Saint of the city of Salamanca, Spain, the Diocese of Salamanca, Candon City, Phillipines, Toledo, Spain.

Reflection. All men desire peace, but only those enjoy it who, like Saint John, are completely dead to themselves, and bear all things with love for Christ.

Saint John of Sahagun (or St. Fagondez), Priest ~ Pray for us🙏🏽