MEMORIAL OF SAINT FRANCIS CARACCIOLO, PRIEST AND SAINT FILIPPO SMALDONE, PRIEST ~ FEAST DAY: JUNE 4TH Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Francis Caracciolo, Religious and Saint Filippo Smaldone, Priest. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the sick, we pray for God’s divine healing and intervention. We also pray for the poor and the needy, 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.🙏🏽
SAINT FRANCIS CARACCIOLO, PRIEST: St. Francis Caracciolo (October 13, 1563 – June 4, 1608), was an Italian Catholic priest who co-founded the Congregation of the Clerics Regular Minor with St. John Augustine Adorno. He was born Ascanio Pisquizio, in Villa Santa Maria, Italy on October 13, 1563 and was given the name Ascanio at his baptism. His mother was a relative of St. Thomas Aquinas. He lived a virtuous life as a youth and seemed inclined towards a religious vocation. He decided to adopt a religious life at the age of 22. Saint Francis is well known for been powerfully drawn to our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, he fasted every Saturday in honor of the Virgin Mary, and he had a generous love for the poor. When he was 22 he contracted a form of leprosy which he begged God to cure him of. He promised to follow what seemed clear to him as his calling to the priesthood immediately upon being cured. He was cured instantly upon making the promise, and left immediately for Naples to study for the priesthood. On his ordination he joined the confraternity of The White Robes of Justice, who were devoted to helping condemned criminals to die a holy death, reconciled with God. Five years after he went to Naples, a letter was delivered to him which was in fact addressed to another Ascanio Caracciolo, a distant relative. The letter was an appeal from Father Giovanni Agostino Adorno (Fr. John Augustine Adorno), of Genoa, to this other Ascanio to join him in founding a religious order. Reading the lettter he realized that the vision of Fr. Adorno was in total compliance with his own ideas for a religious institute and he interpreted this as a sign of God’s plan. He responded to the letter and the two men spent a few weeks together in retreat to draw up the institutions and rule for the Order of Minor Clerks Regular. The congregation was approved by Pope Sixtus V on July 1, 1588.
The congregation’s apostolate was preaching missions and performing diverse works of charity. The congregation lives both and active and contemplaive life, perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament being one of the pillars of their life. They work with the sick, poor, prisoners and as missionaries. In addition to the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, they have a fourth which forbids them to seek or accept ecclesiastical honors. Upon making his profession, Caracciolo took the name Francis in honor of the saint of Assissi. He was noted for his ardent devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, often being found in ecstasy, and frequently repeating the words of the Psalm, “Zeal for Thy house has consumed me.” He died of a severe fever on the eve of Corpus Christi in Agnone, on June 4, 1608, with his oft-repeated words on his lips. Those same words were found burned into the flesh of his heart when his body was opened after his death. “Zeal for Thy house has consumed me.” He was canonized by Pope Pius VII on May 24, 1807. He has been the Patron Saint of Eucharistic Congress of Abruzzo since 1925 and Patron Saint of Italian chefs since 1996 and Naples, Italy.
PRAYER: God, You adorned St. Francis, the founder of a new Order, with a zeal for prayer and love for penance. Help Your servants to make such progress by imitating him that by praying unceasingly and bringing their bodies into subjection they may be worthy to attain heavenly glory… Amen🙏🏽
SAINT FILIPPO SMALDONE, PRIEST: Filippo Smaldone (27 July 1848 – 4 June 1923) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and the founder of the Salesian Sisters of the Sacred Hearts (Salésiennes des Sacrés-Cœurs). Smaldone is best known for his extensive work with the deaf during his lifetime. Smaldone was a gifted preacher known for his commitment to proper catechesis and to the care of orphans and the mute, which earned him civic recognition. St. Filippo Smaldone was born on July 27, 1848 in Naples, Italy, during a time of upheaval and unrest both in Italy and in the Church. He was the first of seven children to Antonio Smaldone and Maria Concetta De Luca. He made his First Communion in 1858 and received his Confirmation in 1862. He decided to become a priest, and while in seminary he took on a personal apostolate of assisting the deaf and mute community in Naples. He dedicated so much time to this work that he barely passed his exams. He almost failed the examination for minor orders because he did not want to abandon his apostolate for his studies. He returned to Naples in 1876 – with the permission of the Cardinal Archbishop of Naples Sisto Riario Sforza – after a period of education in the Archdiocese of Rossano-Cariati. He was made a subdeacon on July 31, 1870 and ordained a deacon on March 27, 1871. Smaldone was ordained to the priesthood on September 23, 1871. After his ordination, he continued to assist the marginalized of his community, especially the sick and the deaf of Naples. But at one stage he grew depressed, discouraged at the difficulty of the task and frustrated over his mute students. He asked to give up teaching in favor of going to the foreign missions. But his spiritual director convinced him to remain and to continue his work. When the cholera plague hit his city in 1884 he contracted it and almost dead, however, he was healed after praying to Our Lady of Pompeii / Madonna. He credited his survival to the Our Lady to whom he had a special devotion.
Dissuaded from the abandonment of his work by his confessor, St. Filippo committed his life’s mission to the needs of the deaf and mute, training a group of nuns in the work which grew into a new religious foundation. He later expanded his work to include children that were blind, orphaned, and abandoned. In 1885 he founded an institution for the deaf and for the mute at Lecce, with the assistance of Lorenzo Apicella and several nuns that he had under his care. He opened several other branches of his order in 1897 in both Rome and Bari. On December 18, 1912, his order was aggregated to the Order of Friars Minor. The order went on to receive the decree of praise from Pope Benedict XV on November 30, 1915 and full papal approval from Pope Pius XI after Smaldone’s death on 21 June 1925. St. Smaldone founded both the Eucharistic League of Priest Adorers and the Eucharistic League of Women Adorers to promote the Eucharist and he also served for a brief period of time as the superior of the Missionaries of Saint Francis de Sales. The civic authorities commended and recognized him for his work as did religious authorities who made him a canon of the Lecce Cathedral. In 1880 he was sent to Milan as an expert at a conference of teachers for the deaf. St. Filippo Smaldone died on June 4, 1923 at 9:00 pm at the age of 74 in Lecce, Kingdom of Italy from diabetes-related complications combined with heart difficulties. His remains were later relocated in 1942 to the order’s motherhouse. In 2005 there was a total of 40 houses with 398 religious in nations such as Rwanda and Moldova. St. Smaldone’s sainthood cause commenced in 1964 and in 1995 he became titled as Venerable under Pope John Paul II who soon after Beatified him in mid-1996. Pope Benedict XVI Canonized him as a saint of the Catholic Church on October 15, 2006 in Saint Peter’s Square, Vatican City. He’s the Patron Saint of Salesian Sisters of the Sacred Hearts; Deaf people; Mute people. His feast day is June 4th.
NOVENA TO ST. FILIPPO SMALDONE, PRIEST: Dear St. Smaldone, in your earthly life you were a model of charity. Your love for those with disabilities especially the deaf brought you the beloved name “Apostle of the Deaf”. In your heavenly home please intercede for us here on earth that we may see Jesus in those hardest for us to love. Take our hand and gently guide us on the surest way to salvation. We humbly ask that you place our petitions before the Sacred Heart of Jesus. [Mention your needs here…Say 1 Our Father; 1 Hail Mary and 1 Glory Be] Amen🙏🏽