Capuchin Saints chosen as Symbols of the Year of Mercy: Relics of St.’s Padre Pio and Leopold Mandic brought to Rome.

As part of the celebration of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis has called the relics of the bodies of two of our saintly brothers to Rome, St.’s Leopold Mandic and Padre Pio. The relics have been brought for the veneration of the faithful and as a reminder of the ministry of mercy we are all called to…

Both brothers laboured intensively in the confessional, often hearing confessions for up to fourteen hours a day and there demonstrated the gifts of reading souls, bilocation and healing… but as well as the ministry of the confessional their understanding of God as Mercy, (as Hesed or Loving Kindness as the Hebrew of Scripture would have it) was manifested in many other ways too. Br. Leopold offered his entire life as a spiritual sacrifice for the healing of the schism that existed between the Orthodox and Catholic churches, while Padre Pio offered his whole life and the suffering of the Stigmata for 50 years for the prurification of the Souls in Purgatory and for the conversion of sinners. Both spent their time in constant contemplation and prayer on behalf of others and both helped in the formation of hospitals, schools and orphanages during their lives. The choosing of these two friars as symbols of the Mercy of God in our world is a huges honour for us Capuchin friars and a reminder of the hights to which we are called… but for all of us it is a reminder that divine mercy is at the very heart of what it is to be a Christian…

Please pray for us Capuchins in these days of mercy as we pray for you all too.