John Leonardi

He was the youngest of seven children born to middle-class parents in Diecimo (now within the comune of Borgo a Mozzano) in the Republic of Lucca. From childhood, he sought solitude and wished to dedicate himself to prayer and meditation. At age 17, he began his ten-year study to become a certified pharmacist's assistant in Lucca.[https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-john-leonardi-712 "St. John Leonardi", CNA] Afterward, he studied for the priesthood and was ordained in 1572,{{cite book | last1 = Delaney | first1 = John J.| title = Dictionary of Saints | location = New York | publisher = Doubleday | page = 357 | date = 1980 | isbn = 0-385-13594-7 }} as a member of the now defunct Apostolic Clerics of St. Jerome. He first dedicated himself to the Christian formation of adolescents in his local Lucca parish. He also gathered a group of laymen around him to work in hospitals and prisons.[https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-john-leonardi "Saint John Leonardi’s Story", Franciscan Media]

In 1574, he founded a group charged with deepening Christian faith and devotion; this foundation was part of the wider movement of the Counter-Reformation. Leonardi worked with this group to spread devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and devotion to the Forty Hours, as well as spreading the message of the importance of frequent communion.

He became interested in the reforms instituted by the Council of Trent, and he proposed a new congregation of secular priests to convert sinners and to restore Church discipline. In 1583, his association, which became known as the Lucca Fathers, was recognized by the Bishop of Lucca with the approval of Pope Gregory XIII.[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-John-Leonardi Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Saint John Leonardi". Encyclopedia Britannica] In 1595, his congregation was confirmed by Pope Clement VIII, and he assumed the religious name "Giovanni of the Mother of God". This foundation received approval from Pope Paul V on January 14, 1614. The pope, encouraged by the cardinal protector Giustiniani issued a papal decree approving the union of the Lucca Fathers with the Piarists of Saint Joseph Calasanz. This union would last only until the beginning of 1617 when Paul V issued another decree constituting the Piarists as a separate congregation.

File:SaintJeanLeonardi.jpg

Civic leaders in Lucca opposed the establishment of a new religious order for political reasons and acted to stop its formation. While ultimately ineffective, their efforts forced John Leonardi to spend most of the remainder of his life outside Lucca, with special exceptions granted by its government as he was under the protection of the pope. Leonardi took his work to Rome where he became friends with Saint Philip Neri. Neri became his spiritual director and held him in high regard for his qualities of firmness and judgment. In 1596 Pope Clement VIII nominated Leonardi as Commissary Apostolic for the reform of the Benedictine monks of the Order of Monte Vergine and in 1601 their Cardinal Protector appointed him to carry out a similar work among the Vallombrosans.[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04052b.htm Carmichael, Montgomery. "Clerks Regular of the Mother of God of Lucca." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 12 November 2021{{PD-notice}}

In 1603, he founded along with Cardinal J. Vivès, the seminary of the Propagation of the Faith for the philosophical and theological training of missionary priests. In 1621, his community would formally be designated "Clerks Regular of the Mother of God'". The final Rule of his institute was published in 1851. Two houses of the Clerks Regular of the Mother of God were opened when he died, and three others were opened in the seventeenth century.

He died on October 9, 1609, of influenza, which he contracted while ministering to his brothers suffering from the epidemic raging in Rome at the time.

He was venerated for his miracles and his religious fervor. His memory was held so high in Rome that Pope Leo XIII added his name to the Roman Martyrology, and ordered Roman clergy to celebrate his Mass and Office, an honor otherwise strictly limited to beatified popes.

Leonardi was beatified in 1861 and canonized in 1938 by Pope Pius XI. His liturgical feast is celebrated on 9 October. His relics are enshrined under an altar in the Church of Santa Maria in Campitelli in Rome.[https://www.vecarchives.org/blog/2020/santa-maria-in-campitelli-an-old-roman-church-with-strong-british-connections Schofield, Nicholas. "Santa Maria in Campitelli: an old Roman church with strong British connections", Venerable English College, Rome, 26 February 2020] The church of San Giovanni Leonardi in Zone XV Torre Maura in the east of Rome is named in his honour.{{Cite web|url=https://gcatholic.org/churches/urbis/4397.htm|title=Chiesa di San Giovanni Leonardi a Torre Maura 🇮🇹|website=GCatholic}}

{{Reflist}}

• "Encyclopédie des Saints et de la Sainteté," Hachette {{in lang|fr}}
• {{cite book | author = Alberto Comuzzi | title = San Giovanni Leonardi : un nomo per tutte le vocazioni. | trans-title = San Juan Leonardi : un hombre apasionado por Cristo y por la Iglesia | language = it, fr, es | location = Cinisello Balsamo (Milan); Santiago de Chile | publisher = Edizioni Paoline | year = 1988 | pages = 167 | oclc = 645374429 | edition = 4th | url = https://archive.today/20190829192420/https://www.worldcat.org/title/san-giovanni-leonardi-un-nomo-per-tutte-le-vocazioni/oclc/645374429?referer=br&ht=edition}}Referenced by {{cite journal | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zHaZUEq3ayIC | title = Rassegna bibliografica | journal = La Civiltà Cattolica | page = 202 | language = it | issue = 3317–3324 | year = 1988 | oclc = 1774680 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20190829192845/https://www.google.com/search?q=%22alberto+comuzzi%22%2Bgiovanni%2Bleonardi&source=lnms&tbm=bks&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7i66-5qjkAhWSyqQKHaSwAEgQ_AUIFygB&biw=1366&bih=657%23spf=1567106919966 | archive-date = August 29, 2019 | url-status = live}}
• {{cite book | author = Bernard Baudouin| title = Encyclopédie des saints : tous les saints de l'Église de Rome, leurs oeuvres & leurs bienfaits | language = fr | publisher = Éditions Trajectoire DL | location = Bulgary | year = 2016 | oclc =1010280696 | isbn = 978-2-84197-707-9 | pages = 330| url = https://archive.today/20190829193600/http://opac.provincedeliege.be/F/UMLFYX3LL258PIXK8KIMRQS2YXI1VA4G5HSVXVUYVJ68Q192CV-01845?func=full-set-set&set_number=014706&set_entry=000001&format=999}}

{{Commons category|Saint Giovanni Leonardi}}

• [http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=359 Catholic Online-Saints & Angels: St. John Leonardi]
• [http://catholicsaints.info/saint-john-leonardi/ Catholic Saints Info: Saint John Leonardi]

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Category:1541 births

Category:1609 deaths

Category:16th-century Christian saints

Category:16th-century venerated Christians

Category:16th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests

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Category:17th-century venerated Christians

Category:17th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests

Category:Canonizations by Pope Pius XI

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Category:Italian Roman Catholic saints

Category:Religious leaders from Lucca