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St. Francis Caracciolo Feast Day June 4 Francis, originally called Ascanio, came from the noble family of Caracciolo,
in the city of Santa Maria della Villa in the Abruzzi. During a severe
illness in his youth, he resolved to give himself completely to the service
of God and neighbor. He went to Naples and was ordained priest, after which
he devoted himself wholly to contemplation and the winning of souls; and
he was always on hand to comfort prisoners condemned to death. By a wonderful
disposition of God, he joined with John Augustini Adorno and Fabrizio Caracciolo
in founding the Order of Minor Clerks Regular, adding to the three usual
vows another: not to seek dignities. After the death of Adorno, Francis
rules the Order in a most holy way, and with the greatest zeal promoted
it throughout Spain and Italy. He burned with such love for the Most Blessed
Sacrament that he would spend almost the whole night in adoring It; and
he established adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as a practice to be kept
forever in his Order--its touchstone. He was enriched with the gifts of
prophecy and the reading of hearts. At length, in his forty-fourth year,
he was taken with a deadly fever in the town of Agnone, in the Abruzzi,
and fell asleep in the Lord on June 4, 1608. His holy body was taken to
Naples and buried in the church of his Order. |