Layman (1817-1836)
His story
+ Nuntius was born at Pescara, Italy, in 1817. Orphaned while still a child, he was apprenticed to a blacksmith at age nine.
+ During his short life he suffered from both abuse from those responsible for his care and training and poor health, but he graciously accepted any hardships God willed to send him.
+ A good example to his friends and co-workers, he was a model of virtue in the midst of suffering. In character, he was very precise in everything he did and he observed a strict rule of life, carefully avoiding any occasion of sin.
+ Nuntius died in 1836, at nineteen years of age.
+ Remembered for his good example and simple faith, he was beatified by Blessed Pope Paul VI who invited all believers to make a friend of him and to “follow his heavenly way of life on our earthly pilgrimage.” He was canonized in 2018.
For prayer and reflection
“Jesus suffered so much for us and by his merits we await eternal life. If we suffer a little bit, we will taste the joy of paradise.”—Saint Nuntius Sulprizio
Spiritual bonus
On this day, we also remember Saint Judith. A wife and mother, she dedicated herself to a life of prayer and penance as a hermit following her husband’s death during a crusade. Saint Judith died in 1260 and was honored as a patron saint of Prussia.
Prayer
O God, who alone are holy and without whom no one is good, command, we pray, through the intercession of blessed Nuntius, that we be numbered among those who do not deserve to be deprived of your glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal: Common of Holy Men and Women—For One Saint)
Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.
And today we celebrate...