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Francis Solanus
Spanish missionary and saint
Feast: 14 July (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Francis Solanus, born at Montilla in Spain on 10 March 1549, joined the Franciscans at twenty and was master of novices. In 1589 he sailed for the New World.
For twenty years he spared no fatigue or danger to evangelise the vast regions of Tucumán and Paraguay, learning native languages with astonishing speed; he was called the Wonder-worker of the New World. He died at Lima on 14 July 1610, as he had foretold.
The miracles
The Catholic Encyclopedia does not describe the miracles approved in the cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
A missionary who spent himself for the peoples of South America.
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Francis Solanus
- Wikidata Q2352076 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Francis Solanus (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.