Giovanni Leonardi

Who they were

John Leonardi was born at Diecimo near Lucca to a family of modest landowners and trained as an apothecary. In a crisis in the city he worked with a lay group, the 'Colombini', to help the poor, and felt called to the priesthood; he was ordained in 1571. He taught the catechism so well that the bishop extended his method to the whole city, and his helpers became a religious family in 1574, later the Clerics Regular of the Mother of God.

His reforms made enemies, and in 1584 Lucca banished him for life as 'an enemy of the homeland'. In Rome the Pope made him apostolic visitor to reform Benedictine monasteries and entrusted him with Santa Maria in Portico; in 1607-1608 he helped lay the foundations of what became the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. He died in 1609.

The miracles

The miracles examined for his causes are not described in the sources we have used.

Why that counted as sanctity

John Leonardi gave his life to teaching the faith and reforming the Church, bore exile from his own city patiently, and helped lay the foundations of the Church's worldwide missions.

Connected on this site

• Pietro Casani Blessed
  “Casani had assumed the religious name of "Pietro della Natività di Maria" upon his solemn profession and had once been part of the Congregazione della Beata Vergine Maria that Giovanni Leonardi founded.” — Wikipedia