Feast Day: March 29
Lived (March 11, 1814 – March 30, 1885)
Patron Saint of Casoria, Grey Friars of Charity and Sisters of Saint Elizabeth.
Arcangelo Palmentieri was born in Casoria, where he worked as a cabinet-maker before joining the Friars Minor in 1832. He took the name Ludovico. After five years, he was ordained and he taught chemistry, physics, and mathematics to younger members of his province for many years.
In 1847, he had a supernatural experience which he described as a cleansing. After that, he dedicated his life to the poor and the infirm, establishing a dispensary for the poor, two schools for African children, an institute for the children of nobility, as well as an institution for orphans, the deaf, and the speechless, and other institutes for the blind, elderly, and for travelers. In addition to an infirmary for friars of his province, he began charitable institutes in Naples, Florence, and Assisi. He once said, “Christ’s love has wounded my heart.” This love prompted him to great acts of charity.
To make sure these works of mercy never stops, he established the Gray Brothers in 1859, a religious community of men who formerly belonged to the Secular Franciscan Order. Three years later, he founded the Gray Sisters of Saint Elizabeth for the same reason.
When his nine-year illness begun, Ludovico wrote a spiritual testament which described faith as “light in the darkness, help in sickness, blessing in tribulations, paradise in the crucifixion, and life amid death.”
The local work for his beatification began within five months of Ludovico’s death. He was beatified on April 18, 1993 by Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis canonized him on 23 November, 2014.
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