Luigi Guanella was born on December 19, 1842, in Fraciscio, a village in the Diocese of Como, Italy. Raised by practicing Catholic parents who prayed the Rosary daily and read the lives of the saints, he developed a deep devotion that shaped his future ministry. After completing his studies at the seminary in Como, he …
October 2025: Saint of Month – Saint Luigi Guanella (1842-1915) Read More »
Song of RECONCILIATION Letter to Franciscan Family (PDF)
Born to an Anglican vicar and his wife in Cumberland (now Cumbria) County, England, Bradburne was baptized into the Church of England. During World War II he served with the Indian Army in India, Malaya, and Burma. During the war, faith became the dominant impulse in his life. He also met the future Father John …
September 2025 ‘Saint of Month’: Servant of God John Bradburne (1921-1979) Read More »
Son of Spanish gypsy parents, Ceferino Giménez Malla known familiarly as “El Pelé” was born in Spain in 1861—no one knows exactly where or when. Ceferino, like his family, was a Roma who lived his life according to Roma traditions and laws, both in his upbringing and throughout his life. As a child, he wandered …
August 2025 ‘Saint of Month’ – Blessed Ceferino Giménez Malla (1861-1936) Read More »
Image: Father Tulio Maruzzo and Luis Obdulio Arroyo Navarro (ofm.org) Luis Obdulio Arroyo Navarro was a Secular Franciscan and one of the Martyrs of Izabal, Guatemala. He was born in Quiriguá, Los Amates, Izabal, Guatemala on 21 June 1950. He was raised in a devout Catholic family that instilled in him a strong faith and …
Blessed Luis Obdulio Arroyo Navarro (21 June 1950 – 1 July 1981) Read More »
The General Committee for Franciscan Centenaries sends a Letter to all National Franciscan Families Letter on how to plan for the Transitua
Matt Talbot was a humble Dublin workman whose life of prayer and penance has become well known since his death on June 7, 1925. Matt was born on 2 May 1856 into a working-class family in Dublin’s inner city. From his early teens up to the age of twenty-eight Matt Talbot was addicted to alcohol, …
An Italian Secular Franciscan couple who raised 10 children has been recognised as venerable by Pope Francis. The Bernardinis are the third married couple in the history of the Church to receive this title (they were preceded by Blessed Luigi and Blessed Maria Beltrame and St. Louis and St. Zelie Martin.) Eight of the Bernardini …
May 2025: Venerable Sergio and Domenica Bernardini (1882 & 1889) Read More »
The Formation Secretariat offers this guide to celebrating the the Franciscan 8th centenary in 2025. 800 years of the Canticle of Brother Sun (PDF)
Benedict-Joseph Labre was born in Amettes (France), diocese of Arras, the eldest of a family of fifteen children. Labre’s uncle, a parish priest, gladly received him, and undertook his early education for the priesthood. At the age of sixteen, Benedict-Joseph approached his uncle about becoming a Trappist monk, but his parents told him he would …
April 2025: Benedict-Joseph Labre (1748-1783) (April 16) Read More »
