St Leonard of Port Maurizio

Italian Franciscan priest, writer, preacher and patron of popular missionaries.

Saint Leonard was born in Port Maurizio in 1676. After training in Rome, he became a Franciscan and restored the Florentian Friary of San Francesco del Monte. Many friars joined the community. They walked around the country preaching and went on solitary retreat twice a year.

In 1730, St Leonard was appointed Guardian at St Bonaventure's in Rome. For six years he preached to soldiers, sailors, convicts and galley slaves as well as giving parish missions.

From 1736 he preached in Umbria, Genoa and the Marches of Ancona - often in the open air as the crowds were so large. Frequently he preached the Way of the Cross and set up about 500 stations across Italy, many of which are still popular today.

In 1750, a Jubilee Year, he set up Stations of the Cross in the Colosseum. After preaching extensively in Lucca, his strength failed and he died in Rome in 1751. He was canonised in 1867.