SAINT OF THE DAY

THURSDAY, 18 JUNE 2020

SAINT GREGORY BARBARIGO

BISHOP CONFESSOR

BORN 1625

St. Gregory was born on September 16, 1625, and he died in 1697. His family lived in Venice and were held in high repute by the people there. He was the fourth son. He excelled in his studies at an early age and became interested in diplomacy and statesmanship. He knew Contarine, the Venetian ambassador, and went with him on at least one ambassadorial mission.

After he was ordained a priest in 1655, he organized care for the plague-stricken people of Rome. In 1657, Pope Alexander VII made him the first Bishop of Bergamo. He was a leader in promoting the reforms of the Council of Trent. He visited parishes, organizing the teaching of Christian doctrine and also worked with seminarians and clergy to raise their standards. His work was so respected that in 1660, he was made the Cardinal of Padua.

St. Gregory was extremely interested in higher education and worked for the development of seminaries and libraries. He established a printing press that printed pamphlets for Christians under Moslem rule. He was active in laboring to bring about a reunion with the Greek Church. St. Gregory took part in five papal Conclaves (for the election of the Pope) and was a candidate in three of them. It is recorded that his congregation thought him to be a man filled with wisdom.

He strove to model himself on St. Charles Borromeo. It was his life-long endeavour to extirpate vices and cultivate virtues in obedience to the warnings and decrees of the sacred synod of Trent. In both dioceses he enlarged the seminaries.

He strenuously fostered catechetical instruction, and zealously travelled to every village of the diocese to teach and preach. He was distinguished for his works of charity and the holiness of his life. So generous was he to the needy and poor that he even gave away his household goods, his clothes and his bed to help them.

Finally, after a brief illness, he fell asleep peacefully in the Lord on June 18, 1697. Renowned for his merits and his virtues, he was inscribed among the Blessed by Clement XIII and among the Saints by John XXIII. He was beatified on 6 July 1761, and canonized nearly 189 years later on 26 May 1960. He was the first saint canonized by Pope John XXIII.

SAINT GREGORY BARBARIGO: PRAY FOR US.