Saint of the day May 18: Saint Felix. Catholic Saints

Every May 18, the Catholic Church celebrates Saint Felix of Cantalicio, a Franciscan friar of the 16th century, member of the Order of the Minor Capuchin Brothers (Capuchin Franciscans), possessor of a joyful and light soul that helped him rise to the heights of The mystic.

Saint Felix was an extremely simple man, coming from a very poor family, and thanks to his docility he let the Lord mold his mind and heart, to the point that he became known for his extraordinary wisdom and piety. His soul, far from being discouraged by difficulties, exhibited immense trust in God, adorned by a fine sense of humor.

Felice Puerro – his given name – was born in Cantalicio (Italy), in the year 1513. His parents, pious Catholic peasants, raised him in the love of Christ and the Blessed Virgin. It is said that, as a boy, when he showed up to play with his friends, they would say to him: “Here comes the little saint!”

Always live in the presence of God

At the age of twelve he began to work in the house of a rich landowner who sent him to herd sheep and drive the plow. Young Felix’s life, then, began to be divided between prayer and work. He always took advantage of the hours of solitude or fatigue in the field to elevate the soul to God. The comings and goings between the pastures and the hills were interspersed with visits to the town church to pray to Our Lady. Little by little, he learned to meditate and develop his contemplative vocation, even though his appearance was more that of a man made for rough work.

“All creatures can lead us to God, as long as we know how to look at them with simple eyes,” Felix once told a religious man who had asked him how he managed to live in the presence of God in the midst of work and so many other things that could considered as distractions. Félix had the conviction that “in any job and at any time one must remember God and offer for Him everything one does or suffers.”

The spiritual life is work and joy

One day when Felix was plowing, the animals pulling his plow got scared and threw him to the ground. The plow passed over him violently, but, miraculously, the saint rose unharmed. Félix had asked God, some time ago, to help him find his path in life and to confirm him in it forever. That accident, in which he felt death very closely, encouraged him to commit himself more strongly to Jesus. Thus he made the decision to knock on the doors of the Capuchin convent of Cittaducale to be admitted as a lay brother.

In the convent, his relationship with God and his brothers encouraged him to continue practicing virtue, while his good heart grew in the desire for perfection in charity. If any mortification came his way and he had to perform some penance, he clung tightly to the Cross of Christ, so that the Lord would sustain him in those difficult hours.

Félix was convinced that everyone was better than him, although his brothers seemed to disagree with that, and used to call him “the saint.” And Félix seemed to have made humility his best tool to live from the love of God. It wasn’t that he despised himself, on the contrary, Félix felt deeply loved. What happened is that he knew he was a sinner, weak and fragile; but, at the same time, he understood his condition as a redeemed, forgiven man. Félix knew that before the greatness of God’s love, we must recognize ourselves as small, because we are.

“The saint, the nothing” (San Félix)

The solemn vows came when the saint reached thirty years of age. He was later sent to Rome, where for the next four decades he would go out begging every day to support his community and the poor under his care. Likewise, with the permission of his superiors, he assisted the destitute, visited the sick and consoled many dying. He used to encourage everyone by saying: “Good cheer, brother: eyes on earth, spirit in heaven and the most holy rosary in your hand.”

The friar almost always walked with a kind smile on his face, and if he received any insult or mistreatment, he would patiently utter these words: “I am going to ask God to make you a saint.”

Not infrequently, Saint Felix, while helping at Mass, remained in ecstasy for everyone to see. Even his biographers point out that he died in the middle of a vision of the Virgin who ordered him to be summoned by angels. During his lifetime, he enjoyed the appreciation and consideration of great saints such as Saint Philip Neri and Saint Charles Borromeo. At the end of his days, the cardinal protector of his Order advised Felix’s superiors to relieve him of his position due to his advanced age, but the saint begged them to let him continue begging for alms. Félix liked to remind everyone that the soul withers when the body does not work.

Saint Felix of Cantalicio departed to the Father’s House on May 18, 1587. He was beatified on October 1, 1625 by Pope Urban VIII and canonized on May 22, 1712, in Rome, by Pope Clement XI.

More information at: https://www.aciprensa.com/santos/santo.php?id=679.