Saint of the day September 25: Saint Charles of Sezze. Catholic Saints

Every September 25, the Church celebrates Saint Charles of Sezze, a Franciscan friar born in Italy, one of the greatest exponents of poetry and mysticism of the 17th century.

Fray Carlos bore physical signs of God’s love: his heart was pierced by a ray of light coming from the Eucharist that left an open wound in his chest until the end of his life.

Juan Carlos Marchioni – the saint’s first name – was born in 1620, in the small town of Sezze, in the region of Lazio (Italy). Of humble origins, he managed to access school thanks to the commendable efforts of his parents.

“A school failure” and the subsequent miracle

One day, at school, Juan Carlos received a strong physical punishment – in the style of the time. at the hands of his teacher for not having properly learned a lesson. His parents, disappointed, thought that the boy lacked the aptitude to progress in his studies. So they decided to take him out of school and send him to work in the fields, where – they thought – the young boy could be of greater benefit.

Carlos thought, for his part, that his fortune had not been all bad and that he could live in the countryside for the rest of his life, away from the commitment of having to study.

However, circumstances took an unexpected turn. One day, one of those that Carlos spent in the field without doing much, a flock of birds scared away the oxen he was driving while he was plowing the land. They, nervous, became violent and attacked him. Captured by terror, in an instant, it crossed his mind that he would die right there, irremediably. The beasts did not calm down, so his mind, in a spiritual “reflex act”, he invoked God to free him from death: “I am going into the convent, but save me, Lord!”

A second later, he found himself lying on the ground, he slowly opened his eyes, took a breath and looked around. The oxen were no longer with him; He could only see his silhouettes at a certain distance. He checked himself everywhere. He was completely unharmed.

Persevere until the end

A few days after the scare, Carlos saw some Franciscans passing by the field where he worked. Quickly, he approached them to ask what he should do to be like them. The friars told him to go to Rome and seek to speak with the superior father of the Order.

Immediately, the young man joined three friends with whom a few days later he would begin the journey to the Eternal City.

The four arrived at the Franciscan house in Rome and were received by the father superior. The latter, wanting to test his intentions, received them harshly and treated them as lazy people – just another of all those who knocked on the door of the convent to ensure free food and a roof over their heads. Immediately afterwards, the superior threw them out.

The young men insisted on being received, claiming that their intentions were right, but they could not get the friar to change his mind, so they had to leave. However, after a while, they decided to return and knock on another of the convent doors, to see if their luck would change. When they were opened, they begged the superior – this time with shouts – to receive them. The friar, playing hard to get, told them that that night he would allow them to sleep as beggars, but that the next day they would have to leave permanently.

The four accepted the proposal, but the next day, instead of being kicked out, they received an unexpected message from their superior. The friar told them that they had passed “the initial test” and that they would be admitted as aspirants.

“Everyone who loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mt 16:25).

Carlos was appointed caretaker of the convent. His custom was to admit any traveler who asked for lodging during the nights, which were generally very cold, as well as to distribute among the guests the alms that people with more resources left him. At first the superior accepted it, but then he sent for him to tell him: “From now on we will only admit a very few people to stay, and we will only distribute a few alms, because we are giving too much.”

He obeyed as he should, but then it happened that no one was giving them the huge help they had before and the number of regular benefactors of the Order was reduced. Then, the superior called him to ask him what could be the cause of such a decrease.

“The cause is very simple,” answered Brother Carlos, “it is that we stopped giving to those in need and God stopped giving to us. Because with the measure with which we distribute to others, with that measure God will give to us.” .

That same night Fray Carlos regained permission to receive any poor guest who arrived and to distribute alms generously. God would once again send the friars the usual and copious donations, enough to live and help.

The doors of heaven are open to those who practice humility

Not a few, among those who recognized in Carlos a profound spiritual life, asked him to write certain guidelines that would help others to pray better and grow in holiness. The friar accepted the request and gave his consent for his texts to be disseminated. This, unfortunately, was not to everyone’s liking. What for him was an act of obedience and detachment, became in the eyes of some a gesture of petulance and vanity. Then came the reprimands and the threat of excluding him from the community.

The good friar had no idea that censures and revisions by the “learned” are necessary for these tasks. Humiliated, he knelt before the crucifix to vent his pain, when, suddenly, he heard a voice telling him: “Courage, these things are not going to prevent you from entering paradise.” That voice was that of Christ, who was speaking to him from the cross.

A pierced heart, You do not despise it (Ps 51, 17)

There was a short and simple prayer that Brother Charles often repeated: “Lord, enkindle me in love for You.” The request became an ejaculation because it was always on his lips or in his thoughts. These simple words helped him express how much Christ had transformed his life and how united his soul was to Him.

One day in October 1648, during the elevation of the Blessed Sacrament, Saint Charles saw a ray of light emerge from the consecrated host towards his chest. At that moment, while he cried out to God in anguish, he felt that light pierce his heart.

Afterwards, he found himself stunned. An open wound had been left on his chest; one that would never close.

Virtue and art

Saint Charles of Sezze wrote several poems of a mystical nature, in the tradition of the poetry of divine love, characteristic of the Italian Middle Ages. They stand out The three ways, The sacred septenaryy Discourses on the life of Jesus.

Furthermore, he wrote, by order of his confessor, a Autobiographywhich is considered today as decisive to understand its mystical soul.

In heaven and on earth

Saint Charles of Sezze was beatified in 1882 by Pope Leo XIII, more than two centuries after his death; and he was canonized by Pope Saint John XXIII on April 12, 1959.