Here in Padua, St Anthony is not the only saintly notable. Another Franciscan elbows in for the limelight, St Leopold Mandic - a Croatian who settled in Padua and gained a reputation for holiness through his ministry in the confessional. We priests always need renewal in our ministry and how we administer the sacraments. It is too easy to get lax and dish out grace as if it was ordinary food. So close to the mystery, there is always the danger we become too familiar with it, too casual. We need to realise that when we administer the sacraments we are immersed in a great ocean of grace, a great mystery, which God in his goodness, has ordained us to pass on to our brothers and sisters. Confession is a great mystery - the mystery of God's mercy, the mystery of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus poured out on sinners with the intention of forgiving them their sins, regenerating them and strengthening them to pursue a life of holiness. St Leopold understood: I pray we priests may do the same.
There is a wonderful story from the life of St Leopold and St Pio. Both were Capuchins ministering around the same time, Leopold in Padua and Pio in San Giovanni Rotondo; both were renowned for their gifts in the confessional. One intrepid lady decided to compare and contrast the two. So she went to St Leopold in Padua, and came away delighted with his gentleness and kindness. She then popped down to the south of Italy to see how St Pio compared. She should have known better: Pio turned out to be very harsh with her during the confession. Indignant (funnily, I expected that!), she tore into Pio, proclaiming that he was not as nice as his brother Capuchin in the north: Padre Leopold was kind and gentle. Quick off the mark, St Pio turned and said: "He gets the easy ones: he sends all the difficult ones to me!" Touche, Padre Pio!!
Lovely videos on the life of St Leopold produced by his brother Capuchins:
No comments:
Post a Comment