At Naples in Campania, Saint Francis Xavier Mary Bianchi, priest of the Order of Clerics Regular of Saint Paul, who, endowed with mystical gifts, drew many along with him to lead a life under the grace of the Gospel.
Lifespan: 1743–1815
Beatified: 22 January 1893 by Pope Leo XIII
Canonized: 21 October 1951 by Pope Pius XII
Memoria liturgica: 31 January
Pope Leo XIII called him the “Apostle of Naples.”
He was born at Arpino (Frosinone) on 2 December 1743, and studied at the Seminary of Nola and at the University of Naples. In 1762 he entered the Order of Barnabites and continued his studies at Macerata, Rome, and again at Naples, where he was ordained a priest in 1767. Devoting himself to teaching, he held important positions; but beyond scholarship, he gave himself generously to works of charity.
Devoted to penitential practices, he did not abandon them even when he was struck by a mysterious illness of the legs that left him immobilized during the last thirteen years of his life. Indeed, in the final three years he was able, as if by wonder, to celebrate Mass standing upright on swollen and ulcerated legs.
He died in Naples on 31 January 1815. Leo XIII beatified him on 22 January 1893, and Pius XII canonized him on 21 October 1951.
His body is enshrined in the church of Santa Maria di Caravaggio in Naples.