At Naples in Campania, Blessed Januarius Maria Sarnelli, priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, who devoted himself actively to assisting every kind of the wretched and afflicted.
Lifespan: 1702–1744
Beatified: 12 May 1996 by Pope John Paul II
Memoria liturgica: 30 June
Reverence Christ the Lord in your hearts.
1 Pet 3:15
Januarius Maria Sarnelli was born in Naples on 12 September 1702 to Angelo, Baron of Ciorani.
In 1722 he received his doctorate in canon and civil law and practised as a lawyer until 1728. During those years he came to know another lawyer, Alfonso Maria de’ Liguori.
While still a layman, he joined the circle gathered around Saint Alphonsus. In 1728 he left the legal profession, and in 1732 he was ordained to the priesthood. That same year de’ Liguori founded the new Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists); Sarnelli joined him a year later, and together they undertook a series of missions throughout the Amalfi Coast and the towns of the interior.
In 1736 he returned to Naples, where he devoted himself to evangelisation among prostitutes. He also worked to provide religious and material assistance to the facchinelli — children exploited for labour.
From 1741 he organised a permanent mission in the suburbs of Naples.
He died at the age of forty-one, on 30 June 1744 in Naples, and was buried in the parish of Santa Maria dell’Aiuto. His remains were later translated to the mother house of the Redemptorists.
John Paul II proclaimed him Blessed on 12 May 1996.