St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows
1838-62 | Feast: Feb. 27
Patron saint of Catholic youth
1838-62 | Feast: Feb. 27
Patron saint of Catholic youth
Francesco Possenti was raised in a faith-filled household alongside his 12 siblings. While he was known for his piety and charity, he battled with vanity and anger. Many of his siblings battled illness, one even dying by suicide, and Francesco also dealt with terrible illness that made him promise to enter religious life if he recovered.
Francesco Possenti was raised in a faith-filled household alongside his 12 siblings. While he was known for his piety and charity, he battled with vanity and anger. Many of his siblings battled illness, one even dying by suicide, and Francesco also dealt with terrible illness that made him promise to enter religious life if he recovered.
This future saint, however, forgot about his promise once recovered.
Around the time his older brother died by suicide, Francesco fell ill again with an abscess in his throat. He prayed for the recently beatified Andrew Bobola’s intercession, promising once more to enter religious life upon recovery.
This time, he kept his promise.
He applied for the Jesuits, but for some reason he never entered. Shortly after, Francesco lost another sibling, his sister, to the cholera epidemic. The city arranged a procession of a Virgin Mary icon after the epidemic. Francesco attended and there heard a small voice asking him why he remained in the world. After this experience, Francesco sought out a priest and resolved to enter the Passionists.
Even still, Francesco was a ladies man who even spent the evening before joining the Passionists with the girl who was in love with him, hoping he would become engaged to her. God had other plans for them, however, and he entered the Passionist Congregation, receiving the name Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows.
While Gabriel’s religious life was not marked by extraordinary activities, he was a model of dedication to God and holiness within and outside the cloister, conforming himself perfectly to the Passionists.
Gabriel was canonized in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV. Popes Pius X and Leo XIII promoted him as the patron saint of Catholic youth and religious order novices, encouraging young people to look to him as a model for their interior life.
