Saint Who?
Saints Who Promoted the Rosary
Saint Bernardine of Siena
Priest and religious († 1444)Feast: May 20
Born September 8, 1380, Bernardine lost his parents when he was small and was cared for by his aunts and an older cousin. They watched carefully over his virtue, and he grew up with a chaste and modest heart. One day, he told his cousin, “I am…enchanted by a very noble lady. I would give my life to rejoice in her presence.” When she questioned him, he replied: “I will tell you the secret of my heart. I am in love with the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. Long has she won my heart’s devotion.”
On his twenty-second birthday, also the feast of the birth of Mary, he entered the Franciscans. On subsequent birthdays, he would make his profession and offer his first Mass. In his priestly ministry, a biographer notes, Father Bernardine took on a Marian role, effectively preaching, “Do whatever he tells you,” Mary’s words to the disciples at Cana. He went through the Italian city-states converting them from their murderous cycles of revenge.
He also fervently preached devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus. In Venice, he persuaded rival households to exchange their distinctive coats of arms for the unifying name of Jesus, with the symbol IHS. It was because of Bernardine’s preaching that Jesus’ name was added to the Hail Mary. He died at sixty-three, and was canonized six years later.
Mary, my Queen, through the prayers of
Saint Bernardine and the power of the Holy Name of Jesus, bring peace and unity
to our families and communities.
