Saint of the Day: St John Leonardi (9 October)

A healer who followed Christ

On Friday, 9 October 2026, we remember St John Leonardi, a priest whose desire to heal reached beyond the medicines he once prepared. His life reminds us that renewal in the Church begins not with someone else becoming holy, but with our own willingness to follow Christ.

Born in 1541 at Diecimo, near Lucca in Italy, John trained in pharmacy as a young man. It was practical work, concerned with suffering bodies and the daily needs of ordinary people. Yet he gradually recognised a call to serve God as a priest.

He did not leave compassion behind when he left the pharmacy. Instead, care for others became the thread running through his whole vocation.

From pharmacy to priesthood

John was ordained in 1572. He devoted himself especially to teaching the Christian faith, helping children and adults understand what they believed and how to live it.

This was an age when the Church urgently needed faithful teaching and genuine reform. John’s response was neither bitterness nor withdrawal. He sought to form a community of priests whose prayer, conduct and ministry would help people draw closer to Jesus.

In 1574, he gathered the companions who became the Clerks Regular of the Mother of God. Their common life joined devotion to active service, particularly preaching and Christian instruction.

Such beginnings were not easy. His work met serious opposition in Lucca, and he spent much of his later life away from the city. The difficulties did not make his calling meaningless. They became part of the costly path along which he had to persevere.

Renewal begins with holiness

John worked for reform within the Church and received encouragement from St Philip Neri. He also helped promote the preparation of priests for missionary service, looking beyond the needs of his own community towards the wider world.

At the heart of his vision was a simple conviction: Christ must remain at the centre. Better structures and sound teaching mattered, but they needed to be accompanied by lives visibly shaped by the Gospel.

His final service reflected that conviction. While caring for people suffering during an epidemic in Rome, John became ill. He died on 9 October 1609. Pope Pius XI canonised him in 1938.

Why he matters today

It is easy to feel discouraged by the wounds of the Church or overwhelmed by the needs around us. St John Leonardi offers a quieter, more demanding response: begin with faithfulness in the place God has given you.

Learn the faith well. Make time for prayer. Care for someone who is unwell. Speak truth with patience rather than contempt. Let necessary criticism be accompanied by a willingness to serve.

His journey also encourages anyone discerning a new direction. Earlier work need not be wasted when God calls us onwards. The attentiveness John learned in caring for bodies found a new expression in his priestly care for souls.

A prayer for his intercession

St John Leonardi, faithful priest and servant of the suffering, pray for us. Ask the Lord to keep Christ at the centre of our lives, to strengthen priests and all who teach the faith, and to make us patient in difficulty. Help us to seek holiness without pride and to serve our neighbours with generous hearts. Amen.

May your next small act of faithfulness become a place where Christ’s healing love is made visible.