축일: 5월 12일(7월30일)
만디츠의 성 레오폴드 사제, 제1회
San Leopoldo Mandic O.F.M. Cap.

Saint LEOPOLD BOGDAN MANDIC
The Saint of Confession
Castelnovo di Cattaro (Croazia), 12 maggio 1866 - Padova, 30 luglio 1942
Born: 12 May 1866 at Castelnuovo, Dalmatia (Bosnia-Hercogovina) as Adeodato
Died: 30 July 1942 at the Friary, Padua, Italy of esophogial cancer
Beatified: 2 May 1976 by Pope Paul VI
Canonized: 16 October 1983 by Pope John Paul II
Leopoldo = che si distingue, dal tedesco(that it is distinguished, from the German)
Name Meaning: the God-given one (Bogdan)

성 레오폴드는

1866년 5월 12일 카스텔노보에처 태어나, 카푸친 형제회에 입회했다.
영웅적인 희생 정신으로 일생을 거의 고백소에서 보냈다.
고해성사 때 그의 훈계는 사람들에게 용서와 위로, 빛을 주었다.

그는 하느님께 동방 형제들의 회귀와 교회의 일치를 위해 자신을 희생 제물로 바쳤다.
1942년 7월 30일 파도바에서 선종하였다.

(작은형제회홈에서 www.ofm.or.kr)

"We have in heaven the heart of a mother,

The Virgin, our Mother,

who at the foot of the Cross suffered as much as possible for a human creature,

understands our troubles and consoles us."

- Saint Leopold Mandic,Capuchin

1866년 5월 12일 달마티아(Dalmatia)의 카스텔누오보에서 태어난 성 레오폴두스 만딕(Leopoldus Mandic, 또는 레오폴도)은 매우 작은 키에 건강이 좋지 않았지만 겸손함, 침착함, 하느님의 현존 앞에 자신의 전부를 내놓을 수 있는 위대한 능력을 지녔었다. 그는 우디네(Udine)의 카푸친회에 입회하여 1884년 수련기를 보내고, 이탈리아의 파도바(Padova)와 베네치아(Venezia)에서 수학한 후 1890년 사제품을 받으며 레오폴두스라는 이름을 받았다.

동유럽에서 선교를 하고자 했던 그의 열망에도 불구하고 그는 베네치아 지방에서 소임을 받았으며 파도바에서 40년 동안 살게 되었다. 인종과 종교가 다른 지역에서 성장한 그는 교회의 완벽한 일치로의 재건을 꿈꾸고 노력했다. 유명한 아르스(Ars)의 성 요한 마리아 비안네(Joannes Maria Vianney)처럼 성 레오폴두스의 특별한 은사는 사람의 마음을 읽는 것이었다. 자신을 ‘새장에 갇힌 새’로 표현했듯이 그는 고해신부와 영적 지도자로서 활동했다. 1962년 성 레오폴두스의 복자품에 관련된 결의문에서 라라오나(Larraona) 추기경은 다음과 같이 기록했다. “그분의 일상은 이러했다. 아침 일찍 미사를 지낸 후 고해소에 하루 종일 앉아 고백을 들었다. 어떠한 불만도 없이 40년 동안 이 소임을 충실히 해냈다.”

그는 용서와 평화를 증진하는 중심이 되었고, 그의 삶은 화해의 성사(고해성사)의 중요성과 이 성사를 통해 지상 여정에서 얻게 되는 안식의 중요성에 대해 사제들에게 시사하는 바가 매우 컸다. 그의 시복 시성은 단기간에 추진되었다. 당시 교회법은 후보자가 복자품에 오르기 전에 50년이 경과할 것을 규정하고 있었지만, 성 레오폴두스의 성덕이 너무도 명백해서 30년이 조금 지난 1976년 교황 요한 바오로 2세(Joannes Paulus II)에 의해 복자품에 올랐고, 이어 1983년 10월 16일 같은 교황에 의해 성 베드로 광장에서 시성되었다.

(가톨릭홈에서)

1976년 5월 2일 교황 바오로6세에 의해 시복되었으며,

교황 요한 바오로 2세께서 1983년 10월16일 시성하셨다.

카푸친 작은 형제회홈에서 www.capuchin.or.kr

"작은 형제들의 회칙과 생활은 순종 안에, 소유 없이, 정결 안에 살면서
우리 주 예수 그리스도의 거룩한 복음을 실행하는 것입니다." - 인준받은 회칙 1:1

“우리의 생활의 모든 상황에서
복음을 최고의 법으로 따르고
구원의 말씀을 부지런히 읽으면서
복되신 동정 마리아처럼 우리 마음에서 새깁시다.” -카푸친 회헌 1:6

성 프란치스코가 세웠던 작은 형제회의 최후의 개혁으로서
1528년 교황님의 인준을 받은 카푸친 작은 형제회는
기도와 가난과 더욱 작음으로써
성 프란치스코와 초기 동료들의 생활양식을 할 수 있는 만큼 닮으려고 했다.

형제애 - 카푸친들은 형제들이다

“너희는 모두 형제이다.
또 이 세상 누구도 아버지라고 부르지 마라.
너희의 아버지는 오직 한 분, 하늘에 계신 그분뿐이다.” 마태오 23,8-9

한 분 뿐이신 하느님을 아버지로 모시는 수도회로서 우리 카푸친들은
성 프란치스코의 정신대로 모든 피조물의 맏형이 되신
가난하시고 겸손하시며 십자가에 못박히신 예수님의 발자취를 따르려고 하는 형제들이다.

사실 우리 형제회를 하나로 묶어 주시는 분께서는 주님의 성령이시다.
그래서 같은 부르심을 받은 우리 수도회의 모든 회원들은 사제든 평수도자든 차별 없이 형제라고 불린다.

참 형제로서 우리는 함께 일하고, 함께 기도하고,
어려울 때 서로를 도와주고, 기쁠 때 함께 기뻐하고, 슬플 때 서로를 위로한다.

성 프란치스코는 우리 형제애를 다음과 같이 묘사했다:
“형제들은 어디에 있든지 어디서 만나든지 한 가족임을 서로간에 보여 줄 것입니다.
그리고 신뢰심을 가지고 필요한 것을 서로간에 드러내 보일 것입니다.
그래서 어머니가 자기 육신의 자녀를 기르고 사랑한다면,
각자는 자기 영신의 형제들을 한층 더 정성되이 사랑하고 길러야 하지 않겠습니까?” -인준받은 회칙, 6:7-8

우리의 형제애는 우리 자신들에게만 제한되있지 않으며
세상의 모든 사람들과 피조물에까지 퍼져야 하는 것이다.

위계적이고 왜곡된 권위에 기초한 사회 제도들과 인종 차별, 민족간의 분쟁,
빈부간의 계층갈등, 노동력 착취, 생태계의 파괴 등에 찢어진 세상에
우리가 무엇보다도 이바지할 점은 바로 우리의 복음적 형제애이다.

관상 - 하느님께 기도하는 형제들이다

"너는 기도할 때 골방에 들어가 문을 닫은 다음,
숨어 계시는 네 아버지께 기도하여라 너희는 이렇게 기도하여라.
'하늘에 계신 우리 아버지......" -마태오 6.6;8

성 프란치스코의 전기 작가는,
프란치스코를 기도하는 사람이라기보다는 스스로가 곧 기도 자체인 사람으로 묘사했다.
이는 카푸친 형제들의 생활 목적이기도 하다.
개인의 관상기도와 공동체의 전례기도는 우리 카푸친들의 생활양식과 모든 사도직을 가능하게 한다.
카푸친 회헌에서 기도에 대한 다음의 내용을 읽을 수 있다.

“하느님께 드릴 기도는 사랑의 호흡으로서, 성령의 활동에서부터 비롯하여
그 활동으로 마음에 말씀하시는 하느님의 음성에 내면적인 사람은 귀담아듣는다.” -회헌 6:45

우리 카푸친들의 관상기도는 많은 말을 하는 것보다
매일매일 자연과 인류역사, 다른 사람들과 자기 자신의 양심,
성서에서 우리에게 말씀해주시는 하느님의 음성에 귀담아 듣는 기도라는 뜻이다.

이 관상기도를 제대로 실천하기 위하여 침묵과 고요와 충분한 시간과 고독이 필요하다.

이런 조용한 분위기 안에서 우리는 하느님의 음성에 응답하여,
그분의 성자 예수 그리스도의 성령께서는
우리 마음에서부터 부르짖는 소리로 “아빠, 아버지”라고 기도를 바치신다.
성 프란치스코는 그리스도의 탄생과 수난과 성체에 대해서 자주 묵상하여
마음으로부터 불타 오르는 사랑으로 사랑 자체이신 그분의 사랑에 응답하도록 노력했다.

그리스도의 육화와 수난, 성체에 중심이 되는 우리 카푸친들의 기도도
프란치스코의 기도처럼 마음의 기도 또는 정신적 기도가 되어야 한다.

이런 기도는 우리로 하여금 하느님을 긴밀히 체험하며 그분과 깊은 관계를 맺게 한다.
이 긴밀한 체험과 관계는 전례 시간 외에도 침묵 속에서 바치는 개인기도 시간으로 길러진다.

(카푸친작은형제회홈에서)

*카푸친작은형제회 성인들 Capuchin Franciscans:

성프란치스코의 기도

주여 내 사랑의 사랑 때문에

황송하옵게도 당신이 죽으셨으니,

주여 당신 사랑의 사랑 때문에

당신을 위해 나도 죽을 수 있도록,

꿀과 같은 당신 사랑에 내 마음달게 해 주시고,

불과 같은 당신 사랑에 내 마음 뜨겁게 해주시어,

당신 사랑의 크신 힘으로 하늘 아래 있는 모든 것에서

나의 마음을 빼내어 차지하소서.

♬노래: 작은꽃 성가대

ST. LEOPOLD MANDIC
The Saint of Confession
His Life (1866 -1942)
On 12th May, 1866, in Castelnuovo - a small port at the southern tip of Dalmatia a twelfth child was born to Peter and Caroline Mandic. He was named and baptised Bogdan, 'the God-given-one'.

Although physically frail, from his youth he showed signs of great spiritual strength and integrity. At the age of 16 years, Bogdan left home for Italy where he put himself under the tuition of the Capuchins at Udine as a student in the Seraphic School and an aspirant for the Order. Life was not easy for him there, since he was physically malformed and still delicate in health. Nevertheless, he applied himself to his studies with great enthusiasm. And on 20th April, 1884, Bogdan entered the Capuchin Order as a novice at Bassano del Grappa and took the religious name of Brother Leopold. In spite of the austerities of Capuchin life, he persevered with courage and drank deeply of Franciscan Spirituality of which he was to become one of the finest models. After his Profession of Vows in May, 1885, he embarked on a course of clerical studies first at Padua and then at Venice. Finally, he was ordained in Venice on 20th September, 1890.

Now wishing to fulfil a childhood ambition of becoming a missionary in Eastern Europe, torn apart by much religious strife, he was denied this by his superiors and because of his frailty and general ill-health. This was assuredly a testing-time for the new Father Leopold, but God had other work for him to do.

From 1890 to 1906, Father Leopold was stationed at various Friaries in the Venetian Province, including Friaries in his homeland of Dalmatia, where the Italian friars had a mission. In 1906, he was posted to Padua, where, except for one year which he spent in a prison camp during World War I, because he would not renounce his Croat nationality, he remained for the rest of his life. It was in Padua that he took up the apostolate of Confessor and Spiritual Director... a work which proved to be the means through which God used his servant, Father Leopold, for almost forty years, and for which Leopold Mandic is best known.

On 22nd September, 1940, Father Leopold celebrated his Golden Jubilee of the Priesthood. After this, however, his health deteriorated rapidly. He died in the Friary at Padua on 30th July, 1942. And soon after his death a strong veneration of his memory began to flourish culminating in his beatification by Pope Paul VI on 2nd May, 1976, and, his canonisation by Pope John Paul II on 16th October, 1983.

His Spirituality
The life of Saint Leopold Mandic is characterised by the contrast between his physical frailty and his spiritual strength. He was born physically weak, and spent the whole of his life in that condition. He only reached 4ft 5ins in height and his general health became worse as he grew older. He suffered from abdominal pains, and was gradually deformed by chronic arthritis in later life, making his frame stooped and his hands gnarled, giving him much pain. He also suffered from a stammer in his speech.

But spiritually, Leopold Mandic was a giant, full of Christian strength. It was his humility and faith in God's Goodness and Providence that enabled him to recognise and accept his poor physical condition. And this in turn led him to a greater realisation of his own lowliness in relation to God's mighty power - that without God he could do nothing. This strong faith was communicated to others when they came to Father Leopold for spiritual advice. He would say: "Have faith! Everything will be alright. Faith, Faith!" A compassionate man, Father Leopold gave tremendous encouragement to many people, especially those despairing of hope because of an enslavement to sin. He was truly an apostle. For although he did not go to the mission territory, his long service in the Confessional proved to be his own distinct apostolate. For nearly forty years, twelve hours a day, he received, counselled and absolved thousands of penitents. In this work he was a herald of God's love and forgiveness. And his human weakness highlights the gift of spiritual strength which enabled him to carry out this untiring apostolate.

Early in his Capuchin life, Leopold Mandic was asked to surrender his missionary aspirations and personal preference so as to be given the work of Confessor and Spiritual Advisor. He once expressed his feelings about this when he said: "I am like a bird in a cage, but my heart is beyond the seas."

A Lesson
Saint Leopold has much to teach us. He is an inspiration for us to be humble and strong in the Christian faith we have received from God. He is, moreover, a living memorial of that truth preached by the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians: "It was... to shame the strong that He chose what is weak by human reckoning." And his ministry of God's forgiveness in the Confessional can teach us of the real value and importance of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, whereby we rise from the death of sin to the fulness of life in Christ.

Saint Leopold is definitely a man for us and for our time.

A Prayer
O God, source of life and love, you gave Saint Leopold a tremendous compassion for sinners and a desire for church unity. Through his prayers, grant that we may acknowledge our need of forgiveness, show love to others, and strive to bring about a living unity among Christians. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

We have in heaven the heart of a mother, The Virgin, our Mother, who at the foot of the Cross suffered as much as possible for a human creature, understands our troubles and consoles us.

St. Leopold Mandic Capuchin

(Taken from a pamphlet by the Capuchin Friars of Papua New Guinea)

San Leopoldo Mandic
30 luglio (12 maggio)
Castelnovo di Cattaro (Croazia), 12 maggio 1866 - Padova, 30 luglio 1942

Leopoldo Mandic è uno di quei santi che si sono distinti nella cura spirituale delle anime al confessionale. Nato nel 1866 nella cittadina di Castelnuovo alle Bocche di Càttaro, in Dalmazia, entrò 16enne tra i Cappuccini. Dopo alcuni spostamenti di convento in convento, venne destinato a Padova, dove visse quarant'anni, fino alla morte, avvenuta il 30 luglio del 1942. Piccolo di statura, curvo e malfermo di salute, passava quindici ore al giorno presso la grata. Questo suo dono lo aveva reso popolarissimo nella città di sant'Antonio. Tanto che, quando i superiori lo vollero trasferire a Fiume, fu rimandato indietro per intercessione del vescovo Elia Dalla Costa. Poco prima di morire, quando lo portarono in ospedale, trovò modo di confessare anche lì. Paolo VI lo ha beatificato nel 1976. Ne fu grande devoto Giovanni Paolo I, che, giovane sacerdote a Belluno, si era confessato con lui. Giovanni Paolo II, infine, lo ha canonizzato nel 1983. (Avv.)

Etimologia: Leopoldo = che si distingue, dal tedesco

Alto un metro e quaranta, artrite alle mani, difficoltà nel parlare, occhi arrossati: davvero un poveretto da compatire. Ma il medico Enrico Rubartelli, suo amico, lo vede come un capo, "assediato, seguito e invocato da folle di tutti i ceti" a Padova. A più di 50 anni dalla morte, altri lo invocano nel suo santuario padovano con la tomba. E gli scrivono, come a un vivo: i loro messaggi riempiono ormai centinaia di migliaia di pagine.
E’ nato alle Bocche di Cattaro, terra dalmata sotto gli Asburgo. Battezzato col nome di Bogdan, entra sedicenne nel seminario cappuccino di Udine, poi è novizio a Bassano diventando fra Leopoldo, pronuncia i voti e nel 1890 è sacerdote, con un sogno preciso: spendere la vita per riconciliare con Roma i cristiani orientali separati. Il più piccolo frate dell’intero Ordine cappuccino cammina tra i primissimi sul sentiero dell’ecumenismo. Vuole andare in Oriente, e per due volte crede di fare il primo passo, quando lo mandano a Zara e a Capodistria. Ma nella guerra del 1915-18, essendo croato (ossia “suddito nemico”), deve risiedere nel Meridione d’Italia. Confessore a Padova, comincerà presto a essere “assediato”, ma nel 1923 lo destinano a Fiume, come confessore dei cattolici slavi. E la missione in Oriente sembra farsi realtà. Ma interviene il vescovo di Padova, il grande Elia Dalla Costa, e dice ai Cappuccini: "La partenza di padre Leopoldo ha destato in tutta la città un senso di amarezza e di vero sconcerto". Insomma, i padovani non ci stanno. E riescono a recuperare il piccolo confessore, che passa giorni e anni in una celletta ascoltando ogni fallimento e riaccendendo ogni speranza. E anche lui capisce: "Il mio Oriente è qui, è Padova".
Il gigante della confessione. E anche il martire, perché vi brucia tutte le sue energie, ricco di compassione per tanta gente che impara da lui a conoscersi e a riprendere fiducia. Lui però non è un tipo bonario per naturale tranquillità. Al contrario, è bellicoso e capace d’infiammarsi in scatti aspri e inattesi, come il suo compatriota san Gerolamo. E, come lui, infatti, chiede al Signore il dono della calma: "Abbi pietà di me che sono dàlmata!".
Sembra impossibile che resista, sempre più fragile, a questo genere di vita, inasprito da preghiere, penitenze, digiuni. Ed è anche vecchio: "Ma la verità non invecchia", usa ripetere; e quando nel 1942 lo portano in ospedale trova modo di confessare anche lì. Gli riscontrano però un tumore all’esofago. Torna allora in convento e muore il 30 luglio 1942, dopo aver tentato ancora di vestirsi per la Messa. E via via, come ha detto Paolo VI beatificandolo nel 1976, "la vox populi sulle sue virtù, invece che placarsi col passare del tempo, si è fatta più insistente, più documentata e più sicura". E Giovanni Paolo II, nel 1983, ha collocato padre Leopoldo tra i santi.
Il Martirologio Romano mette la festa il 30 luglio. Normalmente il santo o il beato si ricorda nel giorno della morte a meno che per motivi liturgici o pastorali segnalati da chi ha la responsabilità e valutati dal Maestro delle Cerimonie liturgiche prima della beatificazione o canonizzazione non stabilisca diversamente. Nel caso di san Leopoldo è stato chiesto, dopo la canonizzazione, la festa nel giorno non della morte ma della nascita (12 maggio).
Autore: Domenico Agasso

LEOPOLD BOGDAN MANDIC

Also known as
Apostle of the Confession; Apostle of Unity
Memorial
30 July
Profile
Twelfth child born to Peter and Caroline Mandic. Physically malformed and delicate of health, Bogdan early showed signs of great spiritual strength and integrity. At age 16, Bogdan left Dalmatia for Italy. There he became a student at the Capuchin Seraphic School at Udine, and an aspirant to the Capuchins. He applied himself to his studies, and entered the Capuchin Order as a novice on 20 April 1884 at Bassano del Grappa, taking the religious name Brother Leopold. After his Profession of Vows in May 1885, he began clerical studies at Padua and Venice. Ordained in Venice on 20 September 1890.

He wanted to be a missionary in Eastern Europe, torn apart by much religious strife, but was denied by his superiors because of his frailty and general ill-health. Stationed at various Friaries in the Venetian Province from 1890 to 1906, including his homeland of Dalmatia, where the Italian friars had a mission. Posted to Padua, Italy in 1906 where, except for a year spent in a prison camp in World War I because he would not renounce his Croat nationality, he remained for the rest of his life. In Padua he became a Confessor and Spiritual Director for almost forty years.

The life of Saint Leopold Mandic is a contrast between his physical frailty and his spiritual strength. Four foot five inches tall, and born physically weak, his health became worse as he grew older. He had a stammer, suffered abdominal pains, and was gradually deformed by chronic arthritis, making his frame stooped, his hands gnarled, and causing much pain.

Spiritually, Leopold Mandic was a giant, full of Christian strength. His humility and faith in God's Goodness and Providence enabled him to recognise and accept his poor physical condition. This led to a greater realisation of his own lowliness in relation to God's mighty power - that without God he could do nothing. This strong faith was communicated to others when they came to Father Leopold for spiritual advice. He would exclaim: "Have faith! Everything will be alright. Faith, Faith!"

Father Leopold gave tremendous encouragement to many people, especially those despairing of hope because of an enslavement to sin. He was truly an apostle; though he did not go to the mission territory, his long service in the Confessional proved to be his own distinct apostolate. For nearly forty years, twelve hours a day, he received, counselled, and absolved thousands of penitents, working as a herald of God's love and forgiveness. And his human weakness highlights the gift of spiritual strength which enabled him to carry out this untiring apostolate.

Early in his Capuchin life, Leopold Mandic was asked to surrender his missionary aspirations and personal preference, and to work as Confessor and Spiritual Advisor. Looking back on this decision, he once said: "I am like a bird in a cage, but my heart is beyond the seas."
Born
12 May 1866 at Castelnuovo, Dalmatia (Bosnia-Hercogovina) as Adeodato
Died
30 July 1942 at the Friary, Padua, Italy of esophogial cancer
Beatified
2 May 1976 by Pope Paul VI
Canonized
16 October 1983 by Pope John Paul II
Name Meaning
the God-given one (Bogdan)
Prayers
O God, source of life and love, you gave Saint Leopold a tremendous compassion for sinners and a desire for church unity. Through his prayers, grant that we may acknowledge our need of forgiveness, show love to others, and strive to bring about a living unity among Christians. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen. -Saint Leopold

Readings
We have in heaven the heart of a mother, The Virgin, our Mother, who at the foot of the Cross suffered as much as possible for a human creature, understands our troubles and consoles us.

-Saint Leopold Mandic Capuchin
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Who is it, who is the one who brings us together today to celebrate in his blessed name a manifestation of Christ's Gospel, an event inexpressible, yet clear and evident, that marvelous appearance which allows us to glimpse in the outline of a humble friar an uplifting and at the same time almost disconcerting figure?

Look! Look! Saint Francis! Do you see him? Look how poor he is, how human. It is indeed Saint Francis himself, so humble, so serene, so absorbed as to appear carried away in his own inner vision of the invisible presence of God. And yet to us and for us he remains so present, so accessible, so available that he appears to know us, to await us, to know all about us and to be able to read our hearts. Look well: he is a poor little Capuchin, he looks ill and frail and yet so strangely strong that we seem to be drawn to him spellbound. Look at him through Franciscan eyes. Do you see him? Are you astonished? Who is he? Yes, let us admit it, he is frail, popular yet true image of Jesus, of that very Jesus who speaks at once to the ineffable God, to the Father who is Lord of heaven and earth, and also to us, bound up as we are in the littleness of our suffering humanity. And what is Jesus saying through this poor little spokesman of his? Great mysteries of the infinite transcendence of God, enchanting us and being clothed in moving and enthralling language, echoing the Gospel words: "Come to me, all you that labour and are burdened; I will give you rest." (Matthew 11.28)

But who is it, then? It is Father Leopold. Yes, the Servant of God, Father Leopold of Castelnovo, who was called Adeodato Mandic before he became a friar. Born in Dalmatia, like Saint Jerome, he surely had in his character and in his memory the sweetness of that charming land on the Adriatic coast, and in his heart, in his homelife, the goodness and piety of that sturdy nation. Born on 12 May 1866, he died in Padua, where, having become a Capuchin, he had lived most of his life, until he concluded it, on 30 July 1942, aged 76, just over thirty years ago. Here, in this case, Canon Law has been indulgent, departing from the rule which does not permit the discussion of the virtues of a Servant of God until fifty years after his death. Yet, how could his case be delayed when the voice of the people in favour of his holiness, instead of fading with the passing of time, grew ever more insistent, more well-documented and more certainly authenticated? The judgement of the Church (cfr. can. 2101), in anticipation a favourable conclusion, had to give way to the spontaneous chorus of all who had known this humble Capuchin or had experienced his marvelous intercession. So it is not only those who have benefited from his prayers who proclaim Father Leopold's exceptional moral and spiritual worth. There are a few still living who can testify to this, saying: "I knew him. Yes, he was a holy religious, a man of God, one of those exceptional souls who at once impress their sanctity upon us." And in the memory of those who know something of the history of the Capuchin Order there appears again the remembrance of those great friars of the past, faithful to the most strict Franciscan traditions personifying his holiness. Let us just recall one typical literary figure, well-known to all: Manzoni's Father Cristoforo.

But no: Father Leopold was smaller in stature and perhaps also in natural talent. He was not a preacher (as a good many capable Capuchins are), he did not enjoy good health being, indeed, a very frail man. All the same we must not forget one particular point. Coming from the Levantine shore of the Adriatic, from Castelnovo on the Mouth of Cattaro, in the territory of Croatia-Montenegro-Herzegovina-Bosnia, he ever kept a faithful love for his native land event though, living in Padua, he became equally attached to the new country which welcomed him and above all to the people among whom he carried on his silent and unwearying ministry. Blessed Leopold, therefore, unites in himself this two-fold loyalty, fusing it into a symbol of friendship and brotherhood which every one of his followers must adopt. It was in this way that he fulfilled a dominant thought and theme of his life. As we all know, Blessed Leopold was "ecumenical" before his time, that is to say he dreamed and looked forward and worked without fuss for the restoration of the perfect unity of the Church which yet jealously respects the manifold ethnic differences within her fold. Such unity is dictated by her own and still more by the sacred and mysterious will of Christ who founded a Church totally imbued with the essential demand of that supreme prayer of Jesus: "Ut unum sint", may all be one those whom the same faith, the same baptism, the same Lord, in one Spirit, a bond of peace (cf. Ephesians 4:3 fol. John 17:11-21). Oh, that Blessed Leopold may be the prophet and the intercessor of such a great grace for the Church of God!

But the very special mark of the heroism and charismatic virtue of Blessed Leopold was something else. Everyone knows it, it was his ministry in hearing confessions. The late Cardinal Larraona, then Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, in the 1962 decree regarding the Beatification of Father Leopold wrote as follows: "This was his daily routine; after saying Mass early in the morning, he used to sit in the confessional and stay there the whole day long hearing confessions. He kept this up for about forty years without any complaint." This is, we believe, the primary reason that has won for this humble Capuchin the Beatification which we are now celebrating.

He became holy principally in the exercise of the Sacrament of Penance. Thank God, many splendid accounts of this aspect of the sanctity of the new Blessed have already appeared. We have only to admire and thank the Lord for offering to the Church in these days such a singular figure of a minister of the sacramental grace of Penance. Thus, on the one hand, priests are reminded of the capital importance of this ministry both as regards instruction and its incomparable spiritual good, whilst on the other hand there is a reminder for the faithful, whether fervent or lukewarm or indifferent, what a providential and marvelous help this individual and auricular Confession still is today. In fact, more than ever today here is a source of grace and of peace, a school of Christian living, and incomparable comfort in the earthly pilgrimage towards eternal happiness.

May Blessed Leopold strengthen souls eager for spiritual advancement to assiduous frequenting of Confession which some critics, certainly not inspired by mature Christian wisdom, would like to see relegated among the outmoded forms of living, and personal spirituality. May our new Blessed succeed in calling to this tribunal of Penance - severe, it is true, but not less a sweet haven of comfort, of interior truth, of resurrection to grace and of training in the therapy of Christian authenticity - many, many souls dulled by the deceits of present day manners and make them feel for themselves by the secret and inspiring vigour of the Gospel through speaking with the Father, through meeting with Christ and being caught up in the Holy Spirit. So may they be renewed in their concern for the good of others, for justice and for worthiness of living.

To you Franciscan Brothers of the Capuchin Order: our thanks for having given to the Church and to the world a typical example of your strict, friendly and wholesome school of Christianity as faithful to itself as it is able to rouse up again the joy of prayer and goodness in the hearts of the people.

To you sons of Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the whole of Yugoslavia: honour to you for having brought forth in our time such a lofty and yet human example of your Catholic tradition.

And to you Paduans: we wish you to honour, beside your own Saint Anthony, this not dissimilar Franciscan brother so that from them both you may hand on to the next generations the Christian and human virtues already so splendidly enshrined in your history.