St. Bernardine of Siena May 20 1380- 1444  Son of the governor of Massa Marittima, Italy, where he was born Bernardino degli Albizzeschi, was orphaned at seven, and was raised by an aunt. He joined a confraternity of our Lady when seventeen, ran the hospital at Siena during a plague in 1400, joined the Franciscans, and was professed in the nearby convent of Colombaio in 1403. He was ordained the following year and then lived as a solitary at Colombaio for the next twelve years. In 1417 he began to preach at Milan, and in a short time his eloquence and fiery sermons attracted at tention. He preached missions all over Italy and attracted great crowds as he preached devotion to the Holy Name and denounced the evils of the times. He declined the bishopric of Siena in 1427 after Pope Martin V had cleared him of all charges made against him by his enemies, later declined the sees of Ferrara and Urbino, and was elected vicar general of the Friars of the Strict Observance in 1430. He rejuvenated and reformed the order, increasing its numbers from three hundred to over four thousand, and was really its second founder. He resigned as vicar general in 1442 to return to his preaching and missions and died at Aquila while on a mission trip on May 20. He was canonized in 1450. HOME---------------PRAYERS AND DEVOTIONS-----------------LITANIES

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