BL. FRANCESCO PALEARI, PRIEST - 7 MAY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY

Saints celebrated on the 7th of May

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

BL. FRANCESCO PALEARI, PRIEST

Francesco Paleari, of Pogliano Milanese, Italy, born in 1863, was the son of a poor but devout couple. He was ordained to the priesthood at the age of twenty-two.

As a young priest, Father Paleari humbly devoted himself to the poor and the sick.

TEACHER, RETREAT MASTER, SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR

His talents as a teacher, retreat master, and spiritual director soon became known throughout the archdiocese of Turin. Father Paleari was subsequently assigned to serve as a confessor and spiritual director for the students of the archdiocesan seminary.

SPIRITUAL FORMATION FOR COUNTLESS FUTURE PRIESTS

Over the four decades that he spent in this capacity, he gave spiritual formation to countless future priests of Turin. He also taught philosophy at another seminary.

PATIENTLY ENDURING PHYSICAL SUFFERING

Father Paleari was recognised as a man of great candour of soul, adorned with all the virtues, and prudent. The last three years of his life were spent patiently enduring physical suffering that had begun with heart trouble in 1936. No longer able to engage in active labours, he served God in his infirmity. Father Paleari died on May 7, 1939, at the age of seventy-five.

“Blessed be God for the good news of our salvation, handed on from generation to generation from the Apostles."