BL. MARK OF AVIANO, PRIEST - 13 AUGUST

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 13th of August

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. MARK OF AVIANO, PRIEST

Blessed Mark was born in Aviano on November 17, 1631, son of Marco Pasquale Cristofori and Rosa Zanoni. 

At the age of seventeen he entered the Order of Friars Minor Capuchins, and he was ordained a priest when he was twenty-four years old. He traveled the roads of Europe, listened to by countless crowds of believers gathering in temples and squares, encouraging them to faith, practice Christian life, repentance and conversion. 

APOSTOLIC MISSIONARY AND PAPAL LEGATE

Pope Innocent XI appointed him an apostolic missionary and papal legate. In this way, the doors of the ruling courts of the time were opened to him, where he often had the opportunity to contribute to unity and harmony in those troubled times. 

THE GIFT OF HEALING

Mark had the gift of healing - in 1676, for instance, while staying at a monastery in Padua, Mark prayed over Sister Vincenza Francesconi, who had been an invalid for many years, and she was miraculously healed. 

HE TRAVELLED WITH THE ARMY AS CHAPLAIN AND ADVISOR

A special friendship connected him with Emperor Leopold I and with the imperial family at the court in Vienna. 

He was appointed counselor on religious and political matters to Leopold I, emperor of Austria. He secured the release of Vienna from the Ottoman Turks on 12 September 1683. Blessed Mark travelled with the army from 1683 to 1689 as advisor and chaplain to soldiers of all ranks. 

HIS BEATIFICATION

Exhausted by countless journeys and apostolic hardships, he died in Vienna on August 13, 1699. Pope John Paul II declared him "Blessed" in 2003.