ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY Saints celebrated on the 7th of January WELCOME! BLESSED MATTHEW OF GIMARA, BISHOP OF GIRGENTI After completing his studies, which he is said to have undertaken in Spain, Blessed Matthew ( Matthaeus , Matteo da Gimara), Bishop of Girgenti (Agrigentum) attached himself to Saint Bernardine of Siena (who died in 1444). Under his guidance Matthew made extraordinary progress in his spiritual life. The Sicilia Sacra of D. R. Pirro calls him the first founder of the Franciscan Observants in Sicily . Pope Martin V , who gave him the authority in 1417, encouraged Matthew to found five branches of this Order on the island. At the same time he worked as a zealous and eloquent preacher of repentance. Before he ascended the pulpit, he used to invoke the holy names of Jesus and Mary, and to this practice he attributed his great successes. He also called the monasteries he founded “Mary of Jesus” out of tender veneration for the Queen of ...