Saint Leopold Mandic the Confessor
Feast day: May 12
1866 - 1942
Canonized By: Pope John Paul II
Saint Leopold Bogdan Mandic was born on May 12, 1866 and died on June 30, 1942. He was an ethnic Croat born in Herceg Novi, in Boka Kotorska (modern-day Montenegro), and died in Padua, Italy.
He also dreamed unceasingly about reuniting the Catholic and Orthodox churches and going to the Orient. He became known as Apostle of Confession and Apostle of Unity. He made a famous prayer that is the forerunner of today's Ecumenism.
While in Italy, Leopold's main vocation was confessions, which he did for 34 years. The Capuchin brothers often criticized Leopold for his approach to confession, calling him too lenient and compassionate. Leopold's compassion showed that he was more understanding and sympathetic to the people that came to him, and would treat them with great sensitivity. He was an outspoken on issues with children, and being pro-life and especially fond of expectant mothers and young children. He did great work in setting up orphanages for children without parents.
Leopold used to repeat to himself: “Remember that you have been sent for the salvation of people, not because of your own merits, since it is the Lord Jesus and not you who died for the salvation of souls.... I must cooperate with the divine goodness of our Lord who has deigned to choose me so that by my ministry, the divine promise would be fulfilled: ‘There will be only one flock and one shepherd’” (John 10:16).
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
St. Leopold, pray for us!
The Divine Mercy Pope
Saint John Paul the Great
Feast day: October 22
Pope John Paul II said, "We have a greater need than ever for regenerating an experience of mercy" (April 10, 1994, Mercy Sunday) ... a need "to personally experience this mercy in order to be merciful and forgive –and so break the spiral of violence by the miracle of forgiveness" (April 23, 1995, Mercy Sunday).
“We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through. I do not think that wide circles of American society or wide circles of the Christian community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel.
“We must be prepared to undergo great trials in the not-too-distant future; trials that will require us to be ready to give up even our lives, and a total gift of self to Christ and for Christ. Through your prayers and mine, it is possible to alleviate this tribulation, but it is no longer possible to avert it. . . .How many times has the renewal of the Church been brought about in blood! It will not be different this time.”
– Bicentennial talk given in 1978 in the United States by the future St. John Paul II, then Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Kraków, Poland
Saint John Paul II was in the Divine Mercy Basilica in Krakow Poland in 2002 and he quoted from the book Divine Mercy in My Soul by St Faustina and said, "From here (Poland) must go forth the 'spark' which will prepare the world for (Jesus') final coming" (1732).