Saint of the Day: St. Giles Mary of St. Joseph

He became a saint almost solely because of his humility. His feast day is celebrated each year on February 13.

When Pope Paul II canonized St. Giles Mary of St. Joseph in 1996, he remarked that the saint's spiritual journey showed evidence of "the humility of the Incarnation and the gratuitousness of the Eucharist," according to AmericanCatholic.org.

St. Giles is known by quite a few names: Aegidius Mary of Saint Joseph Pontillo, Egidio Maria de Saint Giuseppe, Francis Pontillo, and Saint of the Little Way. The Catholic-Forum states he was born November 16, 1729 in Taranto, Italy as Francis Pontillo.

Francis apparently belonged to a very poor but pious family who were rope makers by trade. When his father died, Francis was only 18 and was left to care for his family. Nevertheless, he was drawn to religious life. In 1754, when he was 25, he applied to the Discalced Friars Minor on Saint Peter of Alcantara in Naples. He wanted to become a priest. However, since he lacked the education to do so, he was received into the order as a lay brother, according to the Forum.

Brother Francis served his order for 53 years at St. Paschal's Hospice in Naples. Most of the time, he worked as official beggar for the community, though he served as cook and porter from time to time as well. As a matter of fact, he developed a special ministry to the sick as a result of constant contact with those in need.

He also worked with lepers and traveled outside Naples to help those who had been shunned by their families and the general public. The locals considered him a saint and a patron of the sick and the outcast.

AmericanCatholic.org says that as Francis gathered food for the community and the poor around them, his most typical phrase was, "Love God, love God." The people he met on his begging rounds loved him for his simplicity and humility and nicknamed him the "Consoler of Naples".

Legend says that St. Joseph often intervened during the begging rounds to make sure Francis never ran out of food.

The friar died February 7, 1812 in Naples of natural causes while he was praying. Large crowds appeared for his funeral. The simple, humble friar died in the same year as Napoleon led his army into Russia to scarf up even more power.

Pope Leo XIII beatified Francis Pontillo in 1888. Pope John Paul II made him Saint Giles Mary of Saint Joseph on June 2, 1996.