John Leonardi

On September 1, 1574, John Leonardi founded in Lucca a religious family of reformed priests, initially named the Congregation of the Reformed Priests of the Blessed Virgin, which would take the name of Clerics Regular of the Mother of God (the Leonardines). The institute received initial recognition from the Bishop of Lucca in 1583, with the approval of Gregory XIII, and then papal confirmation from Clement VIII in 1595. Leonardi became one of the protagonists of the Catholic Reformation: he developed new catechetical methods to teach Christian doctrine to children and adults, promoted Marian devotion, frequent communion, and the practice of the Forty Hours. In Rome, where he enjoyed the friendship of Saint Philip Neri, his influence grew: Clement VIII charged him with reforming several congregations and monasteries, including Montevergine and Vallombrosa. In 1603, he participated with the prelate Juan Bautista Vives in the foundation of a missionary college that would be the origin of the Urban College of the Propaganda Fide, intended to train priests for evangelization.

The spirituality of John Leonardi is entirely Christocentric. He loved to repeat to his disciples that "it is necessary to begin again from Christ" ("È necessario ricominciare da Cristo") and recommended that they keep "before the eyes of the mind the sole honor, service, and glory of Christ Jesus crucified." His reforming motto was contained in a lapidary formula: "Christ or nothing" ("O Cristo o niente"). Convinced that all renewal of the Church must spring from fidelity to Christ and take place within the Church, never against it, he invited priests and the faithful to aim for the "high measure" of the Christian life, which is holiness. In May 1605, moved by apostolic zeal, he addressed a Memorial to the newly elected Pope Paul V, in which he proposed the criteria for an authentic renovation of the Church: the celebration of synods, the strengthening of the catechesis of children, and the renewal of the clergy as the foundation for the renewal of the laity. His reputation for holiness and his heroic service to the plague-stricken, which cost him his life, fueled his veneration very early on.

The cause for the sainthood of John Leonardi led to his beatification, proclaimed by Pope Pius IX on November 10, 1861, in St. Peter's Basilica. His canonization was celebrated by Pope Pius XI on April 17, 1938, also at the Vatican Basilica. The Catholic Church commemorates him on October 9, the anniversary of his death, with the rank of optional memorial in the General Roman Calendar. In 2009, on the occasion of the fourth centenary of his death, Pope Benedict XVI dedicated a catechesis to him during the general audience of October 7, highlighting the relevance of his message on the reform of the Church starting from Christ. The sources consulted do not detail precisely the miracles accepted for the beatification and canonization; these points are therefore not affirmed here for lack of confirmation.

The legacy of John Leonardi continues primarily through the Order of the Clerics Regular of the Mother of God, which he founded and which continues his work of Christian education and pastoral ministry. His role in the birth of the Urban College of the Propaganda Fide also makes him a figure of the missionary impetus of the Catholic Reformation. On August 8, 2006, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments proclaimed him the patron saint of all pharmacists, in memory of his first profession as an apothecary; in this capacity, he is invoked by the pharmaceutical profession. His relics are venerated in Rome, in the church of Santa Maria in Campitelli (sometimes referred to as Santa Maria in Portico), the seat of his cult. His memory remains alive in Lucca, his native land, and in the Leonardi communities.