Blessed Jean Marinoni: “An angel in flesh and blood”.
Blessed John Marinoni was born in Venice on December 25, 1490 from an illustrious family who gave him an excellent religious, moral and cultural education. He graduated in civil and ecclesiastical law in Padua.
Ordained priest, his gifts of piety and culture earned him the opportunity to be elected canon of the Saint-Marc basilica at a very young age.
While serving the sick at the hospital for the incurable in Venice, he met Saint Cajetan Thiene, whose disciple and companion he became. He embraced the Theatine religious life and made his religious profession on May 29, 1530.
In 1533, he founded with Saint Cajetan the House of the Theatines in Naples and, during 29 years of uninterrupted and diligent priestly ministry, he illuminated the Church of Saint Paul the Great with his holiness and zeal. Evangelical preacher, wise and paternal confessor, expert and prudent spiritual director, he offered the Neapolitans the treasures of goodness and doctrine of his apostolic heart.
To meet the needs of the population and save it from the clutches of usury, he designed and promoted the Monte di Pietà, a work of great economic and social value that still lives and functions today at the Bank of Naples.
He was the father and teacher of attentive saints and bishops, including Saint Andrew Avelino and Blessed Paul Burali, Cardinal-Archbishop of Naples. He resigned from the government of the Archdiocese of Naples, offered by the Theatine Pope Paul IV.
On December 13, 1562, at the age of 72, he closed with a holy death his long earthly journey entirely devoted to the service of God and to the salvation and good of the Venetians and Neapolitans, whom he loved and served as true brothers.
His sacred relics rest with those of Saint Cajetan in the crypt of the Basilica of Saint Paul the Great in Naples.
Pope Clement XIII, in 1762, approved the cult of the blessed. His memory is celebrated on December 12.
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PRAYER
O God, who made blessed John Marinoni admirable as an imitator of your Son through the contemplation of the mystery of the cross, grant us through his intercession, not only the special grace that we ask, but also to walk, encouraged by his example , in the footsteps of Christ, to reap the fruits of redemption. Through Christ our Lord. Through Christ our Lord.
(After a moment of silence, we recite the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory to God).
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Thought of Blessed John Marinoni:
“MAN THINKS AND THE LORD DISPOSES.”
Q.P.R.D.