Saint of the Month - January 2017: Saint Charles of Sezze

St. Charles of Sezze
An Angelic Lay Brother

Feast: January 6th

Generally not well-known outside of his home country of Italy, I am very pleased to feature this lofty mystic of a man as my first Saint of the Month for this new year of 2017.  Born in the town of Sezze on October 19, 1613, his secular name was Giancarlo Marchioni and his parents were deeply pious farmers. According to several biographies, Giancarlo was a sickly child; so much so, that his chronic ill health interfered with his elementary education. In his early youth, he was employed as a shepherd and assisted his parents in farm work. At seventeen he made a private vow of perpetual chastity in honor of the Blessed Virgin, and inspired by the faith-examples of two holy Franciscans - St. Salvator Horta (d. 1567) and St. Paschal Baylon (d. 1592) - he joined the Order of Friars Minor in Rome in May 1635. His parents had wished for him to enter the priesthood, but in his humility, Giancarlo remained firm in his decision to become a simple lay brother "for the love of God".  From thence he was known as "Bro. Charles".

Bro. Charles was professed a year after his entrance into the monastery. During his lifetime, he was stationed at several houses of his Order - Nazzano, Ponticelli, Palestrina, Carpineto Romano, etc. - where he served at various menial positions such as cook, porter, gardener, and alms collector. He eventually ended up back in Rome in the friary of San Francesco d'Assisi a Ripa where he spent the rest of his life.

The Saint's simple room in his friary in Rome

As a friar, Bro. Charles became noted for his remarkable spirit of obedience, piety, love and charity towards neighbor... and, of course, his deep humility. When faced with adversity and misunderstanding he modeled the example of Christ Crucified, quietly and calmly resigning himself to whatever trials God sent his way. What was not obvious to others was the great spiritual battle that was being waged behind closed doors, deep within the young man's soul. Shortly after joining the Franciscans he was assailed by severe temptations to vainglory and impurity... and, as if those weren't enough, he also began experiencing diabolic attacks during the night in the form of hideous visions and physical harassment, which caused him fatigue during the day.

To combat the devil's influence, Charles intensified his prayer and practiced mortifications to bring his corporal passions into submission - he abstained from meat and fish; slept on a thin straw mat laid out on wooden planks; and he scourged himself daily. Eventually, he managed to overcome the temptations that plagued him and, towards 1640, God began granting his faithful servant many extraordinary favors, which included Ecstasies and Divine Visions; the Reading of Hearts; Prophecy; and the gift of working Miracles.

Fabric stained in blood from
the heart-wound of St. Charles

Perhaps, of the many mystical graces received by our Saint from the Lord, the two most sublime were Infused Knowledge and the Sacred Stigmata.  Through the miraculous knowledge and understanding of the truths of Science and Faith that he acquired from God, he became a prolific writer of several volumes expounding on the mystical life.  As for the Stigmata, it was impressed on his body as a single wound on his chest, which appeared after a ray of light from the Eucharist struck him during a Mass he attended in October 1648.  The wound was reportedly so deep, it reached into his very heart and remained open and bleeding for three years before it mysteriously vanished; reopening shortly before the Saint's death. It was witnessed by the other friars when his body was prepared for burial and thoroughly examined by a medical commission that declared it inexplicable. Incidentally, the miracle of the stigmatic heart was one of two miracles cited for Bro. Charles' beatification, which took place in 1882.  

With the passing of time the friar's spiritual charisms did not go unnoticed.  In particular, his Infused Knowledge and gifts of Prophecy and Spiritual Discernment attracted many to his Roman monastery.  High-level Church authorities were among those who sought his inspired counsel and, amazingly, he accurately predicted the election of several Cardinals to the Papal Throne: Fabio Chigi (Alexander VII), Giulio Rospigliosi (Clement IX), Emilio Altieri (Clement X) and Gianfrancesco Albani (Clement XI).  At least one of these Popes - Clement IX - summoned Charles to his deathbed to receive the comfort of his prayer and blessing.  On another occasion, he was ordered to the town of Montefalco to discern a certain nun who was causing a stir there because of her alleged mysticism; the friar correctly unmasked her as a fraud.

The reliquary of St. Charles of Sezze,

enclosing his skeleton in a simulated

figure of the Saint.

Bro. Charles' exercised his ministry of charity and spiritual guidance in Rome until his death on January 6, 1670; he was 56-years-old when he passed into his eternal reward.  Pope John XXIII proclaimed the humble lay brother a Saint on April 12, 1959, and today his hallowed remains (enclosed in a representative wax figure) are venerated in the church attached to his monastery of San Francesco d'Assisi a Ripa.  May St. Charles of Sezze intercede for our personal needs and the needs of the Church throughout the world.

A Reflection
  "The prayer of the sick person is his patience and his acceptance of the sickness for the love of Jesus Christ."

~ Words of St. Charles of Sezze

A Short Prayer

  Lord, help me to patiently carry my cross of illness in union with your Passion; transform my suffering into a fruitful prayer of atonement for the good of my soul and for others.  Amen.