St. Leopold Mandić
The end of the 2016 anniversary of his birth
In 2016 we celebrated 150 years since his birth in 1866 in Montenegro—this little Capuchin, whom Pope Francis in the Year of Mercy pointed out to the Universal Church as an example for how to approach the mystery of God’s love. Certainly because of this more people will now be able to learn about this noble figure.
In this spirit it is important to present him to our brothers and to the faithful who come to our churches and to let them know of his double gift of being a heroic confessor and also a prophet of spiritual ecumenism. Toward this end the Communications Office has prepared some resources, such as some videos and photo galleries of two important places: the city of his birth, Herceg Novi in Montenegro, and Padua, Italy, where he heard confessions for most of his life and where he died.
The videos and photos are presented without comments, so to be easy to use in all language groups and countries. In this way, anyone can comment on them by making known – during the presentation – the life of the saint.
All of the materials used for the production are legal and not copyrighted – this means that they can be used in churches or in any other place.
We truly hope that from this material many will come to know better the figure of our holy confrere and that this will also be an invitation to know better not only his biography, but also the timeless teaching of his writing.
All the video materials are found on YouTube, while the photos may be downloaded and used for any good work of evangelization.
St. Leopold Mandić – Herceg Novi
Video
Photos
- From the Capuchin friary
- Chapel of St. Leopold
- Church of St. Jerome
- Herceg Novi – house of his birth
St. Leopold Mandić – Padua
Video
Photos
St. Leopld Mandić – biography
Bogdan (Adeodatus) Mandić, the future Fr. Leopold, was born in Castelnuovo di Cattaro – now Herceg Novi (Херцег Нови) – in Montenegro on May 12, 1866, the eleventh of twelve children in the devout and hardworking Croat family of Peter Mandić and Carolina Zarević. A month later, on June 13, he was baptized in the parish church.
From his youth, Bogdan demonstrated a strong character, but there was also revealed in him a marked piety, a nobility of soul, and a commitment to his schooling. He soon felt himself drawn to the religious life.
In November 1882 he left the family home was received into the Capuchin seminary in Udine. On May 2, 1884, he began the novitiate at Bassano del Grappa (Vicenza), where he put on the Franciscan habit, received the new name of Br. Leopold, and committed himself to living the Rule and spirit of St. Francis of Assisi. From 1885 to 1890 he studied philosophy and theology in the friaries of Santa Croce in Padua and Santissimo Redentore in Venice. On September 20, 1890, in the basilica of the Madonna della Salute in Venice, he was ordained priest by Cardinal Domenico Agostini.
Since 1887 he had felt called to promote the union of the Eastern Christians separated from the Catholic Church. Looking forward to a return to his homeland as a missionary, he dedicated himself to learning various Slavic languages. According to this ecumenical ideal—which later became a vow—that he nourished within himself until the end of his days, he asked to go to the eastern missions in his own land, but his delicate health discouraged his superiors from accepting his request. In fact, after two brief experiences as a missionary (in Zadar from 1897 to 1900 and in Koper from 1905 to 1906), because of his slight physical constitution and a problem with pronunciation he was unable to give himself to preaching and was assigned to the work of confessor which he would carry out for the rest of his life.
Except for some brief times at Bassano del Grappa and at the shrine of the Madonna dell’Olmo at Thiene, Fr. Leopold served as confessor at the friary of Santa Croce in Padua, where he arrived in the spring of 1909. In just a few years he became a sought-after confessor by people from all walks of life – farmers and workers, intellectuals and aristocrats, professors and students from the university, as well as the diocesan and religious clergy – who came even from outside the city to see him.
He received them in his narrow confessional, listening with patience, encouraging, consoling, and reconciling them with God. Despite being bother by various ailments during cold of winters and hot summers, without vacations, he remained at the service of souls until the last day, becoming a true martyr of the confessional.
Fr. Leopold died on July 30, 1942. Four years later the investigations for his beatification had already begun. On May 2, 1976 Paul VI proclaimed him blessed and on October 16, 1983, during the Synod of Bishops on “Reconciliation and Penance in the Mission of the Church” in the Extraordinary Holy Year of the Redemption, he was proclaimed saint by Pope John Paul II.
