If there is one thing that Pope Francis has never stopped reminding us of during these years of his pontificate, it is that holiness concerns everyone, it is an attainable goal and, in this sense, the saints are not unreachable and perfect; they are people - just like us - who have found the “high standard” of life, at the cost of defeats and failures.
The Pope did not merely say this; he showed it to us by canonizing very many saints.
The Saints of Pope Francis
From 2013 to 2022, Pope Francis canonized 909 saints: we certainly cannot mention them all, but it is beautiful and meaningful to focus on a few names:
Margherita Bays (1815-1879), a seamstress, virgin, laywoman, and member of the Secular Third Order of Saint Francis, who - as Pope Francis emphasizes - “reveals to us how powerful simple prayer, patient endurance, and silent self-giving are: through these things, the Lord made the splendor of Easter come alive in her, in her humility. This is everyday holiness.” She chose to remain unmarried and to sanctify herself within her family and parish. She took care of all the tasks involved in running the household and created an atmosphere of good humor and peace, despite the inevitable minor family disagreements. In her relationships with others, she did not tolerate gossip or slander, putting the golden rule into practice: “When you have not seen something, you must not talk about it; if you have seen it, keep silent.”
Carlo Acutis was a young man whose earthly life lasted just 15 years (1991-2006), but they were 15 years filled with light and an intense friendship with Jesus. Nicola Gori, his postulator, states: “He had discovered a great friend in Jesus. And he wanted to share this precious treasure with everyone, so he became an apostle.” Passionate about computers, he created an online exhibition on Eucharistic miracles to share the joy of encountering Jesus in a tangible way.
Luigi Marella (1882-1969), “God’s tramp,” whose life story took him from suspension a divinis to beatification: after suffering because of many misunderstandings within the Church, in the immediate postwar period he created the first Città dei Ragazzi; to feed his young guests, he became a beggar on a street corner, sitting on a stool and asking for charity: all the alms poured into his inseparable hat. For this reason, he was nicknamed “God’s tramp.”
Giovanni Battista Scalabrini (1839-1905), Bishop of Piacenza, who wished precisely to «live, become holy, and die in Piacenza». His first initiatives as bishop revealed what his ministry would be for twenty-nine years: direct contact with the people, reform of diocesan life, concern for the clergy, attention to the teaching of Christian doctrine, and charity toward those most in need: «Preach the truth with charity»—this was his motto, to which he remained faithful throughout his episcopate. He considered visiting parishes «the dearest» of his duties.
Attentive to social issues and challenges, Giovanni Battista Scalabrini did not see the phenomenon of migration, which was widespread in those years, merely as an opportunity for charity and material assistance, but as a genuine pastoral challenge. For this reason, he founded the Congregation of the Missionaries of Saint Charles, later joined by the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of Saint Charles Borromeo.
These saints and blesseds sanctified their lives by carrying out as best they could the mission the Lord had entrusted to them in the “here” and “now” of their existence: they are “the saints next door”, an expression that aptly conveys that holiness is not something distant or impossible, but concerns us all, because one way to translate it is to be happy, and its secret lies in living the ordinary in an extraordinary way!
