Saint Felix Of Cantalice – 18 May – Saint Of The Day
Saint Felix of Cantalice. The first Capuchin friar named a saint. A beggar with a begging bag as bottomless as his heart.
Felice /Felix/ of Cantalice (1515–1587), an Italian Capuchin friar, was a son of a poor farmer family from Cantalice near Rome. His Italian name is Felice (It. for “happy”), Felice da Cantalice. Started working in the young age as a shepherd and helping farmers.
It is said about Felice that one day, when he was plowing the field, something scared the oxen, they knocked Felice down and he fell. The frightened oxen walked over his body, trampling it and dragging the plow behind them, going over Felice’s body. However, Felice remained unharmed and, as a sign of gratitude, immediately entered the Capuchin monastery.
Felice lived mainly in Rome, begging, wandered barefoot through the streets, with a bag on his shoulders, knocking on doors for donations. He helped people in need, especially widows with many children.
It is said that Felice’s begging bag was as bottomless as his heart.
Iconography – Saint Felix appears as an old man, wearing a monk’s habit and having a beggar’s bag. Often he is holding the Child Jesus (because of a vision he is said to have had when the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to him and placed the Divine Child in his arms).
