Preacher and ascetic writer, b. 20 Dec., 1676, at Porto Maurizio on
the Riviera di Ponente; d. at the monastery of S. Bonaventura, Rome, 26
Nov., 1751. The son of Domenico Casanova and Anna Maria Benza, he joined
after a brilliant course of study with the Jesuits in Rome (Collegio
Romano), the so- called Riformella, an offshoot of the Reformati
branch of the Franciscan Order. On 2
October, 1697, he received the habit, and after making his novitiate at
Ponticelli in the Sabine mountains, he completed his studies at the
principal house of the Riformella, S. Bonaventura on the Palatine at
Rome. After his ordination he remained there as lector (professor), and
expected to be sent on the Chinese missions. But he was soon afterwards
seized with severe gastric haemorrhage, and became so ill that he was
sent to his native climate of Porto Maurizio, where there was a
monastery of the Franciscan Observants (1704). After four years he was
restored to health, and began to preach in Porto Maurizio and the
vicinity. When Cosimo III de' Medici handed over the monastery del Monte
(that on San Miniato near Florence, also called Monte alle Croci) to
the members of the Riformella, St. Leonard was sent hither under the
auspices and by desire of Cosimo III, and began shortly to give missions
to the people in Tuscany, which were marked by many extraordinary
conversions and great results. His colleagues and he always practised
the greatest austerities and most severe penances during these missions.
In 1710 he founded the monastery of Icontro, on a peak in the mountains
about four and a quarter miles from Florence, whither he and his
assistants could retire from time to time after missions, and devote
themselves to spiritual renewal and fresh austerities.
In 1720 he crossed the borders of Tuscany and held his celebrated
missions in Central and Southern Italy, enkindling with zeal the entire
population. Clement XII and Benedict XIV called him to Rome; the latter
especially held him in high esteem both as a preacher and as a
propagandist, and exacted a promise that he would come to Rome to die.
Everywhere the saint made abundant conversions, and was very often
obliged both in cities and country districts to preach in the open, as
the churches could not contain the thousands who came to listen. He
founded many pious societies and confraternities, and exerted himself
especially to spread the devotion of the Stations of the Cross — the
propagation of which he greatly furthered with the assistance of his
brethren — the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the perpetual
adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, and devotion to the Immaculate
Conception. One of his most ardent desires was to see the last-named
defined as a dogma of faith by the Holy See. Besides the celebrated
stations in the Colosseum at Rome, St. Leonard erected 571 others in all
parts of Italy, while on his different missions. From May to November,
1744, he preached in the Island of Corsica, which at that time belonged
to the Republic of Genoa and which was frightfully torn by party strife.
In November, 1751, when he was preaching to the Bolognese, Benedict XIV
called him to Rome, as already there were indications of his rapidly
approaching end. The strain of his missionary labours and his
mortifications had completely exhausted his body. He arrived on the
evening of 26 November, 1751, at his beloved monastery of S. Bonaventura
on the Palatine, and expired on the same night at eleven o'clock at the
age of seventy-five. In the church of this monastery (which must soon
make way for the excavations of the ground occupied by the palace of the
Caesars) the partly incorrupt body of the saint is kept in the high
altar. Pius VI pronounced his beatification on 19 June, 1796, and Pius
IX his canonization on 29 June, 1867. The Franciscan Order celebrates
his feast on 26 November, but outside this order it is often celebrated
on 27 November.
The numerous writings of the saint consist of sermons, letters,
ascetic treatises, and books of devotion for the use of the faithful and
of priests, especially missionaries. The "Diary" (Diario) of his
missions is written by Fra Diego da Firenze. A treasure for asceticism
and homiletics, many of his writings have been translated into the most
diverse languages and often republished: for example his "Via Sacrea
spianata ed illuminata" (the Way of the Cross simplified and explained),
"Il Tesoro Nascosto" (on the Holy Mass); his celebrated "Proponimenti",
or resolutions for the attainment of higher Christian perfection. A
complete edition of his works appeared first at Rome in thirteen octavo
volumes (1853-84), "Collezione completa delle opere di B. Leonardo da
Porto Maurizio". Then another in five octavo volumes, "Opere complete di
S. Leonardo di Porto Maurizio" (Venice, 1868-9). In English, German,
etc., only single works have been issued, but a French translation of
the entire set has appeared: "OEuvres completes de S. Leonard de
Port-Maurice" (8 vols., Paris and Tournai, 1858), and "Sermons de S.
Leonard de Port Maurice" (3 vols., Paris).
Summarium processus beatificationis V.S.D. Leon. a P.M.
(Rome, 1781); RAFELLO DA ROMA, Vita del P. Leonardoda P.M. (Rome, 1754);
JOS. De MASSERANO, Vita del B. Leonardo da P.M. (Rome, 1796), written
by the postulator and dedicated to the duke of York, son of James [III]
of England; SALVATORE DI ORMEA, Vita del B. Leonardo da P.M. (Innsbruck,
1869); L. De CHERANCE, S. Leonard de Port-Maurice (Paris, 1903) in
Nouvelle Bibliotheque Franciscaine (1st series), XIII. Chapter xx of
this last mentioned work had already appeared in Etudes Franciscaines,
VIII (Paris, 1902), 501-10.
MICHAEL BIHL (Catholic Encyclopedia)
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