St. Leopold Mandic
Welcome to INSPIRING LIVES, a series on the lives of Saints in the catholic church from around the world. In this series we bring you those saints who are canonized by Pope John Paul II. Saints are holy people who lived ordinary lives in extraordinary ways. Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts. These saints are examples of great holiness and virtue, and they invite us to follow their paths to holiness. Their unique stories inspire us to be rooted in our faith. God calls each one of us to be a saint.
Last week we listened to the fascinating story of Saint Jeanne Delanoue, who was canonized on 31st October 1982 in Rome. Her story is that of a self-centered woman given to pride and avarice. God made His will clear to her through a vision and the words of a simple, but holy woman. It was Jeanne’s ‘yes’ to God that resulted in great miracle in her own life and the lives of thousands people since then.
Today let us listen to the heroic life of St. Leopold Mandic (1866-1942). He was canonized on 16 October 1983 in Rome.
Physically malformed and delicate, having a height of only 1.35m, with clumsy walk and stuttering, Leopold developed tremendous spiritual strength. Leopold used to repeat to himself: “Remember that you have been sent for the salvation of people, not because of your own merits, since it is the Lord Jesus and not you who died for the salvation of souls....’
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Western Christians who are working for greater dialogue with Orthodox Christians today may be reaping the fruits of Father Leopold’s prayers. A native of Croatia, Leopold joined the Capuchin Franciscans and was ordained years later in spite of his health problems. He could not speak loud enough to preach publicly. For many years he also suffered from severe arthritis, poor eyesight and a stomach ailment.
Leopold taught patrology, the study of the Church Fathers, to the clerics of his province for several years, but he is best known for his work in the confessional, where he sometimes spent 13-15 hours a day. Several bishops sought out his spiritual advice. Leopold’s dream was to go to the Orthodox Christians and work for the reunion of Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy. His health never permitted it. Leopold often renewed his vow to go to the Eastern Christians. The cause of unity was constantly in his prayers.
At a time when Pope Pius XII said that the greatest sin of our time is "to have lost all sense of sin," Leopold had a profound sense of sin and an even firmer sense of God’s grace awaiting human cooperation.
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Let us now look at the early life of Leopold Mandić. He was born on 12 May 1866, in , then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, today in . He was the 11th of twelve children of a pious and industrious family of Peter Mandic and Carlotta, owner of an fishing fleet. At the baptism he received the name of Bogdan John.
His paternal ancestors were ‘Bosnian lords’, who had come from Bosnia, in the 15th century. As a boy, Bogdan showed a strong character, but he also turned in a strong piety, nobility of spirit and commitment to the school. Soon he felt that he was called to religious life.
In November 1882 when he was 16, Bogdan went to Udine to enter the seminary of the Venetian Capuchins. Two years later at the age of 18, on 2nd May 1884, he was sent to Bassano del Grappa friary. It is there he received the religious habit, taking the new name of Leopold. He committed himself totally to the rule and the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi. He continued his studies in philosophy and theology at Padua and Venice, where - in the Basilica of Our Lady of Health – he was ordained priest on 20 September 1890 at the age of 24.
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Since 1887, Leopold had heard several times a clear call to promote the union of the separated Eastern Christians with the Catholic Church. But he had no clue as to how to respond to this call. Because of a malformed and delicate physique and a speech impediment, he could not devote himself to preaching. Therefore, his superiors sent him in the service of souls, as a minister of reconciliation. He was confessor in several cities - Venice, Zara, Bassano del Grappa, Thiene the shrine of Our Lady of the Elm and, since October 1909, in Padua, Italy.
In 1923 he was transferred to Fiume, but after a few weeks of intense lobbying by the people of Padua, he was ordered to return to their city, where he remained until his death in 1942.
In his narrow cell, he used to receive numerous penitents, patiently listening to them, encouraging and comforting them, and bringing peace of God into their souls. Whether rain or shine, summer or winter, well or ill, he was present in the confessional. He took no vacations in spite of being tormented by various diseases, and until the last day he remained in the service of souls, becoming a martyr of the confessional. He once said, ‘I give my penitents only small penances because I do the rest myself.’
However, he always kept in mind what he considered the primary mission of his life: that is, being useful to his people and the union of the Churches. As his superiors could not give him the apostolate among the separated Eastern brethren, in spite of several attempts, he decided to offer everything - prayer, suffering, ministry, and his entire life - to this end. So much so, in every person who asked for his ministry, he saw ‘his East’. He always felt that his heart was always beyond the sea. Even this anxiety was part of that sacrifice for which Fr. Leopold deserves to be considered one of the greatest precursors and apostles of ecumenism. xxx Leopold suffered from esophagus cancer, which would ultimately lead to his death at the age of 76. On July 30, 1942, while preparing for the liturgy, he collapsed on the floor. He was then brought to his cell, where he was given the last rites. Friars that had gathered at his bed began singing the Salve Regina and saw that Leopold died as they sang "O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary." Leopold often said, ‘A priest must die from apostolic hard work; there is no other death worthy of a priest.’ And he did what he said.
While he was alive, his mission remained hidden, and now it looks great today in front of the whole Church. Fr. Leopold pointed out the path of unity of all Christians, that is the way of sacrifice and prayer that ‘all may be one’.
As a result of the bombing during World War II, the church and part of the friary where Leopold lived were demolished, but Leopold's cell and confessional were left unharmed. Leopold had predicted this before his death, saying, "The church and the friary will be hit by the bombs, but not this little cell. Here God exercised so much mercy for people, it must remain as a monument to God's goodness."
Pope Paul VI beatified Leopold on 2nd May 1976. Four circumstances made it particularly poignant the event of his canonization on 16 October 1983: viz., Holy Year of Redemption, the Synod of Bishops, whose theme was the ‘Reconciliation’ and the 25th anniversary of the pontificate of Pope John Paul II.
St. Leopold is known as the Apostle of Confession and the Apostle of Unity because he always dreamt of reuniting the Catholic and Orthodox churches.P.J. Joseph, S.J
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