02 JULY SAN BERNARDINO REALINO. Prayer to the Saint

O S. Bernardino, take us under your protection

and obtain the grace we desire from divine goodness,

but above all Impetrate fruits worthy of penance,

because we can be welcomed one day with you

in Immortal bliss.

So be it

Become a patron of a city while still alive. Lecce, summer of 1616: the Jesuit father Bernardino Realino is dying, 42 years after arriving there. The rulers of the Town Hall then go to visit him in an official form. And they ask him to want to be the protector of the city. He, who had done so much good in Lecce, agrees. Born into an illustrious family of Carpi, who made his teachers come home for his first studies, he was then sent to the Modena Academy. At 26, he graduated in civil and canon law. Under the protection of Cristoforo Madruzzo, Bernardino sets off on the "public office" road. At some point, however, his career ends. Bernardino Realino attends the Jesuits and enters the Society. In 1567 he was ordained a priest and became the master of Jesuit novices. Seven years later, in Lecce, he creates a college to which he will dedicate himself until his death. Pope Pius XII will proclaim him a saint in 1947. (Avvenire)