Saint of the day for February 19: story of San Corrado da Piacenza

Born into a noble family in northern Italy, as a young man Corrado married Eufrosina, daughter of a nobleman. One day, while he was hunting, he ordered the attendants to set fire to some bushes to flush out the game. The fire spread to nearby fields and a large forest. Conrad fled. An innocent farmer was imprisoned, tortured to confess and sentenced to death. Conrad confessed his guilt, saved the man's life and paid for the damaged property. Immediately after this event, Conrad and his wife agreed to separate: she in a monastery of Poor Clares and he in a group of hermits who followed the rule of the Third Order. His reputation for holiness, however, spread rapidly. As his many visitors destroyed his loneliness, Corrado went to a more remote place in Sicily where he lived 36 years as a hermit, praying for himself and for the rest of the world. Prayer and penance were his response to the temptations that assailed him. Corrado died kneeling before a crucifix. He was canonized in 1625.

Reflection: Francis of Assisi was attracted to both contemplation and a life of preaching; periods of intense prayer fueled his preaching. Some of his early followers, however, felt called to a life of greater contemplation and he accepted it. Although Corrado da Piacenza is not the norm in the Church, he and other contemplatives remind us of the greatness of God and the joys of heaven.