The Saint of October 12: San Serafino, history and prayer

Tomorrow, October 12, the Church commemorates St. Seraphim.

Simple and intense is the existence of Serafino, a Dominican friar who seems to revive some traits of the Poverello of Assisi, or some pages of his Fioretti.

Born in 1540 in Montegranaro, in the province of Ascoli, to parents of humble conditions, but rich in Christian virtues, Felice - as he was baptized - was forced to work as a shepherd as a child, establishing, in the solitude of the fields, a mystical relationship with the nature.

Around 1590 Serafino settled permanently in Ascoli, and the city became so attached to him that in 1602, when the news of his transfer spread, the same authorities were forced to intervene. He will die on 12 October 1604 in the convent of S. Maria in Solestà, and all of Ascoli will rush to venerate the body, and compete to take possession of his memory. It will be proclaimed Saint in 1767 by Pope Clement XIII.

PRAYER TO SAN SERAFINO

O God, who through the prayer and glorious life of your Saints and in particular of Saint Seraphim of Montegranaro called our fathers to the wonderful light of the Gospel, grant that we too live in the commitment to a new evangelization of this third Christian millennium and, overcoming the snares of the evil one, we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.