Praised be Jesus Christ and blessed be the Virgin Mary, Our Mother. Amen.
Saint Gabriel Possenti also known as Saint Gabriel Possenti of Our Lady of Sorrows is
an example of total surrender to the service of God.
He spent a pious youth, among friends and healthy amusements, sometimes thinking of
being a religious, but not daring to take the definitive step until the Virgin Mary
touched him and spoke to him during a procession of her holy image.
In his religious life he was a model for his companions and for all who knew him.
His love for the Virgin Mary was extraordinary and he took the life of self-giving to God
so seriously that he wanted to burn the name of Mary on his chest.
He made many sacrifices for the love of Jesus and Mary.
And when he had the opportunity to talk to someone, he always tried to advise him to
love Jesus and the Virgin Mary.
He felt an inner fire that did not leave him alone and, at times, he had to ventilate by
saying ejaculatory prayers of love.
God blessed his life by doing countless miracles after his death.
Saint Gabriel Possenti has been one of the most miraculous saints.
The biblical words were fulfilled in him: "God exalts the humble" - Luke 1:52.
His father Santos Possenti, at the age of 23, was already governor in Urbania.
He was in the habit of getting up very early.
The entire first hour, he used for meditation and prayer.
Never at this time did he allow himself to be interrupted by anyone.
After the prayer at home, he went to church to hear mass, taking with him all those of
his children who were willing.
With this holy custom faithfully carried out, he devoted himself to the tasks proper to
his position.
He ended his day with the rosary and with reprimands to his children, if they needed them.
He was a man of integrity.
One day he was presented with an exquisite plate of fish at the table.
He asked where it had come from.
Nobody knew and he sent for the cook, who replied that someone had sent it as a gift.
Then he said: "Nobody touch this fish, give it to the poor."
Don't they know that the donor has a pending cause?
And they gave it all to the poor.
His mother, Inés Frisciotti, had 13 children in 18 years of marriage.
She died young, at the age of 41, on February 9th, 1842, within a few months of being in Spoleto.
Francisco was four years old.
His brother Luis was a Dominican.
Enrique was a diocesan priest and prior of the Cathedral of Terni.
They had a religious aunt and uncle.
One was the Capuchin, Father Juan Bautista, and also the Augustinian nun, Angélica Frisciotti.
Both siblings of his mother.
Our saint was named Francisco Vicente Pacífico Rufino.
At home they always called him Francisco or Checchino.
He was born in Assisi, where his father was governor, on March 1st, 1838 and was baptized
the same day he was born.
It is known that at the age of eight he received the sacrament of confirmation on June 1st,
1846 from the Bishop of Spoleto, Monsignor Sabbioni.
He made his first communion with the Jesuits when he was 12 or 13 years old, that is, in
1850 or 1851.
One day he was playing with his brother Enrique and he chased him around the house.
Enrique entered a room and suddenly closed the door, when Francisco wanted to enter,
and hit him hard on the nose, which was a little crooked from that moment on.
On another occasion he went for a walk in the Franciscan forest and saw a large bird
that looked like a blackbird.
He took a stone and hit it, but the bird stayed alive and he proudly showed it to his friends
as if he had done a great feat.
His sister, Maria, declared that as a young man he was in good health, with short black
hair and small eyes.
His character was cheerful, joking and lively, pleasant to talk to, and he led a good family life.
He obeyed his father with pleasure and when his father sometimes got upset, then Saint
Gabriel kissed his hand and hugged him.
He had a fiery and impetuous temper.
He loved having fun with his friends, but he never spoke dishonest words.
When his brother Lorenzo died on February 13th, 1854, Gabriel was still living in his house.
At first it was hidden from him, because Lorenzo was enrolled in Freemasonry.
In the family there was always a lot of reserve about this fact.
A relative gave him a watch with a gold chain.
He liked it a lot and he wore it, but he saw how it attracted envious glances
and the next day he gave it to one of his brothers.
He again had bought a nice hat and, to decorate it better, someone gave him a magnificent velvet ribbon.
He put on his hat, but after a while the ribbon disappeared, which he gave to one of the house maids.
He liked to dance and they called him the dancer.
He also liked to read love novels, although he only read the ones that were innocuous
from a moral point of view.
Years later he would have many regrets for having read these novels.
For his devotion to the crucified Jesus and Our Lady of Sorrows he bought an image of
the Virgin Mary with her dead son in her arms.
Facing this image, he prayed prayers every night and always had a lamp lit before her
as proof of his love.
He himself stated: One day the hand of God struck me with a serious illness.
As the evil raged, the fear of a near death filled me with terror.
Trembling, I began to ask the Lord to give me health, promising to spend the rest of
my life in a religious Congregation, dedicated to his service.
My plea was heard and shortly I was in full health.
However, he forgot his promise and again the Lord called his heart.
A terrible internal and external inflammation of the throat came to him and he was on the
verge of death.
He was already afraid of being drowned any minute, because he couldn't breathe.
Then he remembered his good intentions and his infidelity in fulfilling them and he sought
as an advocate Saint Andrew Bobola, recently beatified at that time.
He applied a relic of the saint to his throat and renewed his promise to become a religious,
if he regained his health.
He had a restful sleep for several hours, and upon awakening he had neither swelling
nor pain whatsoever; while his breathing was normal. He was cured.
All his life he kept and venerated an image of Saint Andrew Bobola and kissed it.
He invoked Saint Andrew Bobola as a close friend, in recognition of him he wanted to
put his promise to work immediately and requested his entry into the Society of Jesus.
Despite being admitted, some inconveniences postponed his admission.
When his father became suspicious that he wanted to be a religious, he frequently took
him to the theater and to talk with other kinds of people, but he, being in the theater,
asked his father's permission to go find a friend and left the theater to go to the neighboring
church to say his prayers.
He wanted to be a religious, but he couldn't make up his mind and the Lord kept calling him.
One day his sister María Luisa felt ill.
It was July 3rd, 1855 and a few hours later María Luisa died.
She was the first victim of the terrible cholera, which Spoleto then mourned.
This was a hard blow for Francisco and made him think again about the vanity of the world
and about leaving everything for God.
On the other hand, Francisco was attracted to a young woman, daughter of the lawyer Pennacchietti.
She was a distinguished and virtuous young woman.
Everything was carried out with modesty and good manners.
He visited her.
His father saw this as an opportunity for his plans and to take the thought of the religious
vocation away from him, he decided that the two young people should marry when they reached
the proper age, because Francisco was only 18 years old and had not finished his studies.
Francisco learned about his father's plans and did nothing to prevent them.
Since he could not make up his mind to leave the world, God intervened to break any ties.
The Virgin Mary herself appeared to him in a procession of the holy image of Spoleto.
It was August 22nd, 1856.
He was on his knees among the people and he saw that the image was animated, the eyes
of the Virgin Mary seemed luminous and a voice spoke to his heart, saying: Do you still not
understand that this life of the world is not made for you?
Follow your vocation.
It was the decisive push that overcame all obstacles.
He was 18 and a half years old.
His decision was firm and irrevocable forever.
It was the month of September 1856 and the moment when the marriage should be celebrated
was approaching, but Francisco no longer thought about it.
One day, when they finished dinner, he informed his father of his decision to become a Passionist.
His father replied that he would not endure the harshness of Passionist life, but Saint
Gabriel was already determined to do everything and his decision was firmly made.
He was very devoted to Saint Aloysius de Gonzaga, Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis de
Sales, Saint Margaret of Cortona, Saint Paul of the Cross and other saints, especially
Saint Joseph.
He consecrated in his honor every Wednesday of each week and everything he did on that
day was to honor Saint Joseph.
He called him my "Josecito".
He used to repeat ejaculatory prayers frequently as a way of praying without being too concentrated.
He had very delicate feelings and we can say that he was a poet of creation, since a tree,
a fruit or a flower made him rejoice when he thought of God and his providence.
The crucifix was his daily companion.
When he studied, he had it on the table before his eyes.
When he went to bed, he had it with him on the bed.
Praised be Jesus Christ and blessed be the Virgin Mary, Our Mother. Amen.