20 MAR - SAINT OF THE DAY [SALVATOR OF HORTA (1520-1567)]

 Salvator was born during Spain’s Golden Age when politics, and wealth were flourishing. Ignatius of Loyola founded the Society of Jesus in 1540. 

    Salvator’s parents were poor. At the age of 21, he entered the Franciscans as a brother and was soon known for his asceticism, 

    humility, and simplicity. As cook, porter, and later the official beggar for the friars in Tortosa, he became well known for his charity. 

    He healed the sick with the Sign of the Cross. When crowds of sick people began coming to the friary to see Salvator, the friars transferred him to Horta. 

    Again, the sick flocked to ask his intercession. He told them to examine their consciences, go to confession, and to receive Holy Communion worthily. 

    He refused to pray for those who would not receive those sacraments. The public attention given to Salvator was relentless. 

    The crowds would sometimes tear off pieces of his habit as relics. Two years before his death, Salvator was moved again, 

    this time to Cagliari on the island of Sardinia. He died at Cagliari and he was canonized in 1938.




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