November 18, 2018 - "More About the Newly Canonized Saint"

On Sunday, October 14, 2018, Pope Francis canonized Blessed Paul VI, Blessed Oscar Romero, Blessed Vincent Romano, Blessed Francesco Spinelli, Blessed Nazaria March Mesa, Blessed Nunzio Sulprizio, and Blessed Katharina Kasper.  A few weeks ago I wrote about Saint Paul VI.  I want to continue writing about these newly canonized saints.  Today I am writing about Saint Nunzio Sulprizio.  I am going to base my remarks about him on the short biography published recently in the English edition of Osservatore Romano.
 
Nunzio Sulprizio was born on April 15, 1817 to a poor but joyful couple in Pescosansonesco, in the Abruzzi region of Italy (located in central and southern Italy).  By the time he was just six years old, Nunzio had lost both of his parents and was entrusted to the loving care of his maternal grandmother.
 
His grandmother taught him to love the consecrated Host in which Jesus, friend of souls and consolation of the dying, could be found.  Every day Nunzio knelt before the tabernacle in the parish church and prayed to the Lord, which filled him with a joy that never abandoned him even in the many trials and sufferings that he was to endure in life.
 
After the death of his grandmother when he was just nine, he was entrusted to a surly and violent uncle who took him on as an apprentice blacksmith and forced him into hard labor, working long hours on an empty stomach.  He was not allowed to go to church, was punished with beatings and curses, and sometimes went hungry for weeks at a time.  As he grew weaker, Nunzio fell gravely ill, and a deep wound opened on his left ankle, the first sign of bone tuberculosis.
 
Despite his suffering and mistreatment, Nunzio never failed to be joyful.  His health worsened considerably, prompting kind neighbors to contact one of his uncles, who sent for him from Naples.  He was taken to the home of Felice Wochinger, a warmhearted nobleman and a colonel in the Royal Guard.  He became like a father to Nunzio.
 
When Nunzio’s condition became even more serious, he was sent to the Hospital of the Incurables.  He spent twenty-one months in treatment there, and was frequently able to receive the Holy Eucharist, which had been denied him for so long.
 
While he was in the hospital, Nunzio dedicated himself to the poorest patients, giving them food and comfort, and helping the nurses in their duties. At night, stretched out on the floor, he prayed for the forgiveness of his sins and those of others.  One night, he changed the bandages of a man who was dying of cancer and prayed with him till dawn.  When the doctors came to discharge the man so that he could die at home, they discovered the cancer had completely disappeared.
 
Nunzio had hoped to become a priest, but his illness continued on its relentless course until he died on May 5, 1836 at the age of nineteen.  Hearing of Nunzio’s passing, crowds gathered at his home, calling for his sainthood.  Numerous miraculous episodes have since been attributed to his intervention.  He was beatified by St. Paul VI on December 1, 1963.
 
Until next week,
Fr. John