Passionist Saints
Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows
February 27
1838-1862
The eleventh of thirteen children of Sante Possenti, a lawyer in Assisi,
Italy, he was born in 1838 and was christened Francis, then later educated at the Jesuit college
at Spoleto.
He joined the Jesuits when he was seventeen after he had vowed
to do so if cured of an almost fatal illness, but delayed entering the
novitiate:
This handsome,
intelligent and personable young man, while still in his teens, set his
heart on values that transcended this earth. Answering the call of his
Crucified Lord, he joined the Passionist Congregation in his 18th year,
taking the name Br. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows [or the Sorrowful
Virgin].
The heart of his spirituality was to study and imitate the virtues of
our Suffering Savior as mirrored in the heart of the Sorrowful Virgin
Mary.
He led an exemplary life as a
religious, filled with penances and self-effacement, was stricken with
tuberculosis before he could be ordained, and died at Isola di Gran Sasso
in the Abruzzi on February 27 when he was only twenty-four. Yet, he made such extraordinary progress in
that short time he was a Passionist that he was canonized a Saint by the Church in 1920.
Only five years later, weekly devotions in his honor were begun in St.
Michael Church, Union City, N. J. For over 55 years, thousands of
favors-----some of a most extraordinary nature-----have been granted and are
attributed to his powerful intercession with Christ Crucified and the
Sorrowful Mother Mary.
As a patron of youth, his intercession for young people has a special power with God.
Forward for a Prayer to Petition.
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