There is an important date in the life of Mandic: November 19, 1912. The day that forever changed the existence of the Croatian-born Capuchin saint, Saint Leopold Mandic (1866-1942).
He shared with Jesus (and with other Saints like Francis of Assisi and Padre Pio) the experience of the pains and sufferings of the cross.
This key episode of his life is addressed in the book "Leopoldo Mandić – The Little Friar Who Wanted Everyone in Paradise" (Ares editions) by Pina Baglioni.
The date that changed the life of Saint Leopold Mandić is November 19, 1912: Leopold, on his knees, begged God to live the same pains as His crucified Son, Jesus. To be able to atone for the sins of his penitents, to carry them on his shoulders. He made himself available for all possible sufferings and mortifications, provided they had the effect of diminishing the responsibility of those who would ask for forgiveness.
And the Lord heard him: during the celebration of a Mass, at the moment of consecration, he physically felt the sufferings of Jesus, weeping bitterly.
Leopold finds himself retracing the path of Francis of Assisi, the Saint he has loved since childhood, spending many hours of the day in the small Capuchin convent of his village. Over time, Saint Francis – the *alter Christus* – becomes his model: like him, Leopold also wants to imitate Jesus by abandoning his self-love, to entrust himself totally to the will of God, to "obtain everything".
He remained calm and repeated: "Thy will be done".
"The first half of the 13th century presents us with a truly singular Character in the annals of the Saints. It is Saint Francis of Assisi," writes Father Leopold.
"Whoever considers his life and his work, it immediately appears to him that Francis was chosen to renew, so to speak, the work of Christ the Lord and to make Him live again almost among us as He appeared in His mortal life, in His abjections, in His sufferings and even in His crucifixion. And truly, from the cradle to the tomb, Francis imitated Christ… God the Father was very pleased with this love of Francis for His Son who was Man and who died for us."
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Saint Leopold Mandic continues:
"Two years before his death, the Seraph of Assisi, by a stunning miracle, had his hands and feet pierced by nails, formed from his own flesh, and on the right side of his chest, he had a scar as if he had been pierced by a lance. Francis, like a new Crucifix, appeared among men… it must be said that above all, in Francis of Assisi, God the Father spoke to us through the same Son, giving us a living and very faithful copy of Him, in the person of Francis, to the extent that the Redeemer of the world could express Himself in a mortal man" (Brother Leopold Min. Cap., Bulletin of the Franciscan Third Order, October 1911, pp. 268-269).
Saint Leopold Mandic loved to repeat, not by chance:
"The love of Jesus is a fire that feeds on the wood of sacrifice and the love of the Cross. If it is not nourished in this way, it goes out."
This article was originally published by Aleteia (Article Link).