Saint Annibale Maria di Francia

Annibale Maria di Francia, RCJ (or Hannibal Mary di Francia; 5 July 1851 – 1 June 1927) was an Italian Rogationist Father known for founding a series of orphanages, the Rogationists and the Daughters of Divine Zeal. He has been canonised and his feast day is 1 June. Francia was born on 5 July 1851 in Via Santa Maria delle Trombe, the Portalegni area of Messina. His father Francis was a knight of the Marquises of St. Catherine of Jonio, Papal Vice-Consul and Honorary Captain of the Navy. His mother, Anna Toscano, belonged to the noble family of the Marquises of Montanaro. His brother Francesco was declared Venerable in 2019. The third of four children, Francia lost his father when he was only fifteen months old. This experience would profoundly affect his life and made him deeply empathetic towards orphans. At the age of seven he enrolled in the College of St. Nicholas, run by the Cistercian Fathers. He was a devout child. Here under the guidance of his spiritual director, he was introduced to a devout life and he developed such love for the Eucharist that he was allowed to receive Holy Communion daily, something exceptional in those days. Young Francia proved to be of high intelligence and had a poetic disposition. When he was fifteen years old he continued his studies under the tutelage of the famous Sicilian poet Felice Bisazza. He looked to a brilliant and secure career as a writer and poet but chose the religious life. He was only seventeen, when as he was at prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament, he was given the "revelation of Rogate", that is, he deeply felt that vocations in the church only come through prayer. Later on he found in the Gospel the very words of Jesus commanding such prayer: "Beg the harvest master to send out laborers to gather his harvest". (Mt 9:38; Lk 10:2). These words became the main source of inspiration for his life and the charism which led his apostolate.