Saint Margaret of Cortona, T.O.S.F., (†1297) was an Italian penitent of the Third Order of St. Francis who was canonized in 1728. She established a hospital for the sick, homeless and impoverished. To attract nurses for the hospital, and to help look after those imprisoned, she instituted a congregation of Tertiary Sisters, known as Le poverelle (Little poor ones in Italian). She went on to establish a congregation devoted to Our Lady of Mercy, members binding themselves to support the hospital and to help the needy. She offered counsel to penitents who began to seek her out as fame for her sanctity spread. She is the patron saint of the falsely accused, hoboes, homeless, insane, orphaned, mentally ill, midwives, penitents, single mothers, reformed prostitutes, stepchildren, and tramps. Her body, found to be incorrupt even after 400 years, is preserved in a silver casket inside the church rebuilt in Cortona in her honor. Margaret was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII on 16 May 1728 and is honored with a Lesser Feast on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America on 22 February.
Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, S.J. (Italian: Luigi Gonzaga; † 1591) was an Italian aristocrat who became a member of the Society of Jesus. While still a student at the Roman College, he died as a result of caring for the victims of an epidemic. He was beatified in 1605, and canonized in 1726. He is a patron of students, Christian youth, Jesuit scholastics, the blind, AIDS patients, AIDS caregivers.
Поменять язык на русский 