ST LEONARD OF PORT MAURICE'S INSPIRED ADVICE MIRACULOUSLY SAVED A MAN'S HOUSE FROM A DEVASTATING FIRE

Had he lived, St Leonard would have celebrated his 343rd birthday today, December 20th. Instead the Italian Franciscan died in 1751 in Rome, after he had led the life of a dynamic preacher.  He was best known for his chilling sermon on the Doctrine on the Fewness of the Saved.

In his brown sandals Leonard trekked through Italy and held forth in the public square of towns and cities. So great were the numbers of people who desired to hear him preach that there was no room in the local church. Leonard moved audiences to tears when he spoke of his tender love of the Holy Name.  He passionately exhorted the people to put cards with the Holy Name on their doors.  

One man, a follower of Leonard's wanted to put a card with the Holy Name on the door of his home - but he was prevented from posting the card by a Jewish fellow who owned part of the house - and so the man wrote the Holy Name on the windows of his private rooms. A short few days later a fire raged through the building, and consumed all the rooms which were the property of the Jewish fellow, til nothing remained but dust and rubble. The rooms of the follower of Leonard were miraculously untouched by the fire. The conflagration had not destroyed the dwelling protected by the Holy Name. Had Leonard never preached on the wonders of the Holy Name, the man would never have seen fit to furnish his rooms with the Holy Name and may have lost his home to fire.