Bl. Bonaventura of Potenza

  Posted on November 6, 2020  by admin  No comments

Born: 4 January 1651 of Potenza, Naples, Italy as Antonio Carlo Gerardo Lavanga 

Died: 26 October 1711 in Ravello, Italy of gangrene while singing a psalm during a religious ecstasy 

Beatified: 26 November 1775 by Pope Pius VI (cultus confirmed) 

Feast day: October 26

Joined the Friars Minor Conventual at Nocera, Italy at age 15. Home missioner in southern Italy, serving from convents in Campania Aversa, Maddaloni, Amalfi, Ischia, Nocera Inferiore, Sorrento, Naples and finally, Ravello. Noted novice master, and known for the theological depth of his preaching. Worked fearlessly with plague victims. A miracle worker, he had the gifts of healing, and of levitation, and saw the soul of his sister ascend into heaven.