Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Saint Alexander (Alessandro) Sauli was born in Milan on February 15, 1534, into a noble Lombard family and received an excellent education at Pavia. While still a young man serving as a page at the court of Emperor Charles V, he felt a stronger call to Christ and sought admission to the Barnabites. Tested publicly in Milan by carrying a great cross and preaching on love of God and renunciation of the world, he embraced religious life with humility and was ordained a priest in 1556. In Pavia he became a gifted preacher and teacher, fostering frequent Communion, the Forty Hours devotion, and solid catechesis. His zeal for forming minds and hearts led him to found schools and guide students with a disciplined, faith-filled approach to learning. In 1571 Pope Pius V appointed him bishop of Aléria in Corsica. There he rebuilt churches, founded colleges and seminaries, and renewed the Church despite danger from corsairs, earning the title “Apostle of Corsica.” Named Bishop of Pavia in 1591, he died at Calosso on October 11, 1592. He is patron of Calosso. His feast day is October 11.

Saint Gummarus was born in Emblehem in Brabant, in the region near present-day Lier, Belgium, the son of the local lord. Related to Pepin of Herstal, he was called to court and entrusted with important responsibilities, and he also served for years on military campaigns in places such as Saxony and Aquitaine. Pepin arranged his marriage to a wealthy noblewoman, Guinmarie; yet their home life proved painful, marked by discord and by the harsh treatment of servants during Gummarus’s long absences. Returning from service, he sought peace and justice, working to repair wrongs and to reconcile what he could. Longing for a life centered on prayer, he built a small chapel and eventually withdrew to live as a hermit at Nivesdunc. There, in quiet devotion and humble charity, he became a spiritual father to the surrounding countryside, and the town of Lier grew up around his hermitage. Many miracles were later attributed to his intercession, and he is venerated as the patron saint of Lier. His feast day is October 11.

Saint John XXIII was born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli on November 25, 1881, in Sotto il Monte near Bergamo, Italy, the eldest of thirteen children in a humble sharecropping family. Drawn early to Christ and the Church, he was ordained a priest in Rome on August 10, 1904, and served faithfully in pastoral and scholarly work, including as secretary to the Bishop of Bergamo. During World War I he ministered as a chaplain and in the medical corps, learning compassion amid suffering. Called into diplomatic service, he represented the Holy See in Bulgaria, then in Turkey and Greece, where his charity and courage helped many, including Jewish refugees, during dark years in Europe. Made Patriarch of Venice and a cardinal in 1953, he was unexpectedly elected pope in 1958. Beloved as “the Good Pope,” he sought a more pastoral Church, fostered peace and dialogue with nations and other Christians, and convoked the Second Vatican Council, a moment of renewal that shaped modern Catholic life. He died on June 3, 1963, and is honored as a patron of Valsamoggia. His feast day is October 11.