St. Francis di Girolamo was tireless in working to convert sinners and reaching out to the poor, winning many people to greater faith. He is known as the Apostle to Naples because that is where he spent most of his time and energy.

He was born in Italy in 1642, the eldest of 11 children. After making his first Communion at the age of 12, he went to live with a community of priests in his town. They could clearly see that he was special, and began to entrust to him greater roles in the congregation, including teaching the catechism.

Francis went to Naples to study civil and canon law, and was ordained a priest there in 1666 (he had to receive special permission because at 24, he was too young). He taught at a Jesuit university in Naples for five years and students there began to refer to him as “the holy priest.”

He decided to join the Jesuit order, and his superiors tested him with many difficulties. He impressed everyone, however, and was sent to do mission work with a famous preacher. He then returned to Naples and finished his education and was appointed to a church there.

Francis desperately wanted to travel to Japan as a missionary—reports stated that every missionary who landed there was killed. It was decided, though, that he should remain in Naples, so he began to train other missionaries.

Large crowds gathered to hear him preach, and many people sought him out for confession. Miracles and wonders were reported from his intercession. Some estimate that he converted 400 sinners each year. He regularly visited the sick in hospitals and the imprisoned, including those waiting for execution. He was fearless in pursuing sinners even on their own territory in places of ill repute—and he was beaten up a number of times for his efforts.

Sometimes he would feel a spontaneous urge to begin preaching in the middle of the street. One night, in the middle of a storm, he felt called to begin preaching to an empty, dark alley. The next day, a sinner came to his confessional who had heard him through an open window.

The most famous sinner he converted was a French woman who killed her father and fled to Spain, where she dressed as a man and enlisted in the army. She sought direction from Francis, and not only repented from her sins but also went on to become known as a holy woman.

St. Francis di Girolamo died at the age of 74, and his relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. His image is used here with permission from Catholic.org.

St. Francis di Girolamo, you relentlessly sought out sinners on their own turf and won many to the faith—pray for us!