The Saints and Their Love for Mary

St. Felix of Cantalice

Felix’s name means happy. You might not think he would have been happy. His family was poor and when he was 12, he had to become a hired farm laborer. For the next 16 years, he did this difficult work. When he was miraculously unharmed after being trampled by oxen, he decided to give the rest of his life to God as a Capuchin brother. He spent most of the next 44 years walking the streets of Rome barefoot begging for food for the poor. And yet he was always cheerful. What was the secret to his happiness? His great friendship with Jesus and Mary. He spent all this time in their presence no matter what he was doing.

And since he never left their presence, when he died on the Feast of Pentecost 1587, he died with a cheerful smile because he saw his faithful friend Mary inviting him to the joys of Heaven.