Aegidius Mary of Saint Joseph

After his profession, Brother Egidio Maria was sent to the convent of Squinzano (Lecce), where he served as the community cook for four years, until May 1759. After a brief stay at the convent of Capurso (Bari), near the sanctuary of the Madonna del Pozzo (Our Lady of the Well), he was assigned in May 1759 to Naples, to the small hospice of San Pasquale a Chiaia, which was elevated to the rank of a convent ("Guardianato") that same year.

He would spend the next fifty-three years of his life in Naples. Initially a cook, he was entrusted with the duties of porter and questor (beggar for the convent). It was in these humble roles that he became an essential and beloved figure in the Neapolitan city, which was then in the throes of profound political and social upheaval (notably the French occupation and the fall of the Bourbon regime).

Every day, he walked the streets of Naples to beg for alms. What he received, he immediately redistributed to the poor, the sick, and the outcasts. His tireless charity and his ability to console the afflicted earned him the title of "Consoler of Naples" during his lifetime. He was also renowned for numerous wonders, such as healings, multiplications of food, and prophecies (he notably predicted to Joseph Bonaparte the brevity of his reign). One of the most famous popular miracles attributed to him is the resurrection of "Catarinella," the convent's little heifer, which was found butchered at a butcher's shop and which he is said to have brought back to life through his prayer.

The reputation for holiness of Brother Egidio Maria was immense during his lifetime. When he passed away on February 7, 1812, at noon, at the very moment the bells of the church of San Pasquale a Chiaia were ringing the Angelus, an immense crowd of Neapolitans pressed to his funeral, already venerating him as a saint.

The cause for beatification was quickly introduced. The informative process opened in Naples in 1836 and closed in 1843. On February 24, 1868, Pope Pius IX promulgated the decree recognizing the heroic nature of his virtues, thus conferring upon him the title of Venerable.

Beatification: The Venerable Egidio Maria di San Giuseppe was beatified on February 5, 1888, by Pope Leo XIII in Rome. Canonization: The miracle accepted for his canonization was the instantaneous, complete, and lasting healing of Mrs. Angela Mignogna, a native of Taranto, who in 1937 was suffering from uterine choriocarcinoma (a severe form of cancer). After the favorable examination by the medical board and the theologians, Pope John Paul II authorized the promulgation of the decree of the miracle on December 15, 1994. The canonization ceremony was celebrated by Pope John Paul II on June 2, 1996, in Saint Peter's Square in Rome. On this occasion, the Sovereign Pontiff emphasized that his example invites Christians to live the Gospel of the Beatitudes fully. In 1919, he had also been declared co-patron of his hometown of Taranto.

The spirituality of Saint Egidio Maria is deeply rooted in the Franciscan ideal of absolute poverty, humility, and perfect joy. Like Saint Francis of Assisi, he contemplated creation as a mirror of divine goodness. His life of prayer was marked by fervent adoration of the Eucharist, deep meditation before the Crucifix, and a tender devotion to the Virgin Mary, particularly under the title of the Madonna del Pozzo (Our Lady of the Well), as well as to Saint Paschal Baylon, Saint Peter of Alcantara, and Saint Joseph.

His spiritual message is summarized in the exhortation he repeated tirelessly to everyone he met in the streets of Naples: "Amate Dio, amate Dio!" (Love God, love God!).

His body rests and is venerated in the church of San Pasquale a Chiaia in Naples. In Taranto, his cult is particularly vibrant, notably thanks to the Friars Minor of the convent of San Pasquale, where a museum housing his relics and objects that belonged to him was inaugurated in 2009.