St. Charles of Sezze

Feast date: Jan 18

Saint Charles was born John Charles Marchioni in Sezze, Italy on October 19, 1613.  His family was extremely pious. They lived in a rural area and as a child Saint Charles worked as a shepherd.  Due to his lack of education, it is said he learned only the basics and could barely read and write. He joined the Franciscans as a lay brother in Naziano, where he served as a cook, porter, and gardener.

Saint Charles was known for his holiness, simplicity, and charity.  He was generous to travelers and sought out spiritual advice.  In 1656 he worked tirelessly with victims of the plague. He also wrote several mystical works including his autobiography entitled "The Grandeurs of the Mercies of God". Tradition states he was called to the bedside of the dying Pope Clement IX for a blessing. St. Charles told the Pope that they would meet again on January 6.

Saint Charles died on January 6, 1670 in Rome of natural causes, fulfilling his promise to meet Pope Clement IX, and he is buried in Rome in the Church of Saint Francis. He was Canonized by Pope John XXIII on April 12, 1959.

Reflecting on John 1:29-34, the Gospel reading at Mass today, Pope Leo XIV encouraged pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square to learn from St. John the Baptist.

“When we think or speak about the Holy Land, we naturally refer to the historical places of Jesus’ life in Palestine and Israel: Bethlehem, Nazareth, Capernaum, Jerusalem,” Tornielli wrote in the editorial, published yesterday. “But there is another country where Christian memories are scattered and which is worth making a destination for pilgrimages: Jordan.”

Tornielli discussed Aqaba, Petra, Mount Nebo, Machaerus, and Al-Maghtas, the site of Jesus’ baptism.

“The detachment from sin that is required is not an emotional sense of purity, but an act of the will that says, ‘Lord, I want no sin at all, not even the smallest,’” Bishop Krzysztof Nykiel said in an interview with Vatican News. He explained:

It is not a state of sinlessness. A person may have weaknesses, recurring venial sins, and may even experience painful falls. What matters is the intention and the orientation of the heart: the sincere decision to break with sin here and now.

If someone says to God: “I do not want sin, I hate it, even though I know I am weak,” then there is no attachment to sin in that person.

Bishop Nykiel also discussed the relationship between the 2025 jubilee year and the 2026 Year of Saint Francis, as well as the saint’s importance for our time.

The holy door of St. Peter’s Basilica was sealed on January 16, ten days after Pope Leo XIV concluded the 2025 jubilee year.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, concluded his trip to Kuwait with a Mass marking the elevation of the nation’s first church to the status of a minor basilica.

“Always impeccably dressed, with a sober elegance that never sought attention, Angelo Gugel preserved the discretion required by his delicate role even after retirement,” Vatican News, the news agency of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, reported.

Gugel assisted St. John Paul with Italian pronunciation prior to his October 1978 inaugural homily and was at the Pontiff’s side during the 1981 assassination attempt.

The Holy See Press Office announced that Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, will brief the media on January 20 about the 34th World Day of the Sick.

Pope Leo XIV has proclaimed a Year of Saint Francis to mark the 800th anniversary of the death of the beloved saint.

Pope Leo XIV received the officers of the Slovenian Bishops’ Conference, who invited the Pontiff to Slovenia and spoke with him about their commitment to unity and their desire to become a more missionary Church.