Born in Taranto (Italy), Francesco Antonio Pontillo joined the Franciscans in the Province of Lecce receiving the name of Giles Mary of St Joseph. In 1759 he moved to the friary of Chiaia in Naples where he remained for the rest of his life. There he performed the duties of cook, porter and seeker of alms and built up a remarkable relationship with the destitute and the suffering of Naples. He carried the love of God to the marginalised and the forgotten but even the nobility of the kingdom of Naples liked to meet and talk with this Franciscan brother of simple words and a vibrant faith. He nourished this faith with prolonged prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, his love for the Infant Jesus, his tender devotion to the Mother of God and his special honouring of St Joseph and St Paschal Baylón. He died as the Angelus bell of the Church rang out on February 7 1812. John Paul II canonised him in 1996.
First Reading: 1 John 3: 14-18; Gospel: Mark 3: 31-35
