today we celebrate the memorial of Blessed John of Parma.

He was born around 1209 in Parma, Italy. God called him to leave the world he was used to and enter the new world of the Franciscan Order when he was still a young philosophy professor well-known for his knowledge and piety. After becoming a clergyman, John was transferred to Paris to pursue his theological studies. He was appointed to teach theology at Bologna, Naples, and finally, Rome after receiving his priestly ordination.

Pope Innocent IV convened a general council at the French city of Lyons in 1245. At the time, Crescentius, the Franciscan minister general, was ill and unable to attend. He dispatched Friar John in his stead, who profoundly impacted the gathered Church officials. Two years later, the same pope presided over the choice of a Franciscan minister general, and because he remembered Friar John well, he praised him as the most qualified candidate.

In 1247, John of Parma was appointed minister general. The remaining followers of St. Francis were elated by his election and anticipated a revival of the Order’s original values of simplicity and humility. And they weren’t let down. As the Order’s general, John visited nearly every Franciscan convent on foot with one or two companions. Occasionally he would show up and go unnoticed, staying there for a while to see how sincere the brothers were.

The pope appointed John as legate to Constantinople, where he most effectively brought the schismatic Greeks back. He asked that someone else lead the Order in his absence upon his return. Saint Bonaventure became his successor at John’s insistence. In the hermitage at Greccio, John dedicated his life to prayer.

Years later, John discovered that the Greeks had temporarily made peace with the Church and had fallen back into schism. John, who was 80 years old then, was permitted by Pope Nicholas IV to return to the East to re-establish unity. John became sick on the way and passed away. In 1781, he got proclaimed a saint. On March 20, people celebrate Blessed John of Parma’s liturgical feast day.

Source: franciscanmedia.org