Bl. John Licci

November 14

Blessed John Licci (1400-1511) was born to a poor peasant farmer near Palermo, Sicily. His mother died in childbirth, and his father was forced to leave the infant alone at home while he worked in the fields.  One day a neighbor woman heard the baby's cries and, in compassion, brought him into her home to care for him. When she laid the child on the bed next to her paralyzed husband, her husband was miraculously cured of his disease. When Mr. Licci brought his son back into his home, unhappy with the woman's meddling, the neighbor man's paralysis returned. Mr. Licci took this as a sign that God wanted the couple to help him care for his son. This was the first of many miracles John Licci would perform throughout his life. He joined the Dominican Order in 1415 and was a friar for 96 years, the longest period known for any religious to wear the habit. His miracles include the multiplication of building materials used for a convent he founded, miraculously feeding a poor widow and her six children, raising a dead boy to life, and curing three people whose heads had been crushed in accidents. Consequently, he has been designated the patron saint of head injuries. He is the longest-living saint in the Catholic Church, dying at the age of 111. Bl. John Licci's feast day is November 14th.