St. Gaspar del Bufalo: Feast Day, Patronage & Prayers
Updated: Oct 3
Feast day: October 21 (kept by the Missionaries of the Precious Blood; not on the General Roman Calendar)
Patron of: No widely recognized patronage; honored as the great apostle of the Precious Blood.
About St. Gaspar del Bufalo
St. Gaspar del Bufalo was born in Rome in 1786, the son of a cook in a noble household. Ordained a priest in 1808, he soon faced a great test. When Napoleon's forces occupied Rome and demanded that the clergy swear an oath of allegiance to the emperor, Gaspar refused, saying, "I cannot, I must not, I will not." He was exiled and imprisoned for about four years in northern Italy.
After his release in 1814, Pope Pius VII asked him to devote himself to preaching missions to renew the faith in the Papal States, especially in regions troubled by poverty and banditry. In 1815 Gaspar founded the Missionaries of the Most Precious Blood, a society of priests and brothers who preached missions and retreats and spread devotion to the Blood of Christ, the price of our redemption. He preached with such energy and joy that he became known as a great apostle of the Precious Blood, and he worked among the brigands of the countryside, bringing some to conversion. He died in Rome in 1837, during a cholera epidemic, and was canonized in 1954.
Prayers to St. Gaspar del Bufalo on Daily Catholic Prayers
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