GIUSEPPE DA LEONESSA, saint. – Capuchin missionary and preacher of the Umbrian province, born at Leonessa on 8 January 1556, he entered the novitiate at the small convent of the Carcerelle (Assisi) on 3 January 1572 (not 1573), was appointed preacher on 21 May 1581 at Perugia, and died at Amatrice (Rieti) on 4 February 1612.
On 1 May 1587 he was sent with two confrères to establish a mission in Constantinople; there he assisted imprisoned Christians and brought an apostate bishop back to the faith. For his bold attempt to preach to Sultan Murad III, he was condemned to the hook penalty: for three days he remained suspended from the gallows with one hook in his hand and another in his foot. Miraculously escaping, he was expelled from Constantinople with his confrères in 1589. In Italy he devoted himself to popular preaching, rich in conversions and reconciliations: his penitential life and supernatural charisms increased the effectiveness of his speech. He promoted works of social assistance, such as Monti di pietà and grain banks, and hospitals. Various of his manuscripts are preserved (Rome, Archivio della postulazione generale dei Minori Cappuccini), consisting of sermons, homilies, panegyrics, and notes and material for preaching. Beatified by Clement XII on 22 June 1737, he was canonized by Benedict XIV on 29 June 1746. Feast day: 4 February.
(5 manuscript volumes in the Archivio della postulazione generale, Rome); Edoardo d'Alençon, Puncta historica in causa beatificationis et canonizationis s. J. a L. - Auctores qui de s. J. a L. scriperunt, in Analecta Ord. Min. Capuccinorum, 30 (1914), pp. 277-80, 329-33; Ilario da Teano, S. G. da L., Torino 1935; Francesco da Vicenza, Le Carcerelle e i primi Cappuccini in Assisi, in Collectanea Franciscana, 5 (1935), pp. 254-55; Bonaventura da Mehr, Inventario dei manoscritti di s. G. da L., ibid., 18 (1948), pp. 259-72. Ilario da Milano