MARIANO da ROCCA CASALE, venerable. – Lay brother of the Friars Minor, born at Rocca Casale (L’Aquila) on 15 January 1778, died at Civitella, now Bellegra (Rome), on 31 May 1866.
Having made his solemn vows on 3 September 1803, he went to the convent of Civitella, where, after briefly serving as cook, gardener, and alms collector, he was porter for fifty years. He welcomed everyone with a smile on his face, calmly accepted the impertinence and blows of ill-intentioned people, consoled the poor, and instructed children in the catechism. In old age, with greater freedom, he spent, one might say, his days before the Tabernacle. This simple yet inwardly extraordinary life earned him a reputation for holiness; the process of beatification was therefore initiated, and the heroicity of his virtues was declared (3 March 1925).