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 solemn profession on 3 September 1803, he was sent to the convent of Civitella, where, after briefly serving as cook, gardener, and questor, he spent fifty years as a porter. He welcomed all with a smile, calmly endured the insolence and blows of ill-disposed persons, consoled the poor, and instructed children in catechism. In his old age, when he had more freedom, he spent, so to speak, his days before the Tabernacle. This simple yet extraordinary interior life earned him a reputation for holiness, and the process for his beatification was introduced; the heroism of his virtues was declared on 3 March 1923.