PASQUALE BAYLON, saint. — Patron of Eucharistic works, born on 17 May 1540 at Torre Hermosa (Aragon), died at Villareal on 17 May 1592. The son of Martino B. and Isabella Jubera, he spent his childhood and adolescence tending sheep, devoting himself to an intense life of piety; from that time he was favored with supernatural gifts. In 1560 he left his native village for Valenza, intending to become a religious, an inspiration he put into practice in 1564 by entering the Franciscan Order. While his superiors were considering directing him toward the priesthood, out of humility he preferred to remain a simple lay brother, carrying out throughout his life the humble duties of the convent, especially that of porter.
In 1576, on a journey undertaken to convey a commission from the province of Valenza to the minister general of the Order in Paris, he suffered greatly at the hands of the Calvinists (from whom he hoped to obtain martyrdom). Already during his lifetime endowed with the gift of miracles, he was distinguished above all by an intense Eucharistic piety (as a young boy he had already experienced visions relating to the Eucharist). Almost illiterate, he was enlightened by a lofty gift of wisdom in spiritual matters, and learned men of the age consulted him. He wrote several devotional booklets. His tomb was profaned during the Spanish Civil War, and his relics were sacrilegiously burned.
He was beatified by Paul V in 1618, and in 1680 Alexander VIII solemnly canonized him. Leo XIII, paying homage to the « Seraph of the Eucharist », as he was called, proclaimed him patron of Eucharistic congresses and confraternities. Feast on 17 May.