St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria
Today, July 5, the Church remembers Saint Anthony Mary Zaccaria. A renowned preacher and promoter of Eucharistic adoration, he founded the order of priests now known as the Barnabites. Saint Anthony Maria Zaccaria was born at Cremona, Italy, in 1502, of noble parents. His father Lazzaro died when Anthony was two, and Antonietta, his eighteen-year-old mother, never remarried, but devoted herself to performing charitable works for the poor. She passed on her love for the poor to her son. As a child, Anthony gave his coat to a poor beggar who was shivering with cold. Anthony studied philosophy and medicine at the Universities of Pavia and Padua. He became a licensed physician at the age of 22 and returned to Cremona. He cared for his patient's physical needs, but was even more concerned about their spiritual well-being, encouraging them to frequent the sacraments to obtain spiritual healing. He studied theology, and, at the age of 26, was ordained to the priesthood. Those pr...