April

April 17 – Bl. Baptist Spagnoli, Priest | Optional Memorial

Baptist Spagnoli was born at Mantua, Italy, on April 17, 1447, and entered the Carmelite Congregation of Mantua as a young man at Ferrara. He was professed in 1464, and thereafter filled a number of offices. Having been Vicar General of his Congregation six times, he was elected Prior General of the whole Order in 1513. He died at Mantua on March 20, 1516. His virtue was outstanding, in particular his love for the Church, and he spared no effort in the cause of reform. He is reckoned one of the best poets of his age.

April 18 – Bl. Mary of the Incarnation, Religious | Optional Memorial

Barbe Avrillot was born in Paris in 1566. At the age of sixteen she married Pierre Acarie, by whom she had seven children. In spite of her household duties and many hardships, she attained the heights of the mystical life. Under the influence of St. Teresa’s writings, and after mystical contact with the Saint herself, she spared no effort in introducing the Discalced Carmelite nuns into France. After her husband’s death, she asked to be admitted among them as a lay sister, taking the name of Mary of the Incarnation; she was professed at the Carmel of Amiens in 1615. She was esteemed by some of the greatest men of her time, including St. Francis de Sales; and she was distinguished by her spirit of prayer and her zeal for the propagation of the Catholic faith. She died at Pontoise on 18 April 1618. Mary was later beatified in 1791 under Pope Pius VI.

April 23 – Bl. Teresa Maria of the Cross, Virgin | Optional Memorial

She was born at Campi Bisenzio, Florence, on March, 2 1846. In 1874 she founded the Congregation of Carmelite Sisters of St. Teresa in her home country and later in Lebanon and the Holy Land. She lived joyfully, body and soul, the mystery of the Cross in full conformity to the will of God and she was outstanding for her love for the Eucharist and her maternal care for children and for the poor. She died at Campi Bisenzio on April 23, 1910, and was beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 19, 1986.