Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows

His name was Francesco Possenti, and there was nothing of the holy-card saint about him. He was born in Assisi in 1838, the eleventh of thirteen children; his father was a nobleman from Terni and a papal governor, and the family followed him from post to post. His mother died when he was four. He grew up in Spoleto, studied with the Jesuits, and was a perfectly normal boy for his time: affectionate, outgoing, good at school. He liked to dress well and caught the eye of the girls in town. He went hunting — once he even nearly lost his life doing it. Looking at him, there was nothing that suggested a monastery. There’s one detail that makes him more likable than any virtue: during an illness as a boy, he promised he would become a religious if he got better. He got better. He didn’t keep his promise. He fell ill again, promised again, got better again, and again put it off. He did it twice, like anyone would. The decision came on August 22, 1856, during the procession of the icon of Spoleto cathedral. He joined the Passionists with the name Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows and died just six years later, at twenty-four, at Isola del Gran Sasso. He was declared a saint in 1920 and is the patron of Abruzzo and of Italian Catholic Youth. If your name is Gabriel or Gabriella, today is your name day — even though September 29 belongs to the archangel. A young man who put it off twice before deciding. It’s reassuring: serious things usually aren’t decided on the first try.