St Ignatius of Laconi

Ignatius was one of 7 children born to a poor farmer in Italy. He grew up working in the fields with his family. There were two times in his life that showed Ignatius that God wanted him to join the Franciscan community. When Ignatius was 17 years old he became very sick; he promised God that if he got better he would become a Franciscan friar. He got better right away, but his dad convinced him that he should wait. Two years after that, he was riding a horse, when he suddenly lost control and was almost killed; then for no reason the horse stopped and calmly trotted on his way. This convinced Ignatius that he needed to join the Franciscan's right away. As a Franciscan brother his job was to go house-to-house asking for donations for the community to survive. Even though the people were giving donations to Brother Ignatius, they were the ones that felt like they were receiving something more from him. He was loved by everyone in the village; because he was a peacemaker, he cared for the sick and lonely, he made children happy and helped those who had sinned find peace with God.