Piarist Vocations

10/09/2026

St. John Leonardi’s Temporary Union with the Piarists

St. John Leonardi, patron of pharmacists and founder of the Clerics Regular of the Mother of God (Leonardini), had a brief union with the Piarists (the Clerics Regular of Saint Joseph Calasanz). His feast day is October 9. He was a zealous Italian apostle, founded the congregation of the Mother of God, whose priest-members traveled throughout Tuscany urging the people to a stronger interest in their religion. Fr. John Leonardi longed to convert pagans, but his spiritual director, St. Philip Neri, told him to remain in Italy. So instead he founded a seminary in Rome to train young men for the priesthood from all the mission lands.

According to historical accounts, Pope Paul V issued a papal decree on January 14, 1614 approving the union of the Lucca Fathers (Leonardini) with the Piarists.

This was part of a broader effort to strengthen religious congregations during the Counter‑Reformation. The union was temporary, intended to last only until the beginning of 1617. When that date arrived, Paul V issued another decree formally constituting the Piarists as a separate congregation, ending the union . This meant the Leonardini continued as their own order, while the Piarists became an independent religious congregation.

10/09/2026

10/09/2026

Saint John Bosco (1815–1888), was an Italian Catholic priest famous for his work with poor and abandoned youth in Turin, Italy. According to early biographies and his own Memoirs of the Oratory of Saint Francis de Sales, Bosco was often accompanied at night by a large, powerful grey dog known as Grigio (“the grey one”) Grigio was described as tall, wolf‑like, with thick grey fur, pointed ears, and a fierce demeanor. Unlike ordinary strays, he never seemed to need food or shelter and would appear and disappear as mysteriously as he arrived. Witnesses said he was gentle with Bosco’s boys but dangerous to attackers.

10/04/2026

ST. VINCENT PARISH CELEBRATES 150 YEARS OF FAITH AND MISSION
On October 3, 2026, The Piarist Community of Saint Vincent Ferrer, together with the parish faithful, gathered in thanksgiving to celebrate the 150th anniversary of San Vicente Parish, founded on October 5, 1876.
The Jubilee Thanksgiving Eucharistic Celebration was presided over by Most Rev. Herman G. Abcede, D.D., Bishop of Daet, and concelebrated by the clergy of the Diocese of Daet. The celebration was also graced by the presence of Fr. Miguel Artola Otamendi, Sch. P., Provincial Superior of the Piarist Province of Asia Pacific. Many clergy, religious, parishioners, and guests also joined in giving thanks for the many graces received throughout the parish’s 150-year journey of faith and service.
After the Eucharistic celebration, the community gathered for a fellowship meal, sharing joy and strengthening the bonds of communion among the faithful. As San Vicente Parish marks this historic milestone, the community gives thanks for the many generations who have nurtured its life and mission and looks forward with hope to the years ahead.

09/22/2026

FEAST OF THE PIARIST MARTYRS - SEPTEMBER 22
The Feast of the Blessed Piarist Martyrs of Spain is celebrated on September 22, commemorating 13 Piarists martyred during the Spanish Civil War in 1936, beatified in 1995

The Piarists, formally the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools, were founded in 1617 by St. Joseph Calasanz and are known for their mission of free education for poor children. In July 1936, during the Spanish Civil War, a radical group arrived in Peralta de la Sal with the intent to set fire to the Piarist school. Several members of the community, including priests and lay brothers, were taken into custody and martyred.
The martyrs
The feast honors 13 men — 11 priests and 2 lay brothers — from the Piarist congregation:

Fr. Alfred Parte Saiz (Cilleruelo de Bricia)

Fr. Charles Navarro Miquel (Torrente)

Fr. Emmanuel Segura López (Almonacid de la Sierra)

Fr. Faustino Oteiza Segura (Ayegui)

Fr. Francis Carceller Galindo (Forcall)

Fr. Henry Canadell Quintana (Olot)

Fr. Ignatius Casanovas Perramon (Igualada)

Fr. John Agramunt Rivera (Almazora)

Fr. Joseph Ferrer Esteve (Algemesí)

Fr. Matthias Cardona Meseguer (Vallibona)

Br. David Carlos Maranon (Asarta)

Br. Florentino Felipe Naya (Alquezar)

Two of them, Br. David Carlos Maranon and Fr. Emmanuel Segura López, were killed on July 28, 1936, after being taken from their community . Beatification: 1995 by Pope John Paul II

Significance: The feast recalls the courage of the Piarists in the face of persecution and the defense of education and the vulnerable during a time of violent political conflict.

The celebration affirms the Piarists’ commitment to education and their willingness to lay down their lives for their mission, offering a model of faithfulness under threat. It is especially relevant for Piarist communities and those who value education as a sacred trust.

09/11/2026

THE CHILDREN OF NEPAL
By now you have all seen the awful images and video of floodwaters crashing into Rasuwa and Nuwakot. The Piarist Fathers are present in Nepal. More than 22,000 children across the affected districts urgently need one thing above all: clean water. UNICEF reports these children are without access to safe drinking water or basic sanitation, putting them at high risk of waterborne illness. And while a definitive count of orphaned children hasn’t been established, UNICEF has already documented at least 107 children separated from their parents in the flooding. According to our team on the ground, more than 1,252 people have died and 4,200 remain unaccounted for in this disaster.

Many have only have one pair of clothes, what they are wearing. Nothing is left. They have no electricity — no telephone — and then what happens? They cannot purchase anything. With water systems damaged across the region and no way to buy supplies, families are left waiting for someone to bring clean water to them.
In some families, only one person survived. With families crowded into shelters and sanitation facilities in ruins, the risk of waterborne and infectious disease is climbing fast for the children who remain.

Across the hardest-hit districts of Rasuwa, Nuwakot, and Dhading, only 3 schools remain safe and structurally sound for students. Eight more have been partially damaged, and 8 have been completely destroyed. With 41 bridges washed away and roads still buried in mud, even the schools left standing can’t function normally — many are serving as emergency shelters instead of classrooms.

09/06/2026

10th Anniversary of the Canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Did you know that Mother Teresa was BAPTIZED on August 27, 1910 on what was then the Feast Day of ST. JOSEPH CALASANZ?

Mother Teresa was born in Skopje, Macedonia, Ottoman Empire [now in North Macedonia, and she died September 5, 1997, in Calcutta [now Kolkata], India. She was canonized just ten years ago on September 4, 2016. Her feast day is September 5, and she was the founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic congregation of women dedicated to the poor, particularly to the destitute of India. She was the recipient of numerous honors, including the 1979 Nobel Prize for Peace. In recognition of her ministry, and she was honored on January 6, 1971, by Paul VI, who awarded her the first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize. Long regarded as a “living saint,” she was formally recognized as one by the Roman Catholic Church in 2016, less than two decades after her death.