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PATRON  SAINT OF THE FELICIAN SISTERS: ST. FELIX OF CANTALICE St. Felix, born in Cantalice, Italy, became a lay brother in later life in the Capuchin Order in the sixteenth century.  He was a type of "migrant" worker in the fields, supporting his family as a child and later as a man.  He was respected by the other workers, though at times they were bothered by his ceaseless prayer.  His employer, recognizing the piety of this youth and heeding the request of the other laborers who did not want their rest disturbed by his nightly prayer vigils, allowed him a small private space in the barn for his devotions.

Because Felix was illiterate and poor, he did not feel worthy of entering a religious community.  However, God kept prodding him to seek admittance, which he tried several times to no avail.  
He returned to his simple lifestyle as a peasant, but God was not finished with him.  One day as he was plowing, he fell under the plow.  When the others rushed to his aid, they found a man with shredded clothes, but no mark on his body.  Believing this was a sign from God, Felix set out for a forty mile walk to Rome, where he finally convinced the Capuchins to take this belated vocation.

After novitiate, Felix spent forty years in Rome as a quester - a beggar, seeking food for the monastery.  However, God again had other plans for Felix; the beggar became the savior of a larger family - the  family of Rome.  He provided food for his religious community, as well as, for the poor.  His bag was never empty.  It was a continual miracle which saved many  from starvation.  

Felix was loved by all - the students at the university who loved to play pranks on him and listen to his stories about God, the people who called him Brother Deo Gratias (Thanks be to God), the children who played and danced with him in the streets and St. Philip Neri who debated profound mysteries of religion with him.  His wisdom came from intimate contact with the Source - God.  He often visited and healed the sick.  He became the Patron of the Sick and of Children.

In the nineteenth century Blessed Angela, the foundress of the Felicians, took the children to the statue of St. Felix in the Capuchin Church in Warsaw, Poland to pray for deliverance from oppression and war.  The frequency of these pilgrimages caused the people to call these women - Felicians.  The nickname stuck and, thus, St. Felix became  the congregation's PATRON.  Deo Gratias!
                         Sister Rosemarie Goins
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