Blessed Gabriel of The Mother of Sorrows
by Fr. Constantine Kempf, S.J., 1916

http://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/Gabriel%20of%20Sorrows.html


Saintly youths are a great joy to the Church. Prominent among those of the nineteenth century is the Blessed Gabriel of the Mother of Sorrows, a member of the Congregation of the Passion (1). Leo XIII used to call him "the St. Aloysius of our days." His family name was Francis Posenti. His father was a well-to-do civil official of renowned Assisi in Umbria. Here Francis was born on March 1, 1838, the eleventh of thirteen children. To facilitate the higher education of his children, the father moved to Spoleto in 1842. Unfortunately, however, the mother died soon after. But the father was a deeply religious man. He spent an hour in prayer every morning and then went to Mass, bringing the children with him. Every night he questioned his children to learn where they had been that day and what they had done, then he said prayers in common, always adding some instruction and admonition. What he most insisted on was the avoidance of bad companions.

Francis received his elementary training from the Brothers of St. John Baptist de la Salle, and made his higher studies in the college of the Society of Jesus at Spoleto. From his early years he showed generosity and self-control, he was docile and obedient and had a great liking for spiritual things. But his character had also some dangerous leanings. He was very impulsive and inclined to anger. It was not bad will, however, and whenever his temper carried him away, at once there came repentance and each time he humbly asked his father's forgiveness. Another tendency might have been still more dangerous. He made rapid progress in his studies, was proficient in all branches and won great applause when he appeared in public. Besides, he had agreeable manners and a cheerful temperament, so that he was beloved by all and was known only as "the genial Francis." All this tended to foster his vanity and to end in a desire of pleasing men.

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