St Paschal Baylon

Paschal Baylon is one of the most lovable saints of Eucharistic devotion. A poor shepherd boy from Aragon, he learned early to pray amid work and solitude, and later entered the Franciscans as a lay brother. This life emphasizes both his humility and his extraordinary interior life.

Paschal chose the roughest tasks, remained unlettered, and yet became renowned for wisdom because of the depth of his prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. He longed for martyrdom and came close to it during dangerous travel among hostile Huguenots, but God reserved him for a quieter witness. The picture is luminous rather than dramatic: a simple brother transformed by adoration, obedience, and hidden holiness.