Berard of Carbio

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Saint Berard of Carbio
Martyr
Born	unknown, Carbio, Umbria, Italy
Died	16 January 1220, Morocco
Venerated in	Roman Catholicism
Canonized	1481, Rome by Pope Sixtus IV^[1]
Feast	16 January
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Saint Berard of Carbio is a thirteenth century saint and martyr. He was born into a noble family of Leopardi, and was a native of Carbio in Umbria, a province of Italy.

1 Life
2 Veneration
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Life

Berard was received into the Franciscan Order by Saint Francis in 1213. He was well versed in Arabic, was an eloquent preacher, and was chosen by Francis, together with two other priests, Peter and Otho, and two lay brothers, Accursius and Adjutus, to evangelize the "infidels of the East". On the conclusion of the Second General Chapter of the Franciscan Friars in 1219, Saint Francis believed the time had then come for the religious of his order to extend their apostolic labors beyond the Italian peninsula and Northern Europe; and, choosing for himself and twelve other religious the greater part of Syria and Egypt, he allotted to Berard and his companions the missions of Morocco.

The five missionaries set sail from Italy and landed in Seville. After sojourning some time in Spain and Portugal, they traveled to the Kingdom of Morocco. Despite the fact that the only one of the five who knew any Arabic was Berard, their open preaching of the Gospel there, and their bold denunciation of Islam, soon caused them to be viewed as insane. However, when it became apparent they would neither go away nor stop preaching, they were apprehended and cast into prison.^[2] Having vainly endeavored to persuade them to abandon their Catholic faith, the Moorish king, in a fit of rage, beheaded them with his scimitar, and thus they became the first martyrs of the Franciscan Order.

[edit] Veneration

Berard and his companions were canonized by Pope Sixtus V in 1481. His feast day is 16 January.

[edit] References

This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.

^ Jones, Terry. Berard. Patron Saints Index. Retrieved on 2007-03-05.
^ Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-140-51312-4.