Saint Paschal Baylon, Confessor
S. Paschalis Baylon Confessoris
Saint Paschal Baylon was a Spanish Franciscan lay brother and shepherd, renowned for his burning love of the Blessed Sacrament and his life of humble service.
Saint Paschal Baylon was born of poor and pious parents at Torre Hermosa in Aragon in 1540, on the feast of Pentecost — from which, it is said, he took his name, Pascha meaning the Pasch or Passover. The Church honours him on the seventeenth of May as a Confessor, and especially as a great lover of the Holy Eucharist.
His life
As a boy and young man Paschal kept his father’s sheep, and in the fields he taught himself to read, that he might pray from holy books, and grew in a life of prayer under the open sky. About the age of twenty-four he entered the Order of Friars Minor of the strict observance as a lay brother, choosing to remain unordained and to serve in the humblest tasks — as porter, cook, and gardener — for the rest of his life.
His whole heart was set upon the Blessed Sacrament. He spent long hours kneeling before the tabernacle, and even at his labours his thoughts returned continually to the Eucharistic Lord. Sent once on an errand across hostile country in France, he openly professed and defended the Catholic faith in the Real Presence at the risk of his life. Toward all he showed gentleness, obedience, and a cheerful poverty, and many came to him for counsel, for beneath his simplicity lay great wisdom and peace.
He died at Villarreal in the kingdom of Valencia on the seventeenth of May, 1592, on Pentecost — the same feast on which he had been born. He was canonised by Pope Alexander VIII in 1690.
Patron of the Eucharist
In 1897 Pope Leo XIII declared Saint Paschal Baylon the heavenly patron of all Eucharistic congresses and confraternities. In the calendar of the 1962 Missal his feast is kept on the seventeenth of May. He stands before the faithful as a witness that the highest learning is the love of God, and that adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is within the reach of the simplest soul.
The Collect
O God, who didst adorn blessed Paschal, Thy Confessor, with a wondrous love for the sacred mysteries of Thy Body and Blood: mercifully grant that we may be worthy to receive that same abundance of spirit which he drew from this divine banquet.
Deus, qui beátum Paschálem Confessórem tuum mirífica erga Córporis et Sánguinis tui sacra mystéria dilectióne decorásti: concéde propítius; ut, quam ille ex hoc divíno convívio spíritus percépit pinguédinem, eándem et nos percípere mereámur.
Patronage
He is the patron of Eucharistic congresses and confraternities, and of cooks and shepherds.
In the Modern Calendar
This feast does not appear in the universal calendar of the modern Roman rite, though it is kept by the Franciscan orders and locally.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Paschal Baylon?
His feast is kept on 17 May in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Third Class feast.
Who was Saint Paschal Baylon?
He was a Spanish Franciscan lay brother (1540–1592) who began life as a shepherd and is famous for his profound devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. He served his community in humble tasks and was canonised in 1690.
Why is he the patron of the Eucharist?
His whole life was marked by adoration of the Holy Eucharist and zeal for the Real Presence, so in 1897 Pope Leo XIII named him patron of Eucharistic congresses and confraternities.
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