A poor shepherd boy, he became a Capuchin lay brother and served as porter and gardener. Though barely literate, his deep prayer and charity drew many people to him for comfort and counsel.
Life
Saint Seraphin was born in 1540 to a poor family in Montegranaro, in the Marche region of Italy. As a boy he tended sheep and worked as a bricklayer, and as a young man he entered the Capuchin Franciscans as a lay brother.
With little schooling, he was given humble tasks such as porter and gardener, yet his prayer, humility and mercy toward the poor won him the respect of many. He died in Ascoli Piceno in 1604 and was canonized in 1767. The Church remembers him on October 12.
Spirituality
Seraphin's spirituality is a life of prayer flowering in simplicity and humility. Though unschooled, he came to know God deeply by lingering before the Blessed Sacrament and the crucifix. To the poor knocking at the friary door, he was the warm face of God.
Reflection
Seraphin became a saint while keeping the friary door. What if I offered to God the everyday tasks in my life that no one else notices?