If a poor man needed some clothing, Fidelis would often give the man
the clothes right off his back. Complete generosity to others
characterized this saint's life.
Born
in 1577, Mark Rey (Fidelis was his religious name) became a lawyer who
constantly upheld the causes of the poor and oppressed people.
Nicknamed "the poor man's lawyer," Fidelis soon grew disgusted with the
corruption and injustice he saw among his colleagues. He left his law
career to become a priest, joining his brother George as a Franciscan
friar of the Capuchin Order. His wealth was divided between needy
seminarians and the poor.
As a follower of Francis, Fidelis
continued his devotion to the weak and needy. Once, during a severe
epidemic in a city where he was guardian of a friary, Fidelis cared for
and cured many sick soldiers.
He was appointed head of a group of
Capuchins sent to preach against the Calvinists and Zwinglians in
Switzerland. Almost certain violence threatened. Those who observed the
mission felt that success was more attributable to the prayer of
Fidelis during the night than to his sermons and instructions.
He
was accused of opposing the peasants' national aspirations for
independence from Austria. While he was preaching at Seewis, to which
he had gone against the advice of his friends, a gun was fired at him,
but he escaped unharmed. A Protestant offered to shelter Fidelis, but
he declined, saying his life was in God's hands. On the road back, he
was set upon by a group of armed men and killed.
Comment:
Fidelis's
constant prayer was that he be kept completely faithful to God and not
give in to any lukewarmness or apathy. He was often heard to exclaim,
"Woe to me if I should prove myself but a halfhearted soldier in the
service of my thorn-crowned Captain." His prayer against apathy, and
his concern for the poor and weak make him a saint whose example is
valuable today. The modern Church is calling us to follow the example
of "the poor man's lawyer" by sharing ourselves and our talents with
those less fortunate and by working for justice in the world.
Quote:"Action
on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the
world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching
of the Gospel, or, in other words, of the Church's mission for the
redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive
situation" ("Justice in the World," Synod of Bishops, 1971).