St. John Gualbert

St. John Gualbert was born around the year 985 near Florence, into a noble Tuscan family, and died on 12 July 1073 at the monastery of Passignano. His conversion is among the most famous in Christian legend: seeking to avenge the murder of his brother, he came upon the defenseless killer on Good Friday, but when the man threw himself down and begged mercy in the name of the crucified Christ, John spared his life. Entering a nearby church, he saw the figure on the crucifix bow its head to him in gratitude, and he resolved to give himself wholly to God.

He became a monk at San Miniato and later withdrew to the wooded valley of Vallombrosa, where around 1036 he founded a reformed community that grew into the Vallombrosan Order, a stricter branch of the Benedictine family devoted to poverty, silence, and manual labor. A tireless opponent of simony and clerical corruption, he was revered for his holiness during his life and canonized by Pope Celestine III in 1193; he is honored as a patron of foresters and park rangers.