| Novena Starts: | September 30 |
| Feastday: | October 9 |
| Birth: | 1541 |
| Death: | 1609 |
Patron saint of pharmacists and chemists, catechists and teachers of the faith, foreign missions, the city of Lucca, and those working for the reform of the Church
St. John Leonardi Novena
St. John Leonardi (1541-1609) spent ten years learning the apothecary’s trade in Lucca before leaving it to become a priest. He gathered young laymen to teach catechism to the children of the city, founded the Clerks Regular of the Mother of God, and worked for the reform of the clergy, which so angered the powerful that he was exiled from his native Lucca for most of his life. In Rome he was the friend of St. Philip Neri and St. Joseph Calasanz, and helped found the seminary that grew into the Church’s great missionary congregation. He caught the plague nursing its victims and died of it. Pray this novena for pharmacists, for catechists and teachers of the faith, for missionaries, and for the favor you most need.
Never miss a prayer day
Daily reminders + prayer intentions + group prayers
GET APPYou can pray the full St. John Leonardi Novena below.
Day 1
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
O glorious Saint John Leonardi, you learned in your youth to weigh out remedies for the body, and then laid that work aside because you had seen a deeper sickness and knew a better medicine. Obtain for us the same clear sight, that we may not spend ourselves upon what passes and neglect what does not.
You gathered the boys of Lucca and taught them their catechism when no one else would trouble, believing that the Church is renewed by instructing the young in the faith. Bless all catechists, all parents teaching their children to pray, and all who labor to hand on what they have received.
You worked for the reform of the clergy and of religious houses, and for your pains you were slandered and driven out of your own city and kept from it nearly all your life, and you never returned the injury nor gave up the work. Give us that patience. Teach us to seek the good of the Church without bitterness against those who oppose us, and to leave our vindication to God.
You helped to raise up in Rome the seminary from which missionaries have gone out to the ends of the earth. Pray for all who preach the Gospel far from home. And when the plague came upon the city you did not flee it but went in among the sick and took your death from them. Watch over pharmacists and all who prepare and dispense medicines, over doctors and nurses, and over everyone who serves the sick at cost to themselves.
And now, dear Saint John Leonardi, we place in your hands the particular favor we ask through your intercession.
(mention request here…)
Obtain this for us, if it be according to the will of God and for the good of our souls, and obtain for us above all the grace to believe what the Church teaches and to live what we profess.
Amen.
Comforted with the holy Mysteries of Thy precious Body and Blood, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that by the example of Saint John, Thy Confessor, we may be zealous to confess what he believed and to put in practice what he taught. Who liveth and reigneth with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.
Amen.
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
St. John Leonardi, pray for us!
Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Answered Prayers from the Community
“I received tremendous peace throughout as well as new understandings. On the last day I received a beautiful gift I didn’t ask for, a beautiful memory of my son. I’m so grateful and extremely happy! Thank you St Michael!! Glory to you O sweet God!!”
Day 2
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
O glorious Saint John Leonardi, you learned in your youth to weigh out remedies for the body, and then laid that work aside because you had seen a deeper sickness and knew a better medicine. Obtain for us the same clear sight, that we may not spend ourselves upon what passes and neglect what does not.
You gathered the boys of Lucca and taught them their catechism when no one else would trouble, believing that the Church is renewed by instructing the young in the faith. Bless all catechists, all parents teaching their children to pray, and all who labor to hand on what they have received.
You worked for the reform of the clergy and of religious houses, and for your pains you were slandered and driven out of your own city and kept from it nearly all your life, and you never returned the injury nor gave up the work. Give us that patience. Teach us to seek the good of the Church without bitterness against those who oppose us, and to leave our vindication to God.
You helped to raise up in Rome the seminary from which missionaries have gone out to the ends of the earth. Pray for all who preach the Gospel far from home. And when the plague came upon the city you did not flee it but went in among the sick and took your death from them. Watch over pharmacists and all who prepare and dispense medicines, over doctors and nurses, and over everyone who serves the sick at cost to themselves.
And now, dear Saint John Leonardi, we place in your hands the particular favor we ask through your intercession.
(mention request here…)
Obtain this for us, if it be according to the will of God and for the good of our souls, and obtain for us above all the grace to believe what the Church teaches and to live what we profess.
Amen.
Comforted with the holy Mysteries of Thy precious Body and Blood, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that by the example of Saint John, Thy Confessor, we may be zealous to confess what he believed and to put in practice what he taught. Who liveth and reigneth with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.
Amen.
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
St. John Leonardi, pray for us!
Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Answered Prayers from the Community
“I received tremendous peace throughout as well as new understandings. On the last day I received a beautiful gift I didn’t ask for, a beautiful memory of my son. I’m so grateful and extremely happy! Thank you St Michael!! Glory to you O sweet God!!”
Day 3
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
O glorious Saint John Leonardi, you learned in your youth to weigh out remedies for the body, and then laid that work aside because you had seen a deeper sickness and knew a better medicine. Obtain for us the same clear sight, that we may not spend ourselves upon what passes and neglect what does not.
You gathered the boys of Lucca and taught them their catechism when no one else would trouble, believing that the Church is renewed by instructing the young in the faith. Bless all catechists, all parents teaching their children to pray, and all who labor to hand on what they have received.
You worked for the reform of the clergy and of religious houses, and for your pains you were slandered and driven out of your own city and kept from it nearly all your life, and you never returned the injury nor gave up the work. Give us that patience. Teach us to seek the good of the Church without bitterness against those who oppose us, and to leave our vindication to God.
You helped to raise up in Rome the seminary from which missionaries have gone out to the ends of the earth. Pray for all who preach the Gospel far from home. And when the plague came upon the city you did not flee it but went in among the sick and took your death from them. Watch over pharmacists and all who prepare and dispense medicines, over doctors and nurses, and over everyone who serves the sick at cost to themselves.
And now, dear Saint John Leonardi, we place in your hands the particular favor we ask through your intercession.
(mention request here…)
Obtain this for us, if it be according to the will of God and for the good of our souls, and obtain for us above all the grace to believe what the Church teaches and to live what we profess.
Amen.
Comforted with the holy Mysteries of Thy precious Body and Blood, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that by the example of Saint John, Thy Confessor, we may be zealous to confess what he believed and to put in practice what he taught. Who liveth and reigneth with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.
Amen.
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
St. John Leonardi, pray for us!
Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Answered Prayers from the Community
“I received tremendous peace throughout as well as new understandings. On the last day I received a beautiful gift I didn’t ask for, a beautiful memory of my son. I’m so grateful and extremely happy! Thank you St Michael!! Glory to you O sweet God!!”
Day 4
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
O glorious Saint John Leonardi, you learned in your youth to weigh out remedies for the body, and then laid that work aside because you had seen a deeper sickness and knew a better medicine. Obtain for us the same clear sight, that we may not spend ourselves upon what passes and neglect what does not.
You gathered the boys of Lucca and taught them their catechism when no one else would trouble, believing that the Church is renewed by instructing the young in the faith. Bless all catechists, all parents teaching their children to pray, and all who labor to hand on what they have received.
You worked for the reform of the clergy and of religious houses, and for your pains you were slandered and driven out of your own city and kept from it nearly all your life, and you never returned the injury nor gave up the work. Give us that patience. Teach us to seek the good of the Church without bitterness against those who oppose us, and to leave our vindication to God.
You helped to raise up in Rome the seminary from which missionaries have gone out to the ends of the earth. Pray for all who preach the Gospel far from home. And when the plague came upon the city you did not flee it but went in among the sick and took your death from them. Watch over pharmacists and all who prepare and dispense medicines, over doctors and nurses, and over everyone who serves the sick at cost to themselves.
And now, dear Saint John Leonardi, we place in your hands the particular favor we ask through your intercession.
(mention request here…)
Obtain this for us, if it be according to the will of God and for the good of our souls, and obtain for us above all the grace to believe what the Church teaches and to live what we profess.
Amen.
Comforted with the holy Mysteries of Thy precious Body and Blood, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that by the example of Saint John, Thy Confessor, we may be zealous to confess what he believed and to put in practice what he taught. Who liveth and reigneth with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.
Amen.
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
St. John Leonardi, pray for us!
Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Answered Prayers from the Community
“I received tremendous peace throughout as well as new understandings. On the last day I received a beautiful gift I didn’t ask for, a beautiful memory of my son. I’m so grateful and extremely happy! Thank you St Michael!! Glory to you O sweet God!!”
Day 5
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
O glorious Saint John Leonardi, you learned in your youth to weigh out remedies for the body, and then laid that work aside because you had seen a deeper sickness and knew a better medicine. Obtain for us the same clear sight, that we may not spend ourselves upon what passes and neglect what does not.
You gathered the boys of Lucca and taught them their catechism when no one else would trouble, believing that the Church is renewed by instructing the young in the faith. Bless all catechists, all parents teaching their children to pray, and all who labor to hand on what they have received.
You worked for the reform of the clergy and of religious houses, and for your pains you were slandered and driven out of your own city and kept from it nearly all your life, and you never returned the injury nor gave up the work. Give us that patience. Teach us to seek the good of the Church without bitterness against those who oppose us, and to leave our vindication to God.
You helped to raise up in Rome the seminary from which missionaries have gone out to the ends of the earth. Pray for all who preach the Gospel far from home. And when the plague came upon the city you did not flee it but went in among the sick and took your death from them. Watch over pharmacists and all who prepare and dispense medicines, over doctors and nurses, and over everyone who serves the sick at cost to themselves.
And now, dear Saint John Leonardi, we place in your hands the particular favor we ask through your intercession.
(mention request here…)
Obtain this for us, if it be according to the will of God and for the good of our souls, and obtain for us above all the grace to believe what the Church teaches and to live what we profess.
Amen.
Comforted with the holy Mysteries of Thy precious Body and Blood, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that by the example of Saint John, Thy Confessor, we may be zealous to confess what he believed and to put in practice what he taught. Who liveth and reigneth with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.
Amen.
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
St. John Leonardi, pray for us!
Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Answered Prayers from the Community
“I received tremendous peace throughout as well as new understandings. On the last day I received a beautiful gift I didn’t ask for, a beautiful memory of my son. I’m so grateful and extremely happy! Thank you St Michael!! Glory to you O sweet God!!”
Day 6
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
O glorious Saint John Leonardi, you learned in your youth to weigh out remedies for the body, and then laid that work aside because you had seen a deeper sickness and knew a better medicine. Obtain for us the same clear sight, that we may not spend ourselves upon what passes and neglect what does not.
You gathered the boys of Lucca and taught them their catechism when no one else would trouble, believing that the Church is renewed by instructing the young in the faith. Bless all catechists, all parents teaching their children to pray, and all who labor to hand on what they have received.
You worked for the reform of the clergy and of religious houses, and for your pains you were slandered and driven out of your own city and kept from it nearly all your life, and you never returned the injury nor gave up the work. Give us that patience. Teach us to seek the good of the Church without bitterness against those who oppose us, and to leave our vindication to God.
You helped to raise up in Rome the seminary from which missionaries have gone out to the ends of the earth. Pray for all who preach the Gospel far from home. And when the plague came upon the city you did not flee it but went in among the sick and took your death from them. Watch over pharmacists and all who prepare and dispense medicines, over doctors and nurses, and over everyone who serves the sick at cost to themselves.
And now, dear Saint John Leonardi, we place in your hands the particular favor we ask through your intercession.
(mention request here…)
Obtain this for us, if it be according to the will of God and for the good of our souls, and obtain for us above all the grace to believe what the Church teaches and to live what we profess.
Amen.
Comforted with the holy Mysteries of Thy precious Body and Blood, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that by the example of Saint John, Thy Confessor, we may be zealous to confess what he believed and to put in practice what he taught. Who liveth and reigneth with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.
Amen.
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
St. John Leonardi, pray for us!
Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Answered Prayers from the Community
“I received tremendous peace throughout as well as new understandings. On the last day I received a beautiful gift I didn’t ask for, a beautiful memory of my son. I’m so grateful and extremely happy! Thank you St Michael!! Glory to you O sweet God!!”
Day 7
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
O glorious Saint John Leonardi, you learned in your youth to weigh out remedies for the body, and then laid that work aside because you had seen a deeper sickness and knew a better medicine. Obtain for us the same clear sight, that we may not spend ourselves upon what passes and neglect what does not.
You gathered the boys of Lucca and taught them their catechism when no one else would trouble, believing that the Church is renewed by instructing the young in the faith. Bless all catechists, all parents teaching their children to pray, and all who labor to hand on what they have received.
You worked for the reform of the clergy and of religious houses, and for your pains you were slandered and driven out of your own city and kept from it nearly all your life, and you never returned the injury nor gave up the work. Give us that patience. Teach us to seek the good of the Church without bitterness against those who oppose us, and to leave our vindication to God.
You helped to raise up in Rome the seminary from which missionaries have gone out to the ends of the earth. Pray for all who preach the Gospel far from home. And when the plague came upon the city you did not flee it but went in among the sick and took your death from them. Watch over pharmacists and all who prepare and dispense medicines, over doctors and nurses, and over everyone who serves the sick at cost to themselves.
And now, dear Saint John Leonardi, we place in your hands the particular favor we ask through your intercession.
(mention request here…)
Obtain this for us, if it be according to the will of God and for the good of our souls, and obtain for us above all the grace to believe what the Church teaches and to live what we profess.
Amen.
Comforted with the holy Mysteries of Thy precious Body and Blood, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that by the example of Saint John, Thy Confessor, we may be zealous to confess what he believed and to put in practice what he taught. Who liveth and reigneth with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.
Amen.
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
St. John Leonardi, pray for us!
Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Answered Prayers from the Community
“I received tremendous peace throughout as well as new understandings. On the last day I received a beautiful gift I didn’t ask for, a beautiful memory of my son. I’m so grateful and extremely happy! Thank you St Michael!! Glory to you O sweet God!!”
Day 8
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
O glorious Saint John Leonardi, you learned in your youth to weigh out remedies for the body, and then laid that work aside because you had seen a deeper sickness and knew a better medicine. Obtain for us the same clear sight, that we may not spend ourselves upon what passes and neglect what does not.
You gathered the boys of Lucca and taught them their catechism when no one else would trouble, believing that the Church is renewed by instructing the young in the faith. Bless all catechists, all parents teaching their children to pray, and all who labor to hand on what they have received.
You worked for the reform of the clergy and of religious houses, and for your pains you were slandered and driven out of your own city and kept from it nearly all your life, and you never returned the injury nor gave up the work. Give us that patience. Teach us to seek the good of the Church without bitterness against those who oppose us, and to leave our vindication to God.
You helped to raise up in Rome the seminary from which missionaries have gone out to the ends of the earth. Pray for all who preach the Gospel far from home. And when the plague came upon the city you did not flee it but went in among the sick and took your death from them. Watch over pharmacists and all who prepare and dispense medicines, over doctors and nurses, and over everyone who serves the sick at cost to themselves.
And now, dear Saint John Leonardi, we place in your hands the particular favor we ask through your intercession.
(mention request here…)
Obtain this for us, if it be according to the will of God and for the good of our souls, and obtain for us above all the grace to believe what the Church teaches and to live what we profess.
Amen.
Comforted with the holy Mysteries of Thy precious Body and Blood, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that by the example of Saint John, Thy Confessor, we may be zealous to confess what he believed and to put in practice what he taught. Who liveth and reigneth with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.
Amen.
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
St. John Leonardi, pray for us!
Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Answered Prayers from the Community
“I received tremendous peace throughout as well as new understandings. On the last day I received a beautiful gift I didn’t ask for, a beautiful memory of my son. I’m so grateful and extremely happy! Thank you St Michael!! Glory to you O sweet God!!”
Day 9
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
O glorious Saint John Leonardi, you learned in your youth to weigh out remedies for the body, and then laid that work aside because you had seen a deeper sickness and knew a better medicine. Obtain for us the same clear sight, that we may not spend ourselves upon what passes and neglect what does not.
You gathered the boys of Lucca and taught them their catechism when no one else would trouble, believing that the Church is renewed by instructing the young in the faith. Bless all catechists, all parents teaching their children to pray, and all who labor to hand on what they have received.
You worked for the reform of the clergy and of religious houses, and for your pains you were slandered and driven out of your own city and kept from it nearly all your life, and you never returned the injury nor gave up the work. Give us that patience. Teach us to seek the good of the Church without bitterness against those who oppose us, and to leave our vindication to God.
You helped to raise up in Rome the seminary from which missionaries have gone out to the ends of the earth. Pray for all who preach the Gospel far from home. And when the plague came upon the city you did not flee it but went in among the sick and took your death from them. Watch over pharmacists and all who prepare and dispense medicines, over doctors and nurses, and over everyone who serves the sick at cost to themselves.
And now, dear Saint John Leonardi, we place in your hands the particular favor we ask through your intercession.
(mention request here…)
Obtain this for us, if it be according to the will of God and for the good of our souls, and obtain for us above all the grace to believe what the Church teaches and to live what we profess.
Amen.
Comforted with the holy Mysteries of Thy precious Body and Blood, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that by the example of Saint John, Thy Confessor, we may be zealous to confess what he believed and to put in practice what he taught. Who liveth and reigneth with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.
Amen.
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
St. John Leonardi, pray for us!
Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Answered Prayers from the Community
“I received tremendous peace throughout as well as new understandings. On the last day I received a beautiful gift I didn’t ask for, a beautiful memory of my son. I’m so grateful and extremely happy! Thank you St Michael!! Glory to you O sweet God!!”
⏰ Reminder Signup
Click here to get the Catholic Novena Ebook for FREE, as well as reminders of when novenas begin