St. Vincent Strambi

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Vincent Strambi was the son of a druggist, and was born on January 1 at Civitavecchia, Italy. He resisted his parents' wish that he become a diocesan priest, and though he studied at the diocesan seminary and was ordained in 1767, he joined the Passionists in 1768 after attending a retreat given by St. Paul of the Cross. Vincent became a professor of theology, was made provincial in 1781, and in 1801, was appointed bishop of Macera and Tolentino. He was expelled from his See when he refused to take an oath of alliance to Napoleon in 1808, but returned in 1813 with the downfall of Napoleon. When Napoleon escaped from Elba, Murat made Macerta his headquarters, and when his troops were defeated by the Austrians, Vincent dissuaded him from sacking and destroying the town. He imposed reform in his See that caused threats to his life, labored for his people during a typhus epidemic, and resigned his See on the death of Pope Pius VII to become one of the advisers of his old friend Pope Leo XII in Rome. Vincent died on January 1, and was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1950. His feast day is September 25.