St Guido Maria Conforti was born on March 30, 1865, at Ravadese, Parma, Italy. He was the eighth born of the ten children Rinaldo Conforti and Antonia Adorni Conforti.

When he was young, he used to have conversations with Christ crucified in his Santa Maria della Pace parish church on his way to school.

At the age of 17, he entered the seminary in Parma, Italy, and was ordained a priest on September 22, 1888.

After ordination, Conforti became a professor at the seminary and thereafter became the Vice-rector. Later on, he became the Vicar of Clergy in the diocese of Parma.

On December 3, 1895, he founded the Xaverian Missionaries, and they were assigned to evangelize in China.

Pope Leo XIII appointed St Guido Maria Conforti as the Archbishop of Ravenna, Italy on June 9, 1902, after the death of Cardinal Agostino Gaetano Riboldi, the Archbishop of Ravenna. He was consecrated as a bishop on June 11, 1902.

In October 1904, he resigned as archbishop due to poor health; but on November 14, 1904, he was made the Coadjutor bishop of Parma, Italy, and titular archbishop of Stauropolis.

On December 12, 1907, Conforti became the bishop of Parma, Italy but retained his title as archbishop.

He visited his parishes regularly, worked for religious formation, and supported religious education for the laity and lay involvement with youth.

In 1928, Conforti travelled to China to visit the Xaverians working there. On his return back to Parma in October 1931, he fell sick and one month later he died on November 5, 1931.

St Guido Maria Conforti was beatified by Pope John Paul II on March 17, 1996 and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 23, 2011.

He is the patron saint of Xaverian Missionary Fathers.

Other Saints of the Day
1. Saint Elizabeth
2. Saint Bertilia
3. Saint Dominator
4. Saint Galation
5. Saint Sylvia

-catholicreadings.org