In 1156, in the Italian city of Pisa, St. Bona was born. She was the child of a single mother and she had heard that her father had disappeared while on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. She was highly religious as a child. She had visions as a young child, especially of St. James, which inspired her to live an ascetic life of fasting and penance. In a vision, while praying in front of the crucifix, Jesus extended out his hand and touched her. She had attained the rank of Augustinian tertiary at the age of eleven (tertiary is a lay member of a monastic order).

In another vision, she learned that her father was still alive and fighting in the Crusades in Jerusalem. St. Bona decided to travel to Jerusalem in search of her father. She was only 14 years old when she took this trip, which was her first ever. On the way back home, after finding him, she was kidnapped by pirates in the Mediterranean Sea. She was saved by locals, and she eventually made it home safely.

These encounters didn't deter Bona. She immediately embarked on another 1,000-mile journey to Compostella, but this time she was in charge of a sizable group of pilgrims traveling under the auspices of the Knights of St. James.

She was to make the journey a further nine times, traveling mainly on foot. According to a contemporary source, Bona was upbeat and adventurous: "full of energy, helpful and unselfish, ready to reassure with her smile those who were sick."

While embarking on her tenth pilgrimage, she fell unwell. On this day in 1207, Bona, who had made it to her tiny room close to the San Martino Church, passed away at the age of 51. She was canonized by Pope John XXIII in 1962.

She was chosen as the patron saint of flight attendants, tour guides, couriers, pilgrims, and travelers by Pope John XXIII. She is depicted clutching a scallop shell to signify her devotion to Saint James and a shoe to indicate that she is the Pilgrims' Patron Saint in liturgical art. Her feast day is celebrated on May 29.

Other Saints of the Day
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Saint Maximus
Saint Theodosia & Companions
Saint John de Atares
Saint Julia Maria Ledochowska