Our patron, Saint Felix was born in Cantalice, Italy, in 1515. The son of farmers, Felix as a young man became enthused by the lives of the desert ascetics and desired to imitate their austerity. He had a dream in which an angel directed him to be a Capuchin, and after three unsuccessful trips to find someone, he finally presented himself to the Capuchin friary at Cittaducale. In a church where he prayed before a cross where the corpus was bruised and bloodied, he felt the depth of God’s love for him. He remained there and prayed well into the evening, and the local minister was so moved, he was accepted into the Capuchins in 1543, and professed his vows on May 18, 1545.

In his younger years, he had vowed never to touch bread. Ironically, one of his assignments was to quest for bread and wine. He always made his request barefoot, with eyes cast down. His response to each benefactor was a humble “Deo Gratias” ("Thank God"), and in fact became known as “Brother Deo Gratias.”

Felix visited the sick in the friary, in private homes, and hospitals. His reputation as a healer of peoples’ ills spread. He would often bless the sick with a crucifix, and they would be healed, and other times he would give away alms that he collected, which in turn would become channels of healing.