The favourite Croatian saint leaving Croatia today.
The farewell prayer over the body of St. Leopold Bogdan Mandić was led on Monday morning in the parish that carries his name in Zagreb by Cardinal Josip Bozanić, the Archbishop of Zagreb. After the prayer, the sarcophagus containing the body of the saint was transferred to Ljubljana in Slovenia, reports N1 on April 18, 2016.
The body of the Croatian saint Bogdan Mandić arrived in Croatia on Wednesday and was welcomed by thousands of Catholic faithful in front of the Zagreb cathedral, together with Cardinal Josip Bozanić.
The veneration of the saint’s body was held at the Zagreb cathedral on 13 and 14 April when the body was transferred to the Church of Saint Leopold Bogdan Mandić in the Dubrava neighbourhood of Zagreb. Organizers say that during these five days more than 200,000 people paid homage to the body of the saint.
After Zagreb, the saint’s body will be exhibited at the Capuchin church of Saint Stephen in Ljubljana, where it will be officially welcomed by the Archbishop of Ljubljana Stanislav Zore. The body will later be returned to Padua in Italy
Saint Leopold Mandić was born on 12 May 1866 in Herceg Novi in today’s Montenegro. He died in Padua in Italy on 30 July 1942. According to the Catholic calendar, his feast is celebrated every year on 30 July. During World War II, he spent a year in an Italian prison, not wanting to deny his affiliation to the Croatian people. Pope John Paul II canonized him as a saint on 16 October 1983.
