*SAINT GREGORY BARBARIGO, Bishop & Confessor.* Gregory Barbarigo was born on 16 September 1625 at Venice, Italy as Gregorio Giovanni Gasparo Barbarigo. He was the son of a Venetian senator and was educated at the University of Padua. He was a Civil and canon lawyer who worked on the negotiations for the Peace of Westphalia that ended the Thirty Years' War on 24 October 1648; one of his co-workers was Archbishop Fabio Chigi, the future Pope Alexander VII. He obtained his doctorates in both canon and civil law, as well as theology. He was ordained as a priest on 21st December 1655 and became a domestic prelate to Pope Alexander VII. At the request of the Pope, he organized assistance for plague stricken people of the Romans in the Trastevere area. He also oversaw the care of the mothers and their children and the funerals of the deceased in this work. He became a Referendary of the Tribunals of the Apostolic Signature of Justice and of Grace. On 9 July 1657, Pope Alexander VII appointed him the first Bishop of Bergamo and received his episcopal consecration on 29 July 1657 and led in promoting the reforms of the Council of Trent. He visited parishes, organizing the teaching of Christian doctrine and also worked with seminarians and clergy to raise their standards. His fame spread through the ranks so much to the point that his old friend Pope Alexander VII elevated him into the cardinalate on 5th April 1660. On 24 March 1664, he was made the Bishop of Padua and upon entrance into his new diocese he strove to model himself upon the example of St. Charles Borromeo. He fostered cathechetical instruction and he travelled across to each village in his diocese in order to teach and to preach to the people. His compassion to the poor was well known for he gave his household goods and his clothes to the poor and even sold his bed to help them. He was part of the conclave of 1667 that chose Pope Clement IX and the conclave of 1676 that chose Blessed Pope Innocent XI. He supervised Catholic teaching in Rome, Italy for three years. On the conclave of 1689, he was part of the Bishops that chose Pope Alexander VIII and the conclave of 1691 that chose Pope Innoc. Bishop Gregory was extremely interested in higher education and worked for the development of seminaries and libraries. He established a printing press that printed pamphlets for Christians under Moslem rule. After a brief illness on 18 June 1697, he died in Padua and was interred at the Cathedral. His remains were exhumed on 25 May 1725 and found to be incorrupt. He was beatified on 6 July 1771 by Pope Clement XIV and was canonized on 26 May 1960 by Pope John XXIII. _*St. Gregory Barbarigo, pray for us.*_