Bl. Mark of Modena

A native of Modena, Italy, Mark was a priest of the Dominican Order, becoming known across northern Italy as a holy and efficacious preacher. Miracles were attributed to his intercession in his lifetime, and particularly during his tenure as prior of the Dominican friary of Pesaro. In one instance a distraught mother brought her deceased three or four-year-old son to beg the friar's prayers for the boy. After praying as the mother had asked, Mark took the child's hand and said to him, "John Baptist, arise in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." The boy thereupon came to life and was returned to his mother. Some years after Mark of Modena's death, as his relics were being transferred, all the people present for the occasion perceived a beautiful fragrance and heard the church bells begin to ring of their own accord.