October 23: ST. JOHN OF CAPISTRANO: The Friar Who Led an Army

St. John of Capistrano was a seventy-year-old friar with no sword — and he rode out to help save Europe from an Ottoman siege.

A former lawyer who joined the Franciscans after a dream of St. Francis changed his life, John became one of the greatest preachers of his age, drawing tens of thousands wherever he spoke. When Constantinople fell and Belgrade came under siege, he answered the Pope's call to preach the crusade, using fasting and penance to prepare himself before joining the charge that helped save the city.

"Courage in the service of God does not require a sword or a title — it requires only a heart that has decided, once and for all, that God is worth everything."

John's challenge doesn't have to end when the episode does. Our free Family Pack has a saint calendar, feast-day activity pages, and family discussion questions to keep it going at home — free when you subscribe: https://shop.catholicsprouts.com/pages/every-days-a-feast-day-follow-along