Conrad of Piancenza came from a noble family in northern Italy. His wife was also from noble lineage. After he confessed to a crime that had committed for which a peasant had been wrongfully accused, he and his wife separated, with his wife entering a poor Clare monastery and Conrad professing a life according to the third order Franciscans. Conrad lived in a hermitage in Sicily for the rest of life, devoting himself to prayer. Whenever he was tempted to sin, he would turn to prayer and penance. He died while kneeling before a crucifix. Conrad of Piancenza died in 1351. He was canonized in 1625.
In our psalm today, the Psalmist prays: “To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.” We can praise the Lord in different ways. We can make sacrifices to the Lord in different ways. St Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan religious order, praised the Lord both in contemplation and in preaching; his periods of intense prayer nourished his preaching. Some of his early followers, however, felt called to a life of greater contemplation, such as St Conrad of Piacenza. While such an austere life of living as a hermit is not the norm of the Church, their life of faith helps our understanding and appreciation of prayer and contemplation.
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