St. Hannibal got so surprised when finally he found the inspiration he already had received during adoration, right in the words of Jesus:
“The harvest is great, but the laborers are few! Pray (in latin Rogate) therefore the owner of the harvest, so that he will send laborers into his harvest” (Mt. 9, 37-38; Lk 10,2).
While still very young, St. Hannibal had the intuition by divine inspiration on the importance of prayer in the pastoral care for vocations, even before discovering its origin from the Gospel.
As St. Hannibal stater going in Avignone, some of the people there stopped him and blackmailed the young priest, trying to discourage his zeal.
As a young priest, St. Hannibal met Zancone, a young beggar, half blind, and asked him “Do you know the things of God?”. He answered: “And who will teach that to me?”. St. Hannibal said: “I’ll be visiting you”. Zancone lived in Avignone, a very poor area, and from that time on, St. Hannibal started going there continuously.
Still a boy, being in college, was so sad because of the rudeness of his classmates who started throwing food to a poor man eating in the dining room with them. Took all he could and run after the poor man, to give him something to take away. The man embraced him crying.
St. Hannibal was Born in Messina, Italy, on July 5, 1851 from a noble family. He was the second born of Cav. Di Francia and Anna Toscano. The eldest was Giovanni, then Hannibal, Francesco and a little sister. He decided to become a priest with his brother Francesco, against the will of their mother.
