Founder of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood

Gaspar stood up against the powers of evil, which in his day was Napoleon.
Apostle of the devotion to the Precious Blood, Gaspar was born in Rome on January 6,1786.  As a young priest, he was imprisoned for four years by Napoleon, because he would not sign an oath of loyalty.  His motto, which has become famous, is "I cannot; I must not; I will not."  After Napoleon's defeat, he returned to Rome iand in the year 1815 he founded the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood.  As a devoted priest he revived the works of the apostolate in Rome and later became a dedicated missionary.  In his missionary travels of Italy he invited the faithful to reflect upon and to adore the Precious Blood of Christ.
Travel with us up and down Italy to Bologna, Rome, San Felice in Umbria, and Albano Laziale near Caster Gandolfo.  He was Beatified by St. Pius X in 1904 and canonized by Pius XII on June 12, 1954.  Bld. Pope John XXIII visited his Shrine in the Church of Santa Maria in Trivio on January 4, 1963, to ask his intercession and protection for Vatican Council II.