Saint Servulus

Servulus was a poor man in Rome who had been paralyzed from childhood and could not even sit up. His mother and brother carried him every day to the porch of the church of Saint Clement, where he begged and shared what he received with other poor people. He could not read, but he bought copies of Scripture and asked visitors to read them to him, so he learned the Psalms by heart and sang them with joy. Pope Saint Gregory the Great, who knew of him, wrote that he died around 590 singing praise to God.

Gregory the Great told his story in a homily and in his Dialogues as an example for all who suffer. The Basilica of San Clemente in Rome, where he begged, still stands.