.jpg)
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682),
San Félix de Cantalicio con la Virgen María y el
Niño Jesús, circa 1668, 283 x 188, Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla.
Óleo sobre lienzo (1668-1669) pintura destinada a la nave de la Epístola del
Convento de Capuchinos (Sevilla). San Félix Cantalicio agradece a la
Virgen la entrega del Niño.
Saint Félix de Cantalice
Capucin à Rome (+ 1587)
Né dans une humble
famille de paysans, il passa toute sa vie dans un couvent franciscain de Rome
où il était connu sous le nom de "frère Deo Gratias." C'était sa
réponse permanente à tous ceux qui lui donnaient l'aumône ou bien le
repoussaient. Son optimisme infatigable en fit l'un des saints les plus
populaires de la Ville éternelle.
À Rome, en 1587, saint
Félix de Cantalice, religieux capucin, d’une austérité et d’une simplicité
admirables. Pendant quarante ans, il exerça l’office de quêteur, semant autour
de lui la paix et la charité.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1178/Saint-Felix-de-Cantalice.html
Bartolomeo Gennari, Madonna col Bambino e San Felice da Cantalice, circa 1640, 230 x 158, Pinacoteca comunale, Cesena, Italia
SAINT FÉLIX de CANTALICE
Capucin
(+ 1587)
Félix vit le jour à
Cantalice, bourgade située au pied de l'Apennin. Dès le bas âge, il manifesta
de telles marques de prédestination que ses compagnons l'avaient surnommé
"le petit Saint". Ses parents, qui étaient de pauvres laboureurs,
l'employèrent de bonne heure à garder les troupeaux. Cette vie allait bien à
l'âme méditative de l'enfant: peu enclin aux conversations oiseuses, il
recherchait les lieux solitaires, et y répétait souvent le Pater et l'Ave et
les quelques formules pieuses qu'on lui avait apprises. Lorsque les autres
bergers se livraient au sommeil, lui s'agenouillait devant un arbre sur
l'écorce duquel il avait gravé une Croix.
À neuf ans, Félix passa
au service d'un riche bourgeois qui lui confia d'abord la garde de ses
troupeaux, puis le chargea du labourage de ses terres. Le jeune homme aima son
nouvel emploi qui lui permettait d'assister tous les jours à la Messe avant de
se rendre aux champs. Cet humble travailleur, sans instruction, qui n'avait
fréquenté aucune école, avait beaucoup appris du Saint-Esprit. Comme il
l'avouait plus tard, il ne connaissait que six lettres: cinq rouges et une
blanche. Les cinq rouges étaient les cinq plaies du Sauveur, et la blanche
était la Vierge Marie.
Dieu lui inspira d'embrasser
un genre de vie plus parfait. À un parent qui lui objectait les austérités de
la vie religieuse, il répondit: "Je veux être religieux tout de bon ou ne
pas m'en mêler". Il alla frapper à la porte des Capucins. À la vue de ce
paysan du Danube, le Père Gardien, voulant l'éprouver, lui dit: "Vous
venez sans doute ici pour avoir un habit neuf et y vivre sans rien faire. Ou
bien vous croyez que vous allez commander aux religieux comme vous commandiez à
vos boeufs. Renoncez à ce projet et n'y pensez plus". Mais le postulant
répondit à ce compliment si humblement et si sensément que le terrible Gardien
l'admit sur-le-champ.
Devenu profès, le Frère
Félix fut fixé au couvent de Rome avec les attributions de quêteur. Il resta
quarante ans dans cet humble emploi, allant chaque jour, la besace sur le dos,
pieds nus, et récitant son chapelet, quêter la subsistance de ses Frères. Les
humiliations, comme les peines corporelles, étaient pour lui ses roses du
Paradis; il ne craignait pas de s'appeler lui-même l'âne du couvent des
Capucins. "Mais où est-il donc, votre âne? Frère Félix", lui
demanda-t-on un jour. -- "C'est moi!" répondit l'humble religieux.
Dans sa vieillesse, le
Cardinal protecteur de l'Ordre lui offrit de le faire décharger de ses
fatigantes fonctions. "Monseigneur, répondit Félix, laissez-moi mon office
de quêteur: un soldat doit mourir l'épée à la main, un âne sous sa charge, et
Frère Félix sous sa besace".
La mortification allait
de pair avec son esprit de pauvreté et d'humilité: il se privait même des
satisfactions les plus légitimes, telles que de s'approcher du feu l'hiver.
"Allons, Frère âne, disait-il à son corps, il faut que tu te réchauffes
sans feu; car c'est ainsi que doivent être traitées les bêtes de somme... Loin
du feu, Frère âne, loin du feu! C'est devant le feu que saint Pierre renia son
Maître."
Après avoir achevé de le
purifier par de douloureuses infirmités, patiemment supportées, Dieu rappela à
Lui le Frère Félix, le 18 mai 1587.
J.M. Planchet, Nouvelle
Vie des Saints, p. 199
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_felix_de_cantalice.html
Félix, le moine illettré
et joyeux qui devint “frère Deo Gratias”
Aliénor
Goudet - publié le 17/05/22
Saint Félix de Cantalice,
moine quêteur du XVIe siècle que l'on fête le 18 mai, s'assurait de bénir tous
ceux qui croisaient sa route.
En 1515, un petit garçon
né dans une famille de paysan, à Cantalice, en Italie. Dès son enfance, Félix
impressionne les habitants de la bourgade par sa piété. Lorsqu’il garde les
bêtes aux champs, on le voit souvent les yeux vers le ciel à prier avec un
sourire jusqu’aux oreilles. Quand on le traite de tête en l’air, il répond
qu’il faut bien se faire saint. En effet, il préfère la solitude de la prière
aux commérages. Sa réputation est telle qu’on le surnomme le petit saint.
Une fois adulte, il
demande à entrer chez les capucins. S’il manque cruellement d’éducation, il
fait preuve d’une telle vertu qu’on ne peut le refuser. On l’envoie à Rome pour
être quêteur, et chaque jour, une lourde besace sur les épaules, il demande
l’aumône. Qu’on lui offre quelques sous ou qu’on le rejette sans ménagement,
Félix répond chaque fois par “Deo Gratias”.
On se moque souvent de
lui pour son apparence peu soignée et son allure d’âne trop chargé. Il en rit,
se proclamant lui-même “âne des capucins”. Lorsque la vieillesse le gagne, on
veut lui alléger sa tâche et lui permettre de se reposer. Mais Félix supplie
qu’on lui laisse porter son fardeau jusqu’au bout, ce qu’il fera jusqu’à sa
mort en 1587.
Lire aussi :Gisèle, reine, mère, et pilier du christianisme en Hongrie
Lire aussi :Zita, la servante mal-aimée qui n’oubliait pas les pauvres
SOURCE : https://fr.aleteia.org/2022/05/17/felix-le-moine-illettre-et-joyeux-qui-devint-frere-deo-gratias/
Statue
des Hl. Felix von Cantalica in Felixdorf, Niederösterreich. Die Skulptur wurde
1823 im Beisein von Felix Mießl, Bürgermeister von Wiener Neustadt und Gründer
der Gemeinde Felixdorf, enthüllt.
Statue
of Saint Felix of Cantalica in Felixdorf, Lower Austria. The statue was
unveiled by Felix Mießl, mayor of Wiener Neustadt and founder of Felixdorf in
1823.
Saint Félix de Cantalice
Fête saint : 18 Mai
Présentation
Titre : Capucin
Date : 1513-1587
Pape : Léon X ; Sixte V
Ce bon religieux naquit à
Cantalice, au pied du mont Apennin, sur les confins de l'Ombrie ou du duché de
Spolète, l'an de grâce 1513. Ses parents étaient pauvres et laboureurs de
profession, mais ils avaient beaucoup de piété ; et, comme le père s'appelait
Saint et la mère Sainte, ils ne démentaient pas par leur vie et leurs actions
l'excellence de leur nom. Saint en donna un beau témoignage, lorsque, voyant
expirer une fille de son fils ainé, il lui dit avec larmes, mais d'un esprit
prophétique : « Allez en paix, ma petite Sainte, avec la bénédiction de Dieu et
la mienne, je vous suivrai de près : samedi prochain j'espère vous voir ».
La Vie des Saints : Saint
Félix de Cantalice
Auteur
Emmanuel Mathiss de la
Citadelle
Les Petits Bollandistes -
Vies des Saints - Septième édition - Bloud et Barral - 1876 -
Saint Félix de Cantalice
À Rome, saint Félix,
confesseur, de l'Ordre des Mineurs Capucins, illustre par sa charité
évangélique et sa simplicité, que le pape Clément XI mit au rang des Saints. ✞ 1587.
Hagiographie
Ce bon religieux naquit à
Cantalice, au pied du mont Apennin, sur les confins de l’Ombrie ou du duché de
Spolète, l’an de grâce 1513. Ses parents étaient pauvres et laboureurs de
profession, mais ils avaient beaucoup de piété ; et, comme le père s’appelait Saint
et la mère Sainte, ils ne démentaient pas par leur vie et leurs actions
l’excellence de leur nom. Saint en donna un beau témoignage, lorsque, voyant
expirer une fille de son fils ainé, il lui dit avec larmes, mais d’un esprit
prophétique :
« Allez en paix, ma
petite Sainte, avec la bénédiction de Dieu et la mienne, je vous suivrai de
près : samedi prochain j’espère vous voir ».
Ce qu’il avait prédit
arriva effectivement, bien que, lorsqu’il proféra ces paroles, il fût en pleine
santé.
Félix fut le troisième de
quatre enfants qu’il eut de son mariage. Élevé fort soigneusement dans cette
école domestique, il fit d’abord de si grands progrès dans la vertu, qu’on le
considérait déjà comme un Saint. Les enfants, lorsqu’ils le voyaient
approcher, se disaient l’un à l’autre, par respect :
« Voici Félix, voici le
Saint ».
Dès qu’il fut en état de
rendre quelque service à la famille, son père l’employa à garder les bestiaux
à la campagne ; et là, tandis que ses compagnons dormaient la nuit, ou que le
jour ils prenaient quelque divertissement, il se retirait secrètement, et se
jetant à genoux au pied d’un chêne, devant une croix qu’il y avait gravée, il
faisait ses prières et méditait les douleurs de Notre-Seigneur en sa Passion ;
outre cela, il récitait, le plus souvent qu’il pouvait, le Pater et
l’Ave, Maria.
À l’âge de douze ans, il
se loua en qualité de berger à un seigneur nommé Marc Tulle Pichi ou Picarelli.
Alors, il ajouta à ses dévotions ordinaires la sainte communion et l’assistance
plus fréquente au saint sacrifice de la messe. Pour l’entendre, il abandonnait
quelquefois ses-troupeaux à la Providence, qui envoyait un gardien mystérieux :
beaucoup de personnes ont assuré avoir vu ce berger inconnu et extraordinaire.
Lorsque Félix fut plus âgé et plus fort pour en avoir soin, il fut appliqué par
son maître à la charrue et aux autres travaux de la vie rustique : il donne
partout des preuves de sa vertu. Il était extrêmement sobre, fort exact à
observer les jeûnes commandés par l’Église ; et bien qu’il travaillât toute la
journée, néanmoins, ces jours-là, il ne mangeait qu’une seule fois vers le
soir. Il était l’ennemi déclaré du mensonge, des murmures et des mauvais discours,
et, pour les mieux éviter, il parlait peu. Il était toujours humble, patient et
si plein de douceur, que quand quelqu’un l’offensait, il ne se vengeait point
autrement qu’en lui disant :
« Allez, puissiez-vous
devenir Saint ! »
Il se plaisait à entendre
faire la lecture des bons livres. Comme un jour il écoutait attentivement la
vie des saints anachorètes d’Égypte, il conçut un si grand désir de les imiter,
qu’il se proposait déjà de se faire ermite ; mais, rentrant en lui-même et
considérant les périls de la vie solitaire, il résolut de prendre plutôt
l’habit des Frères Mineurs avec la réforme des Capucins ; un de ses cousins
l’en voulant détourner, à cause de largueur de leur vie qui est si austère, il
lui dit en deux mots :
« Qu’il voulait être
religieux tout de bon, ou ne s’en pas mêler ».
Dieu le fortifia dans cette résolution par un
accident assez étrange.
Comme il était fort bon
laboureur, on lui donna un jour commission de dompter et de dresser au joug
deux jeunes taureaux. À peine étaient-ils attelés, que le seigneur Tulle, son
maitre, s’étant présenté à l’improviste, vêtu de noir, ces animaux
s’épouvantèrent ; furieux, ils se mirent à courir impétueusement. Comme Félix
les voulut arrêter, ils le jetèrent par terre ; le foulèrent aux pieds et lui
passèrent la charrue sur le corps ; il devait mourir mille fois de cet accident
; néanmoins, par une singulière providence de Dieu, il n’en reçut aucun mal,
quoique tous ses habits fussent en pièces. Le serviteur et le maître
reconnurent le doigt du Très-Haut, qui n’aime pas qu’on diffère l’exécution des
promesses qu’on lui a faites ; Félix n’eut donc pas de peine à obtenir son
congé pour se consacrer au service d’un plus grand Maître, dans l’Ordre des
Capucins : il vint trouver le gardien du couvent de Civita-Ducale, peu éloigné
de Cantalice, pour lui demander l’habit de son Ordre. En vain ce Père lui
exposa combien la vie d’un capucin est dure et pénible, il ne fit qu’enflammer
les désirs de Félix ; Il le conduisit alors dans l’église, et, lui montrant sur
une croix notre Seigneur tout sanglant, tout livide, il dit :
« Voici, jeune homme, ce
que Jésus-Christ a souffert pour nous ».
À cette vue, et au ton
pathétique du religieux, Félix sentit son cœur ému et versa d’abondantes
larmes. Ces pieux sentiments semblèrent au Père gardien une nouvelle marque de
vocation : il envoya donc le jeune postulant, avec une lettre de recommandation,
à Rome, vers le Provincial. Il avait alors près de trente ans ; on lui fit faire
son noviciat au couvent d’Ascoli. Il y parut, dès le premier jour, tout pénétré
de l’esprit de son Ordre. Souvent il se jetait aux pieds du maître des novices,
le priant de doubler ses mortifications et de le traiter avec plus de rigueur
que les autres, qui étaient, à l’entendre, plus dociles que lui, et plus portés
à la vertu.
Il fit ses vœux en 1515.
Quatre ans après, ses supérieurs l’envoyèrent à Rome ; là il exerça pendant
quarante ans l’office de quêteur, de la manière la plus édifiante. Pendant ses
quêtes, il disait de temps en temps à son compagnon :
« Allons mon frère, le
chapelet à la main, les yeux en terre et l’esprit au ciel ».
Il observait un silence
fort rigoureux, car il ne parlait presque point ; et, quand il le faisait,
c’était toujours avec une grande simplicité et une extrême douceur. Et ce qui
est admirable, quoiqu’en sa jeunesse il eût été élevé dans la rusticité des
gens de la campagne, il avait néanmoins des manières très-polies, qui le
faisaient aimer autant que sa sainteté le faisait admirer. Sa démarche, son
maintien seuls suffisaient pour inspirer de la piété. Comme son office
l’empêchait de visiter les malades pendant le jour, il ne manquait pas, la
nuit, de les voir l’un après l’autre, et de les soulager en tout ce qui lui était
possible. Il ne se contentait pas de ceux du couvent : il en cherchait par
toute la ville de Rome, autant que l’obéissance et sa charge le lui pouvaient
permettre, et ceux qu’il voyait le plus volontiers, c’étaient les plus
nécessiteux et ceux dont les maladies pouvaient donner le plus de répugnance.
Il employait les dimanches et les fêtes à la visite des hôpitaux publics, pour
y servir les pauvres. Sa charité s’étendait sur tous les affligés, à qui il
distribuait non seulement des consolations, mais des soulagements. Quand il
apercevait quelques pauvres honteux, il les secourait aussitôt ; il quêtait
pour leurs nécessités avec plus d’affection que si elles eussent été les
siennes propres : c’est ainsi qu’il a sauvé plusieurs personnes du déshonneur et
du désespoir.
Il était si zélé pour la
gloire de Dieu, qu’il faisait indifféremment la correction fraternelle aux
grands et aux petits ; et quand il rencontrait quelque jeune débauché dans la
rue, il l’arrêtait tout court pour lui faire une remontrance salutaire. Deux
gentilshommes avaient mis l’épée à la main pour vider leur querelle : ils
étaient dans la plus grande chaleur du duel : frère Félix survint fort à
propos, et, du plus loin qu’il les vit, il leur cria de toutes ses forces
: Deo gratias, mes frères ; Deo gratias ; dites
tous deux ; Deo gratias ! Ils n’étaient guère alors en état
d’écouter personne ; cependant la parole de Félix eut tant de force sur eux,
qu’ils s’arrêtèrent tout court, et dirent tous deux : Deo gratias !
Ensuite, ils prirent pour arbitre de leur différend, le saint frère, qui les
réconcilia et les rendit excellents amis. Il n’avait pas moins de sagesse que
de zèle dans les corrections qu’il faisait.
Un jour, qu’il était chez
un juge de la ville que l’on nommait Bernardin Biscia, on apporta à ce juge un
jeune veau avec une lettre pleine de compliments pour lui recommander un
procès. Il en fit la lecture, et, pendant ce temps, cet animal fit entendre
des, mugissements. Le bienheureux Félix en profita pour lui dire :
« Seigneur Bernardin,
entendez-vous bien le langage de cet animal ? Il vous prie de donner gain de
cause à ceux qui vous l’envoient ; mais, prenez garde de ne rien faire contre
votre conscience, de crainte qu’au jour du jugement ces dons ne soient à votre
confusion ».
Il avait la répartie si
prompte et si adroite, qu’il tournait tout à la gloire de Dieu et à
l’édification du prochain. Ayant une fois promis quelques petites croix à la
princesse Colona, il arriva par hasard qu’il fut Obligé de les distribuer à
d’autres personnes. La princesse s’en plaignit, et lui dit agréablement :
« Voilà qui est beau, mon
frère, de promettre et de ne pas tenir. – Mais combien de choses, lui repartit
frère Félix, promettons-nous à Dieu, que nous ne lui tenons pas ? »
Il contracta une étroite
amitié avec saint Philippe de Néri, qui était alors à Rome ; et, toutes les
fois qu’ils se rencontraient ensemble, ils se saluaient avec affection, mais
d’une façon bien nouvelle : car ils se souhaitaient l’un à l’autre les
supplices du fouet, de la roue, du chevalet et de toutes sortes d’autres
tourments pour Jésus-Christ ; et souvent ils demeuraient tous deux bien du
temps sans parler, comme saisis et tout transportés de joie.
Que dirions-nous après
cela des autres vertus de notre bienheureux ? Il avait tant d’estime de
l’obéissance, qu’il demeurait avec joie toute sa vie dans l’office le plus
humiliant. Le cardinal de Sainte Séverine ; protecteur de l’Ordre, lui ayant
demandé, dans sa vieillesse, s’il ne voudrait pas bien être déchargé dans sa
quête, il lui repartit avec humilité :
« Monseigneur, un bon
soldat doit mourir l’épée à la main, et un âne sous sa charge ».
Il rendait encore plus
rigoureuse la pauvreté extrême de ce saint Ordre. Jamais il ne porta de tunique
ni en hiver ni en été, mais seulement un pauvre habit extrêmement court et
étroit et tout garni de pièces. Il évitait de voir ses parents comme une chose
indigne d’un bon religieux, et un jour qu’il approcha de Cantalice, il n’y
entra pas ; mais comme il fut obligé de loger dehors chez une de ses cousines,
voyant qu’elle lui préparait une paillasse et une couverture, il s’en alla
passer la nuit sous un arbre. Il ne pouvait rien souffrir qui fût contré
l’honnêteté ; non-seulement il avait horreur des paroles libre ; mais il ne
pouvait même écouter celles qui étaient suspectes.
Quant à ses abstinences
et à ses mortifications corporelles, il semble qu’il ait entrepris de
renouveler toutes les austérités des anciens Pères de la Thébaïde. Il observait
exactement tous les Carêmes de l’Ordre et jetait au pain et à l’eau tout le
temps qui avait été sanctifié par le jeûne de son saint patriarche. Il avait
tant de haine de lui-même, qu’il ne pouvait se traiter assez mal à son gré, Il
couchait sur des planches qu’il couvrait d’une vieille natte et n’avait qu’un
tronc de bois, ou tout au plus un fagot de sarment pour chevet. Il ne dormait
ordinairement que deux heures, et, trois quand il était incommodé. Il passait
le reste de la nuit en prières ; pendant lesquelles il prenait trois fois la
discipline, et souvent autant de fois pendant le jour. Il portait, outre cela,
une chemise de mailles sous son habit, particulièrement quand il visitait les
sept églises de Rome.
Il fut sujet, sur la fin
de sa vie, à une irritation d’entrailles qui lui causaient d’extrêmes douleurs
; mais il les souffrait de si bon cœur, qu’il les appelait des faveurs du ciel
et des roses du paradis ; et ; quand elles étaient plus aiguës, il les charmait
par quelque cantique spirituel qui ravissait même ceux qui le voyaient
souffrir. Ces saints transports de joie, au milieu des douleurs les plus
cuisantes font assez voir l’excellence de sa patience. Il fut toujours si
éloigné de toute sorte de vanité et de complaisance de lui-même, qu’il se
croyait indigne de converser avec les autres frères : c’est pourquoi, lorsqu’il
se trouvait avec eux, il parlait peu ou ne parlait point du tout. Jamais il ne
permettait aux séculiers de lui baiser les mains (comme c’est la coutume en
Italie de le faire par respect envers les ecclésiastiques et les religieux), à
moins qu’il ne fût surpris. Et quand il prévoyait que cela devait arriver, il
faisait rendre cet honneur à son compagnon. Il avait beaucoup de vénération
pour les prêtres, et ne leur parlait jamais qu’avec un très grand respect. Il a
toujours fait son possible pour ne paraître qu’un homme fort simple, afin de
mieux cacher les grâces particulières qu’il recevait de Dieu. Il ne s’est
servi de sandales qu’en son extrême vieillesse et quand on lui demandait
pourquoi il allait nu-pieds :
« Parce que », disait-il,
« je marche plus à mon aise ».
Il ne pouvait souffrir
qu’on dit rien à sa louange, et quand on le faisait il prenait aussitôt la
fuite.
Il avait une dévotion
singulière à la très-sainte Vierge ; il jeûnait au pain et à l’eau toutes les
veilles de ses fêtes, avec le Carême entier que saint François faisait en son
bonheur, depuis l’Octave des apôtres saint Pierre et saint Paul jusqu’à son
Assomption. Il récitait son rosaire tous les samedis, et tous les jours le
chapelet, mais avec tant de tendresse qu’il était souvent obligé de
l’interrompre par l’excès des douceurs qu’il sentait en son âme. Il avait tant
d’amour et de respect pour le nom de Jésus, qu’il le proférait en tout lieu et
dans toutes les occasions. Lorsqu’il rencontrait des enfants, il leur criait :
« Dites : Jésus, mes
enfants ; dites tous : Jésus ».
D’autres fois, il leur
faisait dire : Deo gratias ! Aussi, les petits enfants, qui savaient sa
dévotion, n’attendaient pas qu’il le leur commandât ; mais dès qu’ils le
voyaient de loin, ils criaient : Deo gratias, frère Félix ; Deo
gratias ! Et lui, ravi et pleurant de joie, leur répondait le plus haut
qu’il pouvait : Deo gratias, mes enfants ; Dieu vous bénisse, Deo gratias
! Quand il servait la messe, il n’y pouvait presque pas répondre à cause des
larmes qu’il versait en abondance, et des douceurs qui inondaient son cœur. Sa
dévotion était aussi fort sensible envers la passion de Notre-Seigneur ; et
lorsqu’il en entendait faire la lecture, principalement dans la semaine sainte,
il pleurait si amèrement, qu’il arrosait le pavé de ses larmes. Ses
méditations continuelles lui acquirent une union habituelle et si intime avec
Dieu, qu’il était toujours en contemplation et si fort éloigné de lui-même ;
que souvent il ne connaissait pas ceux avec qui il conversait, quoique son
office de quêteur l’obligeât de traiter avec toutes sortes de personnes. On
rapporte qu’un religieux : lui demandant un jour comment, parmi l’embarras du
monde et une infinité d’objets si différents, il pouvait se tenir toujours en
la présence de Dieu, il lui répondit :
« Toutes les créatures de
la terre sont capables de nous élever à Dieu si nous savons les regarder d’un
œil droit ».
II ne dormait qu’environ
deux heures ; ensuite il allait à l’Église et y demeurait en prières jusqu’à
Prime ; puis il servait la première messe, à laquelle ordinairement il
communiait tous les jours. Pour les fêtes et les dimanches, il en entendait
plusieurs, outre celle qu’il servait. Enfin, le soir, en revenant de sa quête,
il ne manquait jamais de rentrer dans l’église, où, après une profonde
révérence, il baisait la terre devant le très-saint Sacrement.
Ce fut durant ces visités
à Notre-Seigneur dans l’Eucharistie qu’un religieux-prêtre, évitant
secrètement ce qu’il faisait, l’aperçut debout, au milieu de l’église, les bras
ouverts et comme en extase, qui s’écriait et disait avec de grands soupirs :
« Seigneur, je vous
recommande ce pauvre peuple ; je vous recommande nos bienfaiteurs. Miséricorde,
grand Dieu, faites-leur miséricorde ! »
Après avoir fait cette
prière pendant un quart d’heure, il s’arrêta tout court, et demeura deux ou
trois heures les bras étendus en croix immobile, comme s’il eût été mort. Une
autre fois, il eut un si violent transport d’amour pour son Sauveur, que,
courant au maître-autel, il pria et conjura la sainte Vierge de lui donner
pendant ce temps son petit Jésus ; en effet, cette bonne Mère lui apparut, et,
pour le contenter, elle lui mit son cher Fils entre les mains.
Toutes ces grâces et ces
grandes faveurs du ciel, qui ne purent être cachées, le firent si fort
considérer dans Rome, que, durant sa vie même, chacun le regardait comme un
Saint. Étant âgé de soixante-douze ans, Dieu lui fit savoir, par révélation,
qu’il mourrait bientôt. En effet, quelque temps après, il tomba dangereusement
malade. Durant sa maladie, il se dérobait souvent à l’infirmier pour aller dans
l’église, bien qu’il fût si faible, qu’on était obligé de le rapporter évanoui
et demi-mort en sa cellule. C’était pour lui une croix d’être couché sur un
matelas qu’on lui avait donné malgré lui, et il croyait que ce n’était pas là
mourir assez pauvrement, ni comme un religieux de Saint-François devait mourir.
Lorsqu’il, eut reçu les derniers Sacrements, la sainte Vierge lui apparut
suivie d’une belle troupe d’anges, pour le fortifier dans ce passage.
Il en fut si ravi de
joie, qu’il s’écria de toutes ses forces : Oh ! Oh ! Oh ! Et demeura ensuite
près d’un demi-quart d’heure les bras étendus et levés vers le ciel. L’ennemi
de tout bien le voulut tenter de désespoir et d’infidélité ; mais l’homme de
Dieu l’arrêta tout court, lui disant :
« Que c’était son Sauveur
qui le devait juger, et qu’il ne pouvait se défier de sa miséricorde ; qu’au
reste, il croyait tout ce que la sainte Église catholique croit et enseigne ».
Enfin il rendit
paisiblement son âme à son Créateur, dans les louanges de son saint nom et
dans celles de sa sainte Mère, les finissant en ce monde le 18 mai, pour les
aller continuer durant toute l’éternité dans le ciel.
Sa sainteté a paru, après
sa mort, par quatre choses bien remarquables :
1°) Par le changement de
son corps, qui, de brun qu’il était, devint aussi tendre et aussi blanc que
celui d’un enfant ;
2°) Par la célèbre
translation que l’on en fit du cimetière commun des religieux, où il avait été
enterré, en un tombeau dans l’église, soutenu par des piliers de marbre qu’il
avait lui-même demandés au seigneur Alexandre Poggi, en l’assurant qu’ils
seraient employés pour lui ;
3°) Par une liqueur qui
distille continuellement, de son cercueil, et qui est souvent l’instrument de
plusieurs merveilles ;
4°) Enfin, par une vertu
miraculeuse que Dieu a communiquée à l’huile de la lampe qui brûle jour et nuit
devant son sépulcre.
Saint Félix fut béatifié
par Urbain VIII en 1625 ; canonisé par Clément XI en 1712 ; mais la Bulle de sa
canonisation ne fut publiée qu’en 1724, par Benoît XIII. Son corps est dans
l’église des Capucins de Rome. Il y a indulgence plénière pour ceux qui, ayant
rempli les conditions ordinaires, visitent le jour de sa fête une église de
son Ordre.
On représente saint Félix
de Cantalice avec une besace, un baril ou une dame-jeanne sur l’épaule ; un
panier ou cabas au bras. Parfois, il est accompagné d’un âne qui l’aidait dans
ses tournées de quêteur. On trace sur sa besace vide ou gonflée, les mots Deo
gratias qu’il prononçait avec la même piété, soit qu’il fût bien reçu,
soit qu’il essuyât des refus. On le peint aussi quelquefois rencontrant saint
Philippe de Néri dans la rue, et lui donnant à boire à même sa gourde ou
bouteille recouverte d’osier. On sait que le Saint récitait volontiers son
chapelet en parcourant les rues de Rome ; c’est pourquoi il pend souvent de sa
main droite un grand chapelet qu’il égrène dévotement. Les Bollandistes donnent
son portrait authentique dans leur appendice au mois de mai.
SOURCE : https://www.laviedessaints.com/saint-felix-de-cantalice-capucin/
_17_Plaf%C3%B3_de_rajoles._Sant_Felix_de_Cantalicio.JPG)
Planta
baixa del Museu Cau Ferrat, Sitges. Plafó de rajoles. Sant Felix de Cantalicio.
Barcelona s XVIII
Lower
floor of Cau Ferrat Museum, in Sitges.
Chères soeurs,
1. "Grâce et paix
vous soient données par "Il est, Il était et Il vient"" (Ap 1,
4). Je suis particulièrement heureux de vous accueillir tandis que vous vous
réunissez à l'occasion du vingt-et-unième Chapitre général de la Congrégation des
Soeurs de Saint-Félix de Cantalice, qui a lieu en l'année du grand Jubilé. Il
s'agit d'une année au cours de laquelle toute l'Eglise chante les louanges de
Dieu pour le don du Verbe fait chair et célèbre l'Incarnation non seulement
comme un événement du passé, mais comme l'expression de l'amour de Dieu en tout
lieu et en tout temps. Parmi les Soeurs de Saint-Félix également, le Verbe est
venu habiter de façon profonde et puissante; et pour les grandes choses qu'il a
accomplies parmi vous, nous rendons grâce au Père de toutes les
miséricordes.
2. Votre Congrégation a
vu le jour à une période troublée de la Pologne. La nation avait perdu son
indépendance, et la question de savoir comment recouvrer la liberté brûlait
dans le coeur des Polonais. Pour certains, la seule réponse était la lutte
armée; toutefois, toute tentative visant à renverser par la force le joug de
l'oppression conduisait immanquablement à une plus grande souffrance. Dans une
telle situation, Dieu présenta la bienheureuse Marie Angela Truszkowska, qui
proposa une réponse radicalement différente à la question de savoir comment
réacquérir la liberté, en puisant son inspiration à saint François d'Assise et
à saint Félix de Cantalice. Votre fondatrice a appris d'eux que le chemin vers
la véritable liberté n'était pas la violence, mais le dépouillement dans la
joie. Il ne s'agissait pas de la logique du monde, mais du Fils de Dieu qui
"s'anéantit lui-même prenant condition d'esclave" (Ph 2, 7); et
c'était cela qui devait distinguer toute la vie de la bienheureuse Marie Angela
et aider à tirer une nation de sa léthargie spirituelle.
La logique de
l'Incarnation conduisit le grand saint François à se libérer de l'attachement à
toutes les choses, afin de posséder toutes les choses en Dieu. Cela signifiait
accepter les blessures de la Croix dans l'imitation joyeuse du Sauveur
souffrant. Pour saint Félix, la logique de l'Incarnation signifiait parcourir
les rues de Rome comme "l'âne des Capucins", quémandant de la
nourriture pour ses frères, répondant toujours par son célèbre "Deo
Gratias" et nourrissant les pauvres des fruits de son aumône. Pour la
bienheureuse Marie Angela, cela signifiait s'immerger dans les souffrances de
l'époque, en embrassant les "petits" dans une vie d'action
profondément enracinée dans la contemplation. Une telle vie la plaça fermement
dans une tradition de sainteté remontant, à travers saint Félix et saint
François, au Seigneur Crucifié lui-même.
Votre Fondatrice
conduisait souvent les enfants confiés à ses soins à l'église des Capucins de
Varsovie, où saint Félix est représenté portant l'Enfant Jésus dans ses bras.
Dans la figure du Saint Enfant, la bienheureuse Marie Angela reconnaissait les
petits qu'elle était appelée à servir. Elle savait que saint Félix était
représenté portant l'Enfant Jésus dans ses bras car en portant le fardeau des
personnes dans le besoin, il portait dans ses bras le pauvre Christ lui-même;
et elle reconnaissait en cela son propre appel. En portant les fardeaux des
plus faibles, elle et ses soeurs portaient dans leurs bras le "petit"
Seigneur Jésus. La bienheureuse Maria Angela savait également que c'était Marie
qui avait placé le Saint Enfant dans les bras de saint Félix et que c'était
Marie qui plaçait maintenant son Enfant dans les bras des Soeurs de
Saint-Félix. Il était juste, dès lors, qu'elle consacre la Congrégation au
Coeur Immaculé de Marie.
3. Pourtant, l'épée qui
transperça le coeur de Marie (cf. Lc 2, 35) transperça également le
coeur de la Fondatrice. "Aimer signifie donner" écrivit-elle, "donner
tout ce que l'amour exige; donner immédiatemement, sans regret, avec joie, et
vouloir que l'on nous demande encore plus". En obéissant à la logique de
l'Incarnation et en portant dans ses bras le Seigneur lui-même, la bienheureuse
Marie Angela devint une victime de l'amour. Pas à pas, elle gravit la colline
du Calvaire dans un itinéraire de souffrance physique et spirituelle, jusqu'à
ce que sa vie soit embrasée par le mystère de la Croix.
Tandis qu'elle pénétrait
plus profondément dans les ténèbres du Calvaire, elle insista de plus en plus
sur le fait qu'au coeur de la vie de la Congrégation devait tout d'abord se
trouver la dévotion à la Sainte Eucharistie et au Coeur Immaculé de Marie. Elle
transmit à ses Soeurs la devise: "Tout à travers le Coeur de Marie en
honneur du Très Saint Sacrement". Au cours des longues heures de prière
face au Très Saint Sacrement, elle apprit que ses soeurs et elle étaient
appelées à "lui [le Seigneur] devenir conforme dans sa mort" (Ph 3,
10), afin qu'elle puissent devenir Eucharistie. Et, dans la Mère du Christ, la
bienheureuse Marie Angela reconnut celle qui partageait intimement la passion
de son Fils, et elle sut que c'était l'appel des soeurs également. En Marie
Immaculée, elle reconnut la femme du Magnificat, la femme dont l'abandon de soi
permit à Dieu de l'emplir de la joie de l'Esprit Saint. Telle était la vie des
Soeurs de Saint-Félix.
4. Notre monde est très
différent, mais nous sommes tout autant confrontés au défi de la léthargie
spirituelle de notre époque et de la question de savoir où se trouve la
véritable liberté. L'Eglise a le devoir sacré de proclamer au monde la
véritable réponse à cette question; et les religieux et les religieuses ont un
rôle crucial à jouer dans cette tâche. Pour les Soeurs de Saint-Félix, cela
doit signifier une fidélité encore plus radicale au programme de vie qui vous a
été transmis par votre fondatrice, car si cette fidélité n'existe pas parmi
vous, vous aussi pouvez devenir victimes de la confusion spirituelle de
l'époque, et l'anxiété et le manque d'unité, qui sont ses fruits, pourraient
apparaître pami vous.
Je vous exhorte donc,
chères Soeurs, en cette période cruciale de la vie de votre Congrégation, à
vous engager, au cours de ce Chapitre général, à un culte plus ardent du Très
Saint Sacrement, à une plus profonde dévotion à Marie Immaculée, et à un amour
plus radical du charisme de votre Fondatrice. Embrassez la Croix du Seigneur
comme le fit la bienheureuse Angela! Alors, vous deviendrez Eucharistie; toute
votre vie chantera le Magnificat: votre pauvreté sera emplie des
"richesses insondables du Christ" (Ep 3, 8). En confiant le
Chapitre général et toute la Congrégation à Marie, Mère des Souffrances et Mère
de toutes nos joies, ainsi qu'à l'intercession de saint François, saint Félix
et de votre bienheureuse fondatrice, je vous donne de tout coeur ma Bénédiction
apostolique en signe de grâce infinie et de paix en Jésus-Christ, "le
témoin fidèle, le premier-né d'entre les morts" (Ap 1, 5).
Copyright © Dicastero per
la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Carlo Ceresa (1609–1679), The Vision of St Felix of Cantalice, 1644, 250 x 200, Chiesa San Giorgio Martire
Also
known as
Ass of the Capuchins (his
own nickname for himself)
Brother Deo Gratias (“Deo
Gratias” was his habitual greeting)
Felix of Catalicio
Felix of Cantalica
Felice Porri
Feliks z Cantalice
Profile
Born to pious peasants,
he was a shepherd in
his youth.
At age nine he was hired out as a shepherd and farm
hand at Cotta Ducale; he worked there over twenty years. A pious youth and
man, Felix spent his free time in prayer.
Having little education,
Felix had a friend read him the lives of the early Desert Fathers; they left
him torn – he wanted to live as a hermit,
but feared he would give in to temptation if he had no superior. He sought
entrance to the Capuchins;
they were hesistant, but finally accepted him as a lay
brother in 1543 at Anticoli, Italy near Rome.
Sent to Rome in 1547 as
questor for the community; he stayed there the rest of his life.
Felix’s reputation for
holiness spread quickly. He could not even read, yet theologians consulted
him on spiritualality and Scripture. Sinners on the street would hide from him
when it became obvious he could see their sins, and knew their hearts.
Felix preached in
the street, rebuked corrupt politicians and officials, and exhorted young men
to stop leading dissolute lives. Once during Carnival, a time of open vice in
the streets, Felix and Saint Philip
Neri organized a procession of Capuchin friars
right into the middle of the revellers; Fra Lupo, a well-known Capuchin preacher,
spoke to the crowds, and Carnival ended for the year.
Felix worked with
the children of Rome;
his inherent simplicity and lack of education made him rather childlike,
and children trusted
him. He composed simple teaching canticles,
and had the children gather
in groups to sing them as a way to teach them catechism.
The canticles became
well-known and popular, and while Felix was begging for his house, Roman citizens
would invite him in to sing for them; he saw these invitations as opportunities
to teach,
and always jumped at them.
During the famine of 1580,
the city fathers asked the Capuchins for
the loan of Felix as a fund raiser; he was tireless in the work. His
friend, Saint Philip
Neri, considered Felix the greatest saint then living. Saint Charles
Borromeo sought Saint Philip‘s
help to draw up the constitutions of the Oblates
of Saint Ambrose; Philip referred
him to Felix as a the best advisor.
Felix slept little, ate
what came to hand, attended Mass every
morning. He had a great devotion to Our Lady,
frequently prayed the rosary,
and was sometimes swept away in ecstacy,
unable to finish the prayers.
Received a vision of the Virgin Mary during
which he was allowed to hold the Christ Child in his arms. Acclaimed a saint by
the people of Rome immediately
after his death.
Born
18 May 1515 at Cantalice, Abruzzi, Italy
18 May 1587 at Rome, Italy of
natural causes
so many came to his
funeral that some were injured in the press to get into the church, and an
extra door had to be knocked through one wall so they could exit
buried under
an altar in
the church of the Immaculate
Conception in Rome
miracles reported
at his tomb
1 October 1625 by Pope Urban
VIII
22 May 1712 by Pope Clement
XI
Capuchin holding
the Infant Jesus in his arms
with Saint Philip
Neri and Saint Charles
Borromeo
Capuchin carrying
a beggar‘s
wallet
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Roman
Martyrology, 1914 edition
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
Saints
and Their Attributes, by Helen Roeder
other
sites in english
images
video
webseiten
auf deutsch
Klosterkirche St.
Felix in Neustadt an der Waldnaab
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
Dicastero delle Cause dei Santi
Provincia Serafica dell’ Umbria dei Frati Minori Cappuccini
nettsteder
i norsk
strony
w jezyku polskim
MLA
Citation
“Saint Felix of
Cantalice“. CatholicSaints.Info. 17 December 2023. Web. 28 April 2024.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-felix-of-cantalice/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-felix-of-cantalice/
Heiligenfigur
des Felix Cantalice unweit des Schlosses (Forsthaus) Raan, Gemeinde Schönberg
am Kamp (NÖ)
St. Felix of Cantalice
Feastday: May 18
Patron: of Spello
Birth: 1515
Death: 1587
Felix of Cantalice was
born of peasant parents at
Cantalice, Apulia, Italy. He was a shepherd and a farm laborer in his youth,
became a Capuchin lay brother at nearby Citta Ducale Monastery in Anticoli, and
became noted for his austerities and piety. He was sent to Rome in
1549 and spent the next thirty-eight years in the monastery there as questor,
aiding the sick and the poor and revered by all. He was a friend of St. Philip Neri
and helped in St. Charles Borromeo's revision of the rule for his Oblates.
Felix was canonized in 1709. His feast day is May 18th.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=638
St. Felix of Cantalice
A Capuchin friar,
b. at Cantalice, on the northwestern border of the Abruzzi; d. at Rome,
18 May, 1587. His feast is
celebrated among the Franciscans and
in certain Italian dioceses on
18 May. He is usually represented in art as holding in his arms the
Infant Jesus,
because of a vision he once had, when the Blessed
Virgin appeared to him and placed the Divine Child in his arms.
His parents were
peasant folk, and very early he was set to tend sheep. When nine years of age
he was hired out to a farmer at Cotta Ducale with whom he remained
for over twenty years, first as a shepherd-boy and afterwards as a farm
labourer. But from his earliest years Felix evinced signs of
great holiness,
spending all his leisure time in prayer,
either in the harsh or in some solitary place. A friend of his having read to
him the lives of the Fathers of
the Desert, Felix conceived a great desire for the eremitical life,
but at the same time feared to live otherwise than under
the obedience of a superior. After seeking light in prayer,
he determined to ask admittance amongst the Capuchins.
At first the friars hesitated
to accept him, but he eventually received the habit, in 1543, at Anticoli
in the Roman Province. It was not without the severest temptations that
he persevered and made his profession. These temptations were
so severe as injure his bodily health. In 1547 he was sent to Rome and
appointed questor for the community. Here he remained for the rest of his life,
and in fulfilling his lowly office became a
veritable apostle of Rome.
The influence which he
speedily gained with the Roman people is an evidence of the inherent
power of personal holiness over
the consciences of men. He had no learning he could not even
read; yet learned theologians came
to consult him upon the.science of the spiritual life and
the Scriptures. Whenever he appeared in the streets of Rome vicious persons grew
abased and withdrew from his sight. Sometimes Felix would stop them
and earnestly exhort them to live a better life; especially did he
endeavour to restrain young men. But judges and dignitaries also
at times incurred his rebuke, he was no respecter of persons when
it was a matter of preventing sin.
On one occasion, during a Carnival, he and St.
Philip Neri organized a procession with their crucifix;
then came theCapuchin friars;
last came Felix leading Fra Lupo, a well-known Capuchin preacher,
by a rope round his neck, to represent Our
Lord led to judgment by his executioners. Arrived in
the middle of the revels, the procession halted and Fra Lupo preached
to the people. The Carnival, with its open vice, was broken up for
that year.
But Felix's special
apostolate was amongst the children of the city, with whom his childlike
simplicity made him a special favourite. His method with these was to gather
them together in bands and, forming circle, set them to
sing canticles of his own composing, by which he taught them the
beauty of a good life and the ugliness of sin.
These canticles became popular and frequently, when on his rounds in
quest of alms, Felix would
be invited into the houses of his benefactors and asked to sing. He would seize
the opportunity to bring home some spiritual truth in extemporized verse.
During the famine of 1580 the directors of the city's charities asked
his superiors to place Felix at their disposal to collect alms for
the starving, and he was untiring in his quest.
St.
Philip Neri had a deep affection for the Capuchin lay
brother, whom he once proclaimed the greatest saintthen living in
the Church.
When St.
Charles Borromeo sought St. Philip's aid in drawing up the
constitutions of hisOblates, St. Philip took him to St. Felix as
the most competent adviser in such matters. But through all, Felixkept his
wonderful humility and
simplicity. He was accustomed to style himself "Ass of the Capuchins". Acclaimed
a Saint by the people of Rome,
immediately after his death, he was beatified by Urban
VIII in 1625, and canonized by Clement
XI in 1712. His body rests under an altar dedicated to him
in the church of the Immaculate Conception to Rome.
Hess,
Lawrence. "St. Felix of Cantalice." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1909. 2 Apr.
2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06033a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Joseph P. Thomas.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. September 1, 1909. Remy Lafort,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06033a.htm
Retablo
cerámico de san Félix Cantalicio en un edificio de la calle San Félix de
Castellón de la Plana, Comunidad Valenciana, España.
Ceramic
altarpiece of saint Felix of Cantalice in a building on San Félix street in
Castellón de la Plana, Valencian Community, Spain.
Retaule
ceràmic de sant Fèlix Cantalici en un edifici del carrer Sant Fèlix de Castelló
de la Plana, Comunitat Valenciana, Espanya
St Felix of Cantalice
Celebrated on May
18th
Franciscan brother. Felix
of Cantalice, OFM Cap, was born on 18 May 1515, to peasant parents in
Cantalice, Italy, He was the third of four sons born to Santi and Santa Porri.
They were poor farmers. At about the age of ten, Felix was hired out first as a
shepherd to a family at Cittàducale, where he later worked as a farm hand.
Until the age of 28 he worked as a farm labourer and shepherd. He developed the
habit of praying while he worked. Toward the end of autumn 1543, Felix entered
the newly founded Capuchin friars as a lay brother at the Citta Ducale friary.
In 1547 he was sent to Rome as quaestor of the Capuchin Friary of St
Bonaventure, where he spent his remaining 40 years begging alms to help in the
friars' work of aiding the sick and the poor.
In Rome, Brother Felix became a familiar sight, wandering barefoot through the
streets, with a sack slung over his shoulders, knocking on doors to seek
donations. He received permission from his superiors to help the needy,
especially widows with many children. It is said that his begging sack was as
bottomless as his heart. Brother Felix blessed all benefactors and all those he
met with a humble Deo Gratias!, causing many to refer to him as 'Brother Deo
Gratias'.
Felix was so successful in his work that during the famine of 1580, the
political leader of Rome asked the Capuchins if they would 'lend' Felix to them
so he could collect food and provisions for the entire city. The Capuchins agreed
and Felix embraced his new task. He preached in the street, rebuked corrupt
politicians and officials, and exhorted young men to stop leading dissolute
lives. He also composed simple teaching canticles, and arranged for children to
gather in groups to sing them as a way to teach them the catechism.
The plain-spoken Brother Felix was a good friend of St Philip Neri, and an
acquaintance of Charles Borromeo. Felix developed a reputation as a healer. As
he got older, his superior had to order him to wear sandals to protect his
health. Cardinal Santori had offered to use his influence to have the elderly
Felix relieved of the difficult task of questing, but Felix refused.
Felix died in Rome in 1587 on his 72nd birthday, and was buried in the crypt of
the Church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini. He was beatified on
1 October 1625 by Pope Urban VIII and canonized on 22 May 1712 by Pope Clement
XI - the first Capuchin friar in the history of the Order to be canonized.
St Felix is usually represented in art as holding in his arms the Infant Jesus,
because of a vision he is said to have had, when the Blessed Virgin appeared to
him and placed the Divine Child in his arms.
Pope John Paul II observed that Felix is "shown bearing the Infant Jesus
in his arms because in bearing the burdens of the needy he had carried in his
arms the poor Christ himself."
The Church of San Felice da Cantalice a Centocelle is named after him. In
19th-century Poland, the Felician Sisters, a religious congregation of Franciscan
Sisters of the Third Order Regular, was founded to care for the poor and
adopted him as their patron saint.
SOURCE : https://www.indcatholicnews.com/saint/148
Felix of Cantalice,
OFM
Cap. (RM)
Born in Cantalice near Rieti, Apulia, Italy, in 1513; died in Rome in 1587;
canonized in 1712 (or 1709 or 1724)--the first Capuchin friar to attain this
honor. Born to peasant farmers, Saint Felix began life as a farm laborer and
shepherd. After a narrow escape from death at age 30, when bulls charged him
while he was ploughing, he joined the Capuchins at Città Ducale in Rome as a
lay brother.
From 1545 until his death 42 years later, he begged the daily alms for the
friary and also pocketed insults to which he invariably responded, "thanks
be to God." He made his rounds barefoot and dressed in a shirt of mail
studded with spikes. A legend says that one stormy night, while making his
usual rounds to collect food for the friary, a radiant child appeared to him,
gave him a loaf of bread, and then, with a benediction, vanished.
Felix never learned to read. He said that he knew only five red letters--the
five wounds of Christ. Nevertheless, learned theologians came to him for
counsel. Often he could help them find solutions because he had the gift of
reading hearts. Others of evil conscience avoided him because he would
remonstrate with those in most need of conversion.
He was a friend of Saint Charles Borromeo and an intimate of Saint Philip Neri.
In response to the excesses of the Roman carnival, Felix and Philip Neri
conceived a unique procession. The Oratorians marched with the cross in front,
followed by the Capuchins. At the tail was Saint Felix leading Fra Lupo, a
well- known Capuchin preacher, by a cord around his neck to represent Jesus as
he was led before Pilate. When the procession reached the center of the
festival gathering, Fra Lupo gave such an impressive sermon against vicious
living that the carnival dispersed.
Felix was given the nickname of Brother "Deo Gratias" because that
was his habitual ejaculation.
The saint had a special love of children. He gathered them around himself and
sang to them improvised song, which they then popularized. Benefactors called
him into their homes; in thanks he would sing to them and give them advice. His
characteristic virtue was spiritual joy--I think I like this saint a lot. The
day after his death, Pope Sixtus V demanded a report of Felix's life so that he
could beatify him. The entire city flocked to the church to say farewell to
their beloved beggar friar. So many people crowded into the church that some
died in the press of the crowd and another exit had to be created to relief it.
When Felix's body was exhumed later, it was found to be incorrupt. Many miracles
are recorded at his shrine (Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines, Coulson,
Schamoni, Tabor).
In art, Saint Felix is an old Capuchin embracing the Christ-Child. The picture
may include (1) the Christ-Child putting a loaf into his wallet; (2) the words
Deo Gratias near him; or (3) SS. Philip Neri and/or Charles Borromeo (Roeder).
He may also be simply a Capuchin carring a beggar's wallet (Tabor).
Saint Philip Neri
asked the painter Giuseppe de Cesari for a picture of Saint Felix. One day when
the saint came for his alms, Cesari detained him and sketched a portrait while
they talked without letting Felix know what he was doing. On the back of the
little wooden tablet, the artist wrote a few lines and sent the picture to
Saint Philip. The extant image, kept in the Gallery of Prince Gaëtani in Rome,
shows a sweet, old man with down-like hair, a full white beard, and long bumpy
Roman nose (Schamoni).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0518.shtml
St. Felix of Cantalice,
OFM Cap
(1515-1587)
His feast is celebrated
on May 18. Felix was born at Cantalice, Italy, in 1515. His parents, Santi and
Santa Porri, were farmers, struggling to make ends meet. Felix had two older
brothers, Blase and Charles, and two younger brothers, Potenza and Peter
Marino. The latter perished in one of the many battles between Cantalice and
Rieti. When he was about 10 years old, Felix was hired out as a farmhand for
the Picchi family at Cittaducale. Farmhands were rustic, "untamed"
people, raised in the outdoors. Vegetarians, they learned how to survive in the
wild. Their job was grueling. After a hard day's work, Felix found relaxation
in wrestling. As a youngster, Felix' cousin would read to him the lives of the
desert ascetics. Descriptions of their penances had enthused Felix and sparked
in him a desire to imitate their austerity. Felix had a dream in which an angel
directed him to go to Leonessa to join the Capuchins. In pursuit of his dream,
Felix set out for Leonessa where the Capuchin local minister redirected him to
the provincial vicar. Not knowing where to find him, Felix returned to work in
the fields. He was not accustomed to receiving messages from angels and was
even less inclined to waste his time searching for what was elusive. The angel
returned a second time, telling Felix to go to the Capuchin Friary at Rieti.
Again, nothing came of the trip, so Felix returned to working the land. One
day, an Augustinian friar invited Felix to consider joining the Augustinians.
Felix replied, "Either a Capuchin or nothing."
He persisted in his
desire to become a Capuchin and presented himself at the Capuchin Friary at
Cittaducale. The local minister led him into the church, before a large
crucifix, asking that he pray to be enlightened. The corpus on the cross was
bruised, bloodied, and disfigured. Moved by the sight, Felix experienced the
depth of God's love for him. That evening, the local minister (having forgotten
about Felix) returned to the chapel to pray. Felix was still there. The local
minister remarked, "Son, what are you doing? Still here? You are a good
person; we will accept you among us. Jesus will no longer be alone. You will
help him carry the cross." Ten days later, toward the end of the autumn of
1543, the 20-year-old Felix was received. He immediately set out for Rome to
present himself to the elusive provincial vicar. At the Roman friary of St.
Nicholas de Portiis, Felix was received by Bernardine of Asti, who was both the
Roman local minister and procurator for the Capuchin Order before the Roman
Curia. Bernardine introduced Felix to Raphael of Volterra, the Capuchin
Provincial Vicar of the Roman Province, who officially received Felix into the
Order.
On a rainy morning in
early 1544, Felix set out for the Fiuggi friary where the provincial vicar had
determined his year of novitiate would be spent under the guidance of Boniface.
During the harsh days of novitiate, Felix suffered debilitating fevers. The
friars were considering asking him to return to secular life. As a last resort,
they transferred Felix to Monte San Giovanni Campano where Felix recovered.
Before the public notary, James of Mastrantonio, Felix relinquished his worldly
possessions to his siblings and waived all claim to any future inheritance. He
professed vows on May 18, 1545.
Lover of nature that he
was, the rustic Felix had become a Capuchin hoping to be able to live the rest
of his days in one of the many friaries located in secluded forests. In
reality, only the first few years of his religious life were spent in such
locations at Fiuggi, Monte San Giovanni, Tivoli, and Viterbo. Then, in 1547,
Felix was introduced to the frenzied life of Rome. In his younger years, in
imitation of the desert ascetics, Felix had vowed never again to touch bread.
Ironically, his Roman assignment was to quest for bread and wine. Despite his
desire for seclusion, Felix' ministry placed him in direct, daily contact with
a multitude of people. Following then current Capuchin custom, Felix always
made his quest barefoot, with eyes cast down. His response to every benefactor
was always a humble yet confident "Thank God" ("Deo
gratias"). So often was it repeated that Felix became known as
"Brother Deo Gratias." Not only did Felix provide the friars with
food, but he also furnished food for the hungry. He received permission from
the ministers to help the needy, especially widows with many children. It is
said that his begging sack was as bottomless as his heart. He never refused a
request for help. Felix would dispense oil, bread, wine, and meat. When he
could not provide the required aid himself, he would solicit the help of the
wealthy, including church dignitaries. Felix always reminded people,
benefactors and beneficiaries alike, of divine providence and urged them to
give thanks to God. He would visit the sick at the friary, in private homes, at
the hospitals of St. James of the Incurables, of the Holy Spirit, and of St.
John Lateran. Felix spoke in simple language, exhorting the sick to trust, and
to accept sickness as a graced moment.
Felix' reputation as a healer
of peoples' ills spread. He would often bless the sick with a crucifix and they
would be healed. At other times, he would give away some of the alms he had
collected, which, in turn, became channels of healing. Felix healed Constance,
the mother of the Cardinal Bishop of Orvieto, Peter Crescenzi, by bathing her
eyes with wine he had received as an alms. Similarly, at the hospital of St.
John, a patient was healed instantaneously after Felix had given him some
donated wine. Friends began to tease Felix saying, "Brother Felix, when I
get sick, bring me a little of your wine!" Felix exhorted everyone in his
rustic Sabine dialect, always using the informal form of address. He treated
every individual with the greatest respect, whether giving alms or receiving
them. Felix was a person who had difficulty saying "no," and
benefactors knew this. If someone asked for something, Felix always provided.
His upbringing prevented
him from putting on airs. A person's social or ecclesiastical position
notwithstanding, Felix would directly (and unceremoniously) confront those in
need of conversion. Stories of Felix' life read like incidents out of the
Fioreffi. One day, Felix, seeking food for the poor, knocked at the door of a
lawyer who was immersed in reading a legal treatise. The lawyer, indignant over
the intrusion, made it known that he was involved in something far more
important than any trivial affair in which the brother was involved. Felix's
eyes filled with tears and he asked, "Is there perhaps some law more important
than God's?" The lawyer soon abandoned his law career to pursue a life of
ministry in the church. On another occasion, Felix confronted the illustrious
lawyer, Bernardine Biscia, by placing a crucifix on top of some legal tomes
Biscia was perusing. Felix pointed to the Crucified One and said, "Look,
Sir Bernardine, all these books were made for you to better understand
him."
Felix normally spoke
little outside the friary. Even within the friary, what he had to say was more
often than not an exhortation for others to give good example. His style was
frank and direct. He might tell someone, "I want to correct you." He
often reminded Capuchin preachers, "Preach in order to convert people, not
to make a name for yourself." At times, he would quote Brother Giles'
quip: "Bo, bo, bo, assai dico e poco fo!" ("Tsk, tsk, tsk, a lot
of talk, but no action.") To Cardinal Julius Anthony Santori, the Capuchin
cardinal protector, Felix once said: "My lord cardinal, you were
designated to protect us, not to interfere with matters that pertain to the
superiors of the Order." He advised the future Sixtus V, "When you
become pope, be pope for the glory of God and the good of the church.
Otherwise, it would be better for you to remain a simple friar." The same
pope would occasionally encounter Felix questing and would ask for a piece of
bread. One day, Felix gave him a piece of stale black bread and remarked to the
Franciscan pope, "Excuse me, Holy Father, but you're still a friar."
For his personal devotion
and meditation, Felix memorized prayers and liturgical and biblical texts.
Despite being illiterate, Felix prayed from the heart and occupied his mind
with spiritual reflections. Whether he was walking the streets of Rome, in his
cell or in chapel, he was absorbed in contemplation. He would recall the words
of the gospel for inspiration. After everyone else had gone to bed, Felix would
spend long hours before the Blessed Sacrament entrusting to God's care the
people he had met in the course of the day.
He had a curiosity about
subjects of which he had no formal education. Often he would seek counsel from
the famous Spanish priest, Alphonse Lupo. Felix was a personal friend of Philip
Neri and an acquaintance of Charles Borromeo. Felix recognized that authentic
holiness was both enlightened and enlightening. Thus, by seeking the advice of
knowledgeable people, the "saint of the streets of Rome" was enabled
in turn to advise or admonish the people who sought counsel from him.
Felix was an institution
for two generations of Roman youth. Youngsters would affectionately call him
"Papa," causing some raised eyebrows among those who were unfamiliar
with the esteem in which the Capuchin was held. People brought their cares
immediately to Felix for help. Even before going to the doctor, they would call
on Felix. He would go to their side, kneel, and say an "Our Father"
and a "Hail Mary," and then return to the friary confident that
providence would take care of the rest. At other times, Felix would exhort the
sick to acceptance, saying, "Heaven, heaven," or, "Allow
yourself to go to paradise." Felix had an intense fondness for mothers and
babies. He would always take a moment to dedicate the infants and to teach the
young to repeat, "Jesus, Jesus," or, "Deo gratias." Felix
had a talent for spontaneously creating and singing spiritual hymns. People
would often ask him to sing. His devotion to the Virgin Mary was not apparent,
except in these free verse songs and from the testimony of Alphonse Lupo who
knew Felix well. Felix carried out his ministry until just days before his
death. Cardinal Santori had offered to use his influence to have the elderly
Felix relieved of the difficult task of questing, but Felix refused.
On April 30, 1587, Felix
fell ill. He knew he was about to die. To the friars he remarked, "This
little ass has dropped; it will not rise again." With Urban of Prato at
his bedside, Felix raised his hands and his face became resplendent. Urban
asked him what was happening and Felix responded, "I see the Virgin Mary
surrounded by a throng of angels." As the local minister was bringing
Eucharist as Viaticum, Felix began to sing, "O Sacrum Convivium." He
died on May 18, 1587. Felix' remains are enshrined in the Capuchin church of
the Immaculate Conception on Rome's exclusive via Veneto.
Sixtus V was determined
to proceed to canonization, by Roman acclamation if necessary, but the process
was not concluded. After Sixtus V died, the momentum of the process dissipated.
Finally, on October 1, 1625, Urban VIII beatified Felix and Clement XI
canonized him on May 22, 1712, the first Capuchin to be so honored.
SOURCE : http://www.beafriar.com/felix.html
.JPG)
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682),
San Félix de Cantalicio y el Niño Jesú, circa 1665, 193 x 124, Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla
St. Felix of Cantalice
(1515-1587)
Felix was the first
Capuchin Franciscan ever canonized. In fact, when he was born, the Capuchins
did not yet exist as a distinct group within the Franciscans.
Born of humble,
God-fearing parents in the Rieti Valley, Felix worked as a farmhand and a
shepherd until he was 28. He developed the habit of praying while he worked.
In 1543 he joined the
Capuchins. When the guardian explained the hardships of that way of life, Felix
answered: "Father, the austerity of your Order does not frighten me. I
hope, with God’s help, to overcome all the difficulties which will arise from
my own weakness."
Three years later Felix
was assigned to the friary in Rome as its official beggar. Because he was a
model of simplicity and charity, he edified many people during the 42 years he
performed that service for his confreres.
As he made his rounds, he
worked to convert hardened sinners and to feed the poor–as did his good friend,
St. Philip Neri, who founded the Oratory, a community of priests serving the
poor of Rome. When Felix wasn’t talking on his rounds, he was praying the
rosary. The people named him "Brother Deo Gratias" (thanks be to God)
because he was always using that blessing.
When Felix was an old
man, his superior had to order him to wear sandals to protect his health.
Around the same time a certain cardinal offered to suggest to Felix’s superiors
that he be freed of begging so that he could devote more time to prayer. Felix
talked the cardinal out of that idea. Felix was canonized in 1712.
Comment:
Grateful people make good
beggars. St. Francis told his friars that if they gave the world good example,
the world would support them. Felix’s life proves the truth of that advice. In
referring all blessings back to their source (God), Felix encouraged people to
works of charity for the friars and for others.
Quote:
"And let us refer
all good to the most high and supreme lord God, and acknowledge that every good
is His, and thank Him for everything, [He] from Whom all good things come. And
may He, the Highest and Supreme, Who alone is true God, have and be given and
receive every honor and reverence, every praise and blessing, every thanks and
glory, for every good is His, He Who alone is good. And when we see or hear an
evil [person] speak or act or blaspheme God, let us speak well and act well and
praise God (cf. Rm 12:21), Who is blessed forever (Romans 1:25)" (St.
Francis, Rule of 1221, Ch. 17).
SOURCE : http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1392
.jpg)
Buntglasfenster
in der Filialkirche von Neubau, Gemeinde Ladendorf, Niederösterreich,
Österreich
Stained
glass window at the branch church of Neubau, municipality Ladendorf, Lower
Austria, Austria
Saint Felix of Cantalice
Feast Day – May 18
In 1515, in the Italian
village of Cantalice, in the beautiful valley of Rieti, Saint Felix of
Cantalice was born of humble but pious peasants. As a boy he tended cattle, and
later he became a farm laborer. Being so much amid God's free nature, his heart
was attracted to God, who graciously ministers to us human beings He has daily
before his eyes.
The hard work did not
make Saint Felix of Cantalice coarse and worldly-minded, as sometimes happens,
but he was gentle and kind towards everyone. When he came home at night all
tired out, he still spent much time in his little room engaged in prayer, to which
for that matter he applied himself also while at work. It grieved him that he
could not attend holy Mass on weekdays. He would indeed have gladly consecrated
his whole life to the service of God, but he could see no way of carrying out
his desire until one day an accident showed him the way.
Saint Felix had to break
to the plow a team of young oxen that were very wild. The oxen shied, and when
Felix tried to stop them, they ran him down, dragging the sharp plowshare
across his body. Peasants ran to the scene, certain that they would find the
man dead, but Felix arose unharmed, with only his jacket rent, though he went
straight to his employer and begged to be released from his service. The little
he possessed he gave to the poor, and went to the nearest Capuchin convent,
where he humbly begged for admission. After careful trial, his request was
granted.
Now Saint Felix of
Cantalice felt like one newly born, as if heaven itself had opened to him. It
was the year 1543, and Felix was 28 years old. But in his novitiate he was yet
to experience the burden and the struggles of this earthly life. The devil
attacked him with violent temptations of all kinds. He was also seized with a
lingering illness, which made it appear that he was unfit for convent life. But
patience, steadfast self-control, prayer, and candor toward his superiors
helped him secure admission to the vows, which he took with great delight.
Soon afterwards he was
sent to the Capuchin convent at Rome, where, because of his genuine piety and friendly
manner, he was appointed to the task of gathering alms, which he did for all
the next 42 years until his death. With his provision sack slung over his
shoulder, he went about so humbly and reserved in manner that he edified
everybody. When he received an alms, he had so cordial a way of saying Deo
Gratias - thanks be to God - that the people called him Brother Deo Gratias.
As soon as Saint Felix of
Cantalice got back to the convent and delivered the provisions, he found his
way to church. There he first said a prayer for the benefactors, then he poured
out his heart in devotion especially before the Blessed Sacrament and at the
altar of our Lady. He also passed many hours of the night there, and one time
the Mother of God placed the Divine Child in the arms of the overjoyed Felix.
Saint Felix of Cantalice
was most conscientious in observing every detail of his role and vows. He did
not wait for the orders of his superiors; a mere hint from them was enough.
Although always in touch with the world, he kept careful guard over his
chastity in every word and look, that Pope Paul V said he was a saint in body
and soul.
Poverty was his favorite
virtue. Since his holy father St Francis forbade his friars to accept money in
any form, Saint Felix of Cantalice could not be prevailed upon to accept it
under any circumstances. How pleasing his spirit was to God was to be proved in
a remarkable way. Once on leaving a house, Felix slung his sack over his
shoulder, but felt it weigh so heavily that it almost crushed him. He searched
the sack and found a coin which someone had secretly slipped into it. He threw
it away in disgust, and cheerfully and easily took up his sack again.
Almighty God granted
Saint Felix extraordinary graces. Many sick persons he restored to health with
the Sign of the Cross. A dead child he gave back alive to its mother. In the
most puzzling cases he was able to give helpful advice. Honored by the great
and lowly, he considered himself the most wretched of men, but earned so much
more merits with God.
Finally, the day arrived
when St Felix of Cantalice was to gather the board of his merits. He died with
a cheerful countenance while catching sight of the Mother of God, who invited
him to the joys of Paradise. It was on the feast of Pentecost, May 18, 1587.
Pope Urban VIII beatified him, while Pope Clement XI inscribed him in the
register of the saints in 1709.
*from: The
Franciscan Book of Saints, ed. by Marion Habig, ofm.
SOURCE : http://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/saint-felix-of-cantalice.html
Jacques
Stella (1596-1657). La Rencontre de Saint Philippe de Néri et de Félix de
Cantalice, 1622
Rome,
Palazzo Barberini, Galleria d’Arte Antica. Photo : Sylvain Kerspern
May 21
St. Felix of Cantalicio,
Confessor
From the acts of his
beatification, and from his life written by F. John Baptist of Perugia. See
Papebroke ad 18 Maij. t. 4, p. 203
A.D. 1587.
ST. FELIX was born of
poor but virtuous parents, at Cantalicio, near Citta Ducale in the
Ecclesiastical State, in 1513. For his extraordinary piety he was from his
infancy surnamed the saint. At the time when in his childhood he kept cattle,
and when afterwards he followed tillage and husbandry work, he was careful to
sanctify his labour by a perfect spirit of penance. He accompanied all his
actions with devout prayer, so as even then to lead the life rather of a hermit
than of a country labourer. He watched during part of the night in holy
meditation, and to his painful life he added the austerity of rigorous
abstinence and fasting. He contrived, without prejudice to his work, every day
to hear mass, and he declined the ordinary amusements of those of his age. Oft
in the fields, when he had drove his cattle into some solitary pasture, he
would pray for several hours together at the foot of some tree before a cross
which with his knife he had cut in the bark. At twelve years of age his father
put him out to service, in quality first of shepherd and afterwards of
husbandman, in the family of Mark Tully Pichi, a virtuous gentleman who lived
at Citta Ducale. In his tender years, before the faculties of his mind were
sufficiently opened to qualify him for deep reflection and long meditation, his
prayer chiefly consisted of the Our Father, Hail Mary, Creed, Glory be to the
Father, &c., especially of certain petitions of the Lord’s Prayer, which he
seemed almost never to cease repeating in the fields with wonderful devotion.
He was yet young, when he learned to habituate himself to the practice of holy
meditation during his labour, and he soon attained to the perfection of
heavenly contemplation, whereby the fire of divine affections is readily
kindled in the heart by the least thought on God, as touchwood catches the
flame; whereas holy meditation calls in the succour of reasoning drawn from the
truths of faith, to excite ardent affections of virtue in the soul. It is a
mistake to imagine that this exercise requires learning or sublime thoughts.
Pious meditation is not a dry philosophical speculation. It chiefly consists in
the affections of the will, and in profound sentiments of adoration, praise,
compunction, humility, and other virtues. To be capable of this exercise, it is
enough that a person has an understanding to know God, and a heart capable of
feeling the power of his love. The most ignorant man can repeat often to God
that he desires earnestly to love him, and always to glorify his holy name; he
can bewail his ingratitude and sins, confess his weakness, and implore the
divine pity and succour. To do this well, the most essential dispositions are
humility and simplicity of heart; and to this holy art there is no greater
enemy than that worldly science which swells the mind with secret
self-sufficiency and pride. Even in a religious house this gift may be often
denied to many who are distinguished by their learning or dignities, 1 whilst
an illiterate fervent lay-brother, who by perfect humility, obedience, and
self-denial, has crucified in his heart all self-love and inordinate
attachments to creatures, finds wings continually to soar to God by high
contemplation. Even in the world, our saint, whilst he followed the plough,
attained this gift. The tractableness and instinct of the beasts, the
painfulness of his labour, the barrenness of the earth accursed by sin, the
vanity of the world, the blindness of sinners, the sight of the heavens, the
obedience of all nature, the beauty of the verdant fields, the watered lawns,
and hanging forests, every object served to raise his heart to the praise of
his Creator, or excite him to deplore in his sight his own spiritual miseries,
and his distance from him. In God, in himself, and in all creatures round about
him, he found a perpetual fund of pious thoughts and affections; but the sufferings
of our Divine Redeemer were the most tender object of his devotions; and he was
never weary in contemplating that great mystery, nor in paying to his loving
Saviour the homages of adoration, love and thanksgiving, renewing always the
most perfect dedication of himself to his service. He was most humble,
charitable, meek, and always cheerful. He spoke little, shunned the company of
those whose conduct appeared irregular, abhorred all murmurs, complaints and
impatience. No injury or insult could provoke him to anger; and if any one
reviled him, he was wont to say with an engaging sweetness: “I pray God you may
become a saint.” The servant of God found all the means of perfect
sanctification in his condition in the world; but God was pleased, for his greater
advancement, to call him to a penitential religious state; to which grace two
accidents contributed to dispose him. As he was one day driving the plough, at
the sight of his master who came up dressed in black, the young oxen started
and dragged the plough over his body; yet he received no hurt. Gratitude for
this merciful deliverance inspired him with an ardent desire of consecrating
himself to the divine service; and by hearing soon after the lives of some of
the ancient fathers of the desert read at his master’s house, he became
extremely desirous to imitate them.
The state of a
lay-brother among the Capuchin friars seemed to him best to suit his design.
He, therefore, petitioned for the habit, and was admitted to it at Citta
Ducale. The guardian when he gave him the habit, showed him a crucifix,
explained to him what our Saviour had suffered for us, and in what manner we
ought to imitate him by a life of humiliation and self-denial. At that moving
sight Felix burst into a flood of tears, and felt in his breast a vehement
desire of bearing in himself, by the mortification of the flesh, the image of
the sufferings of that Man-God, by which he might resemble his crucified
master, and subdue in himself the old man. He performed his novitiate at
Anticoli, and appeared already filled with the perfect spirit of his Order,
especially with a sincere love of poverty, humiliations, and the cross. He
often cast himself at the feet of his master of novices, earnestly begging him
to double his penances and mortifications, and to treat him with greater
harshness and severity than the rest, who, he said, were more docile, and
naturally more inclined to virtue. By this holy hatred and contempt of himself,
he laid the foundation of so eminent a degree of sanctity that his fellow-religious
usually called him the saint. He was thirty years of age when he made his
solemn vows in 1545; four years after which he was settled in the convent of
his Order in Rome, and appointed quester, whose office is to collect the daily
alms for the subsistence of the community. This office requires a person of
eminent virtue and prudence, and already perfect in the spirit of his Order,
who may be able to resist that of the world, which is that of covetousness and
dissipation, capitally contrary to his strictest obligations. 2 But
the frequent occasions of humiliation, contempt, and suffering which attended
this action, afford occasions for the exercise of penance, humility, patience,
meekness, and other virtues. In this circumstance Felix thought himself most
happy; for no ambitious man is more greedy of honours than Felix appeared to be
of contempt, which out of sincere humility he looked upon as his due. His
recollection suffered no interruption. He never spoke unless obliged by
necessity, and then in very few words, and with an edifying prudence and
humility. He walked with his eyes cast down, but his heart was always raised to
God by prayer. No objects seemed to turn his mind from heavenly things, because
he restrained his eyes from curiosity or vanity, and considered God and his
will in everything. He was much delighted with acts of praise, adoration, and
thanksgiving; and he often repeated to others the words Deo gratias, inviting
them to join with him in thanking God for all things. With the leave of his
superiors, who placed an entire confidence in his piety and discretion, he
assisted the poor abundantly out of the alms which he gathered. He visited the
sick with the most tender charity, and sucked himself their most loathsome
ulcers. He admonished sinners, and exhorted all to piety, especially dying persons,
with a most moving unction and prudence. St. Philip Neri often conversed with
him, being wonderfully delighted with that excellent spirit of humility and
piety which he discovered in his soul, and in his whole deportment. When St.
Charles Borromeo had sent the rules which he had drawn up for his Oblates at
Milan to St. Philip Neri, begging him to revise them, St. Philip excused
himself and referred the book to our poor lay-brother. St. Felix declined the
commission, alleging that he was an illiterate person. But being commanded in
obedience to hear the rules read to him, to speak to every part, and direct
what he thought best to be altered, he obeyed; and some things of great moment
he advised to be expunged as too difficult, with which St. Charles complied,
expressing his admiration at our humble saint’s heavenly discretion. 3
He always preserved his
purity unspotted both in mind and body, guarding it by the strictest
watchfulness over his senses, especially his eyes; and he never looked any
woman in the face. He walked always barefoot, even without sandals, and
chastised his body with incredible austerities; he wore a shirt of iron links
and plates studded with rough spikes: and when he could do it without too
remarkable a singularity, he fasted on bread and water: on the three last days
in Lent he ate nothing at all. He privately used to pick out of the basket the
crusts left by the other religious for his own dinner. He watched a great part
of the nights in prayer, allowing himself only two or three hours for sleep,
which he usually took on his knees, leaning his head against a faggot, or lying
down on the boards, or on twigs. At the least sign given him by any superior,
he was always ready to do whatever was ordered him. He always called himself
the ass or beast of burden to serve the community, and regarded himself as one
who was not to be ranked among the religious brethren. He thought himself
unworthy even to converse with them; and on that account, when with them he
spoke very little. If any one contradicted him in indifferent things, he
readily acquiesced in what they said, and was silent. When he ate alone and
thought no one saw him, he practised excessive austerities; but when he dined
in company with others, he endeavoured ordinarily to shun any singularity that
could be taken notice of. It was his study to conceal from others as much as
possible all heavenly favours which he received, and to avoid whatever might
give them a good opinion of him. He disguised his mortifications under various
pretences, and excused his going without sandals, saying he walked more easily
without them, but suppressed the inconveniences he felt in that mortification.
In serving at mass he was sometimes so overpowered by the abundance of his
tears, and transported in ecstasies of divine love, that he was not able to
answer the priest. The fire of divine love which burned in his breast made him
often sing short spiritual canticles, which it also inspired him to compose in
a plain simple style, but full of heavenly sentiments. In singing them he was
often seen quite ravished and absorbed in God. He had the most ardent devotion
to the passion of Christ, and in meditating on it usually watered the ground
with abundant tears. The habitual union of his heart with God made him often
not perceive others near him, and sometimes he did not know who had been his
companion abroad. When a certain brother in religion asked him how he could
preserve so perfect a recollection amidst the variety of objects which he met in
his office abroad, he answered: “Why, brother, every creature in the world will
raise our hearts to God if we look upon it with a good eye.” The extraordinary
raptures with which he was often favoured in prayer are not to be expressed by
words. He performed the office of the brother quester for his community in Rome
forty years. When he was grown old, the cardinal protector, who loved him
exceedingly for his extraordinary virtue, told his superiors that they ought
now to ease him of that burden. But Felix begged that he might be shown no
indulgence, lest by receiving earthly favours he should be deprived of those
which are heavenly; for the soul grows more sluggish if the body be too much
cherished. Being seventy-two years old, he foretold his death to several
companions, and to certain persons who lay dying. He soon after fell sick of a
fever, and was comforted by a vision of the Blessed Virgin, accompanied with
many holy angels. Shortly after this favour, he, in great spiritual joy,
expired on the 18th of May, 1587. Many miracles were juridically approved, and
St. Felix was beatified by Urban VIII. in 1625, and canonized by Clement XI. in
1721, though the bull of his canonization was only published by Benedict XIII.
in 1724. 4 His
body remains in the church of his Order in Rome.
St. Felix, though little
in the eyes of the world and in his own, was great before God. The poverty of a
Lazarus, abandoned by all, but suffering with patience, resignation, and
humility, is something far more glorious and more desirable than the most
glittering sceptres. God will condemn the renowned exploits of those false
divinities of the earth who have filled the world with the sound of their name;
but he crowns the least desire of an humble heart employed in loving him. A
person who lives in the world is bound to make all his actions perfect sacrifices
to God, and purity of intention converts the works of any secular calling into
the works of God. But this can only be formed and maintained in a life in which
a constant spirit of piety animates the soul, and a considerable time is
reserved for exercises of interior devotion. Let no man take sanctuary in
purity of intention who suffers the works of his secular profession, much less
company or pleasures, to engross his soul, and entirely to usurp his time. A
life of business, and still more a life of pleasure, entangle and ensnare the
mind, and leave in it a peculiar relish which is incompatible with pure
heavenly desires, and a value for those maxims of the gospel wherein true
heavenly wisdom consists, or with a serious constant application to the
mortification of self-love and the passions.
Note 1. See Boudon,
Règne de Dieu dans l’Ame, c. 1. [back]
Note 2. See on this
F. Dijon, Capuchin friar, Tr. des Oblig. des Relig. t. 2. [back]
Note 3. See the life
of St. Philip Neri, printed at Venice in 1727. Also Saxius, Annot. in S.
Caroli, hom. 120, t. 4, p. 229. [back]
Note 4. Bullar.
Roman, t. 13. p. 89. [back]
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume V: May. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/5/211.html
_66.jpg)
Kapuzinerkirche (Koblenz), Gemälde im Giebel des rechten Seitenaltars St. Felix von Cantalice
_67.jpg)
Kapuzinerkirche
(Koblenz), Gemälde im Giebel des rechten Seitenaltars St. Felix von Cantalice
Saint
Felix of Cantalice of the First Order
Article
This great saint was born
at Cantalice, a small town of the former duchy of Spoleto, Italy, about the
year 1515. His parents were peasants, poor, indeed, in the things of this
world, but rich in virtue and the grace of God. By instructions and kind exhortations,
but especially by their virtuous example, they strove to instill into the
tender heart of their child the fear of God and to lead him to the faithful
practice of piety and the observance of the commandments of God, and they had
the joy of seeing their efforts bear abundant fruit. The child, from his
earliest years, was remarkable for the modesty of his bearing and for the zeal
with which he applied himself to exercises of piety and of self-denial. While
tending cattle, a duty entrusted to him when he was less than ten years of age,
he would seek quiet places in order to converse undisturbed with God.
He was often seen to
kneel for a long time under a tree in whose bark he had cut a cross with his
knife, pouring forth pious ejaculations of adoration and love. As soon as he
had reached his twelfth year, Felix was placed in the service of a rich and
virtuous citizen of Citta Ducale, first as a shepherd and afterwards as a farm
laborer. Here he continued with increasing fervor to sanctify his labors by the
spirit of prayer and mortification.
Practicing the greatest
spiritual recollection, he saw God in everything, and so fervently did he
ponder on the greatness and bounty of God as manifested in the beauty and
wonders of nature that, though he had not learned to read and write, he soon
attained a high degree of contemplation. At dawn of day, he was to be seen in
the church, where he assisted at Mass with the greatest devotion. Although he
was severe toward himself and practiced many austerities, he was always
cheerful, kind, and charitable in his dealings with others. Nothing could
disturb his calm of mind, and to those who insulted and wronged him, he was
wont to say quietly, “I pray God you may become a saint.”
Felix had thus made great
progress on the way of perfection amid the labors of his humble state. But, he
was to serve God still more perfectly in the religious life. A friend read to
him the lives of the Fathers of the Desert, and the Saint at once felt the
desire of retiring to a hermitage in order to give himself entirely to God.
Pondering, however, on the advantages of a life of obedience in a religious
community, he determined to adopt this latter mode of life. An accident
hastened the fulfillment of his pious resolve.
The Saint was one day
ordered to break two young oxen to the yoke. The animals became frightened, and
when he tried to stop them, they knocked him down, trampled on him and dragged
the plow over his body. Though his clothing was torn, the Saint remained
unhurt. Full of gratitude for the manifest protection of Divine Providence, he
resolved to delay no longer but to leave the world and consecrate himself to
God in in the Order of Saint Francis.
He at once set his
affairs in order, took leave of his kind master, who grieved much to lose so
faithful a laborer, and betook himself to the convent of the Capuchins at Citta
Ducale, where he humbly asked to be received as a lay brother. When the
austerities of the life which he wished to embrace were pointed out to him, he
firmly declared, “The austerities of the Order do not frighten me. I hope, with
God’s help, to overcome all the difficulties which will arise from my own
weakness. I will hide my soul in the Wound of the Side of my crucified Jesus,
and then I shall no longer fear hell, whatever be its efforts to bring about my
ruin.” He was at length sent to Anticoli, where he received the habit, in 1543.
He was then about thirty years of age.
During his novitiate,
Felix aroused the admiration of all by the fervor with which he applied himself
to the practice of every religious virtue, especially of humility, poverty, and
mortification. To shake the constancy of the servant of God, the devil assailed
him with various temptations so severe as to impair his health. But all the
attacks of the evil one were powerless against the fearless soul of the Saint,
fortified by humility, patience, and a childlike confidence in God.
Three years after his
profession, Felix was sent to Rome, where he was to spend the rest of his life
and to exercise a great influence on numerous souls. Appointed to collect the
alms for the sustenance of the community, he was daily seen passing through the
streets of the city with his sack on his shoulders, barefoot, his eyes modestly
cast down, and his heart raised to God in prayer. He was accustomed to thank
for any alms with a fervent Deo gratias, and he encouraged others to make
frequent use of this ejaculation. By the example of his holy life he gained the
love and esteem of the people of Rome, and effected much for the conversion of
sinners, the reformation of morals, and the spiritual progress of pious souls.
Felix, however, far from
giving way to vanity, was greatly pained when marks of consideration and
reverence were shown him, but he rejoiced exceedingly when he met with humiliations
and insults. Indeed, an ambitious ‘man could not be more greedy of honors than
Felix appeared to be of contempt, which he looked upon as his due.
Being a true son of Saint
Francis, he was most exact in the observance of holy poverty. God showed in a
wonderful manner how pleasing to him was his dislike of money. One morning
Felix met some students of the Roman college, and according to his custom he
stopped to sing Deo gratias with them. One of the students, out of
innocent fun, slipped a piece of money into his sack. The Saint at once felt so
heavy a weight on his shoulders that in astonishment he opened his sack, and
finding the coin, he cast it with disdain into the mud of the street.
Mortification is the companion of poverty, and hence we see Felix practicing
austerities, the mere enumeration of which causes human nature to shudder.
The Saint was almost
continually united with God in prayer. The Passion of Christ and the glories of
the Blessed Virgin were the favorite subjects of his meditations. “As for me,”
he once declared, “as far as knowledge goes, I care to know only six letters,
five red and one white. The five red letters are the wounds of our Savior, and
the white letter is his Blessed Mother.” When on the quest, he was wont to say
the rosary as attentively and piously as he could have done in perfect
solitude. He never passed the statue of the Blessed Virgin without greeting her
with great fervor and asking her blessing. The Mother of God vouchsafed to
reward the love of her faithful servant by signal favors. She appeared to him
several times, and particularly on one Christmas night, when she placed her
Divine Son in his arms.
In his old age, the Saint
was afflicted with many painful infirmities, but he continued to perform his
daily duties. At length, the time arrived when he was to receive his eternal
reward. Seized with a violent fever, he received the last Sacraments with the
greatest devotion, and after being consoled by a vision of the Mother of God,
accompanied by many holy angels, he calmly expired on May 18, 1587. The people
at once began to venerate him as a Saint of God. Many miracles were wrought at
his intercession. He was beatified by Pope Urban VIII, in 1525, and canonized
by Pope Clement XI, on May 22, 1712, though the Bull of canonization was
published by Pope Benedict XIII in 1724.
MLA
Citation
Franciscan
Herald, May 1916. CatholicSaints.Info.
2 October 2022. Web. 28 April 2024.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-felix-of-cantalice-of-the-first-order/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-felix-of-cantalice-of-the-first-order/
Der Figurenbildstock des hl. Felix von Cantalice in Schwarzenau stammt aus dem Jahr 1730.
Der
Figurenbildstock des hl. Felix von Cantalice in Schwarzenau stammt aus dem Jahr
1730.
FRANCISCAN OFM, SAINT OF THE DAY
Saint of the Day – 18 May
– St Felix of Cantalice O.F.M. Cap.(1515-1587)
Posted on May
18, 2018
Saint of the Day – 18 May
– St Felix of Cantalice O.F.M. Cap.(1515-1587) Capuchin Friar – (the first
Capuchin to be Canonised), Confessor, Apostle of Charity, Preacher, Teacher,
Writer. Born on 18 May 1515 at Cantalice, Abruzzi, Italy and
died on 18 May 1587 at Rome, Italy of natural causes.
Patronages – Cantalice, Italy, Spello, Italy.
Attributes – Capuchin habit; holding the Baby Jesus, carrying a
sack.
It was in a small village
at the foot of Mount Appenine named Cantalice, that Saint Felix was born in
1513 of pious but poor parents, the third of four sons born to Santi and Santa
Porri. It was not long before the little boy, when he approached
the other children, was hailed by them: ‘Here comes Felix, the
Saint!’ He showed a predilection for solitary prayer from his earliest
youth and as a little shepherd used to retire to a quiet place to kneel there
and meditate on the Passion of Jesus.
When he was a little
older, he resolved to take the habit of the Capuchin Friars. The
rigour of their rule could not deter him but his obligations could; he
was employed as a labourer, to assist his family. When his life was
spared in an accident, during which two runaway bulls and a trailing plough
should have killed him, the man for whom he was working saw the hand of God in
his preservation and permitted him to leave, to enter religion. He
was at that time nearly thirty years old but the Superiors, observing his
fervour, placed no obstacles.
In 1545 he pronounced his
vows and was sent to Rome, where for forty years he begged for the
community. His characteristic words to his companion were: “Let
us go, my Brother, with rosary in hand, our eyes to the ground and our spirit
in heaven.” He was of an exquisite politeness, extreme gentleness
and great simplicity. It is said that his begging sack was as
bottomless as his heart. Brother Felix blessed all benefactors and
all those he met with a humble “Deo Gratias!” (thanks be to God!), causing many
to refer to him as “Brother Deo Gratias”. Felix was so successful
in his work that during the famine of 1580, the political leader of Rome asked
the Capuchins if they would ‘lend’ Felix to them so he could collect food and
provisions for the entire city. The Capuchins agreed and Felix
embraced his new task with great success and love.
The sick persons he
visited at night became attached to him and for his part, he sought them out
everywhere in Rome, insofar as obedience permitted. He preached in the
street, rebuked corrupt politicians and officials and exhorted young men to
stop leading dissolute lives. He also composed simple teaching canticles and
arranged for children to gather in groups to sing them as a way to teach them
the catechism.
One day on the street he
met two duelists with sword in hand. He begged them to repeat after
him, Deo gratias! which finally they did and after taking him as
arbiter of their quarrel, they separated as good friends. Saint
Felix met Saint Philip Neri (1515-1595 – Memorial 26 May) in Rome and they
became friends who wished one another all possible torments for the love of
Jesus Christ. They sometimes remained together without speaking for
considerable periods, seemingly transported with joy. He was also a
friend of St Charles Borromeo (1538-1584 – Memorial 4 November).
Saint Felix had a great
devotion to the most Blessed Virgin, reciting Her rosary with such tenderness
that he could not continue at times. He loved the Holy Name of
Jesus and invited the children he would meet, to say it with him.
He slept only for about two hours, going afterwards to the church to
visit the Blessed Sacrament, to be with the Lord and remaining there in prayer
until the office of Prime; then he would serve the first Mass and receive
Communion every day.
When he was sick and was
given the last Sacraments, he saw the Blessed Virgin and a beautiful troop of
Angels coming to fortify him in this last journey. He cried out in
joy and gave up his soul peacefully to his Creator in 1587. So many
attended his funeral that some were injured in the press to get into the church
and an extra door had to be knocked through one wall so they could exit.
He was Beatified on 1
October 1625 by Pope Urban VIII and Canonised by Pope Clement XI on 22 May
1712.
His body is in the
Capuchin Church of Rome – the Church of the Immaculate Conception in
Rome; a plenary indulgence is granted to those who, fulfilling the
ordinary conditions, visit a church of his Order on his feast day.
Author: AnaStpaul
Passionate Catholic.
Being a Catholic is a way of life - a love affair "Religion must be like
the air we breathe..."- St John Bosco Prayer is what the world needs
combined with the example of our lives which testify to the Light of Christ.
This site, which is now using the Traditional Calendar, will mainly concentrate
on Daily Prayers, Novenas and the Memorials and Feast Days of our friends in
Heaven, the Saints who went before us and the great blessings the Church
provides in our Catholic Monthly Devotions. This Site is placed under the
Patronage of my many favourite Saints and especially, St Paul. "For the
Saints are sent to us by God as so many sermons. We do not use them, it is they
who move us and lead us, to where we had not expected to go.” Charles Cardinal
Journet (1891-1975) This site adheres to the Catholic Church and all her
teachings. PLEASE ADVISE ME OF ANY GLARING TYPOS etc - In June 2021 I lost 95%
sight in my left eye and sometimes miss errors. Thank you and I pray all those
who visit here will be abundantly blessed. Pax et bonum! VIEW ALL POSTS
SOURCE : https://anastpaul.com/2018/05/18/saint-of-the-day-18-may-st-felix-of-cantalice-o-f-m-cap-1515-1587/
Museo de Cádiz. Pintura, óleo sobre lienzo,
atribuida a Alonso Cano (1653-1657) para el retablo mayor
del Convento de
Capuchinos (Sanlúcar de Barrameda)
Friday 16 June 2000
Dear Sisters,
1. "Grace to you and
peace from him who is and who was and who is to come" (Rev 1:4). I am
especially happy to welcome you as you gather for the Twenty-first General
Chapter of the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Felix of Cantalice, taking
place in the year of the Great Jubilee. This is a year when the whole Church
sings the praises of God for the gift of the Word made flesh and celebrates the
Incarnation not just as an event of the past but as the mode of God’s love in
every time and place. Among the Felician Sisters too the Word has come to dwell
in deep and powerful ways; and for the great things he has done among you let
us give thanks to the Father of all mercies.
2. Your Congregation came
to birth at a troubled time in Poland. The nation had lost its independence,
and the question of how to regain freedom burned in Polish hearts. For some the
only answer was armed struggle; but every attempt to throw off by force the
yoke of oppression led only to greater suffering. In such a situation, God
raised up Blessed Mary Angela Truszkowska, who proposed a radically different
answer to the question of how freedom might be found, drawing her inspiration
from Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Felix of Cantalice. From them your
Foundress learnt that the way to true freedom was not violence, but joyful
self-emptying. This was not the logic of the world but of the Son of God who
"emptied himself, taking the form of a servant" (Phil 2:7); and
it was this which would mark Blessed Mary Angela’s whole life and help to
awaken a nation from its spiritual lethargy.
For the great Saint
Francis, the logic of the Incarnation led him to empty himself of attachment to
all things, in order to possess all things in God. It meant accepting the
wounds of the Cross in joyful imitation of the suffering Savior. For Saint
Felix, the logic of the Incarnation meant walking the streets of Rome as
"the Capuchins’ donkey", begging food for his brothers, responding
always with his famous "Deo Gratias", and feeding the poor from his
alms-sack. For Blessed Mary Angela, it meant immersing herself in the suffering
of the time, embracing "the little ones" in a life of action
intensely rooted in contemplation. Such a life placed her firmly within a
tradition of holiness reaching back through Saint Felix and Saint Francis to
the Crucified Lord himself.
Your Foundress would
often take the children in her care to the Capuchin Church in Warsaw where
Saint Felix is shown bearing the Infant Jesus in his arms. In the figure of the
Holy Child, Blessed Mary Angela recognized the little ones she was called to
serve. She knew that Saint Felix was shown bearing the Infant Jesus in his arms
because in bearing the burdens of the needy he had carried in his arms the poor
Christ himself; and she recognized this as her own calling. By bearing the
burdens of the weakest she and her Sisters would bear in their arms the
"little" Lord Jesus. Blessed Mary Angela knew too that it was Mary
who had placed the Holy Child in the arms of Saint Felix, and that it was Mary
who was now placing her Infant Son in the arms of the Sisters of Saint Felix.
How right then that she should dedicate the Congregation to the Immaculate
Heart of Mary.
3. Yet the sword which
pierced Mary’s heart (cf. Lk 2:35) pierced the heart of the Foundress
too. "Love means giving", she wrote, "giving everything that
love asks for; giving immediately, without regrets, with joy, and wanting even
more to be asked of us". In obeying the logic of the Incarnation and
bearing in her arms the Lord himself, Blessed Mary Angela became a victim of
love. Step by step she ascended the hill of Calvary in a journey of suffering
both physical and spiritual, until her life was ablaze with the mystery of the
Cross.
As she journeyed more
deeply into Calvary’s darkness she became more insistent that at the heart of
the Congregation’s life there should be devotion above all to the Holy
Eucharist and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. She bequeathed to her Sisters
the motto: "All through the Heart of Mary in honor of the Most Blessed Sacrament".
In long hours of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament she learnt that she and
her Sisters were called to "reproduce the pattern of the Lord’s
death" (Phil 3:10) so that they might become the Eucharist. And in
the Mother of Christ, Blessed Mary Angela recognized the one who shared in her
Son’s Passion most intimately, and she knew that this was the Sisters’ calling
as well. In Mary Immaculate she recognized the woman of the Magnificat,
the woman whose self-emptying allowed God to fill her with the joy of the Holy
Spirit. This was to be the life of the Sisters of Saint Felix.
4. Ours is a very
different world, but we are no less challenged by the spiritual lethargy of our
time and by the question of where true freedom lies. It is the Church’s sacred duty
to proclaim to the world the true answer to that question; and Religious men
and women are crucial in that task. For the Felician Sisters, this must mean an
ever more radical fidelity to the program of life bequeathed to you by your
Foundress, since if there is not this fidelity among you then you too can fall
victim to the spiritual confusion of the age, and there may emerge among you
the anxiety and disunity which are its fruits.
I urge you therefore,
dear Sisters, at this critical time in the life of your Congregation, to commit
yourself in this General Chapter to more ardent worship of the Most Blessed
Sacrament, to deeper devotion to Mary Immaculate, and to a more radical love of
the charism of your Foundress. Embrace the Lord’s Cross as Blessed Angela did!
Then you will become the Eucharist; your whole life will sing Magnificat; your
poverty will be filled with "the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph 3:8).
Entrusting the General Chapter and the entire Congregation to Mary, Mother of
Sorrows and Mother of all our joys, and to the intercession of Saint Francis,
Saint Felix and your Blessed Foundress, I gladly impart my Apostolic Blessing
as a pledge of endless grace and peace in Jesus Christ, "the faithful
witness and firstborn from the dead" (Rev 1:5).
© Copyright 2000 -
Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Copyright © Dicastero per
la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
San Felice da
Cantalice Cappuccino
Cantalice, Rieti, 1515 –
Roma, 18 maggio 1587
Felice Porro nacque a
Cantalice (Rieti), quasi certamente nel 1515; giovanissimo si trasferì a
Cittaducale dove prestò servizio nella famiglia Picchi come pastore e
contadino. Nel 1544 decise di assecondare il desiderio di farsi Cappuccino.
Dopo il Noviziato a Fiuggi, nel 1545 emise i voti nel convento di San Giovanni
Campano. Quindi sostò per poco più di due anni nei conventi di Tivoli e di
Viterbo-Palanzana per poi trasferirsi nel convento romano di San Bonaventura
(Santa Croce dei Lucchesi sotto il Quirinale), dove nei rimanenti quarant'anni
fu questuante per i suoi confratelli. Ebbe temperamento mistico, dormiva appena
due o tre ore e il resto della notte lo trascorreva in preghiera. Per le strade
di Roma assisteva ammalati e poveri: devotissimo a Maria era chiamato «frate
Deo gratias» per il suo abituale saluto. Venne canonizzato da Clemente XI nel
1712.
Etimologia: Felice =
contento, dal latino
Martirologio
Romano: A Roma, san Felice da Cantalice, religioso dell’Ordine dei Frati
Minori Cappuccini, di austerità e semplicità mirabili, che per quarant’anni si
dedicò a raccogliere elemosine, disseminando intorno a sé pace e carità.
È “il Santo dei fanciulli”: li consola, li guarisce, li diverte perché il suo animo è semplice e puro come quello di un bambino. Felice Porri nasce nel 1515 a Cantalice (Rieti), in una famiglia di umili contadini e lui stesso lavora la terra fino a trent’anni. Da bambino aiuta i genitori nei lavori domestici. Ai compagni regala crocifissi di legno da lui intagliati e, a chi gli fa un dispetto, risponde con il perdono. Non sa leggere né scrivere, ma ha tanta fede e ascolta estasiato i racconti della vita dei santi. Un giorno rischia di morire travolto da alcuni cavalli. Miracolosamente si salva e per lui questo è uno speciale messaggio che gli arriva dal Cielo.
Diventa frate e, indossando il saio, si trasferisce a Fiuggi, poi a Tivoli, infine a Roma. Per tutta la vita raccoglie pane, frutta e fave da distribuire ai confratelli e agli affamati. Chiede, con la mano tesa, l’elemosina ai ricchi per aiutare i poveri, assiste i malati, dona pace e serenità a chi lo avvicina. Le briciole sono per i suoi amici uccellini che lo accompagnano sempre festosi. Cammina scalzo e accetta di calzare sandali solo da anziano. Felice lo è di nome e di fatto: sorridente, saluta e ringrazia tutti dicendo Deo Gratias (dal latino “Grazie a Dio”). Così viene chiamato anche “frate Deogratias”.
Il santo compie tanti miracoli. Guarisce soprattutto i fanciulli dalle malattie perché è spontaneo e gioioso come i bambini che chiama angioletti; per loro racconta filastrocche, inventa favole, gioca, balla, canta, regala pane e parla di Gesù e per tutti diventa “il Santo dei fanciulli”. Il cappuccino sostiene anche i contadini con i suoi prodigi: in piena estate fa scaturire l’acqua da una sorgente e, utilizzando alcune foglie bagnate, salva un allevamento di bachi da seta da una malattia. Egli ama il Natale e ogni anno, nella sua misera celletta, allestisce un piccolo presepio con la Sacra Famiglia, l’angelo, il bue e l’asinello, i pastori e i Re Magi.
Un giorno, prega davanti a un dipinto della Madonna (alla quale è devotissimo)
e la implora di fargli tenere in braccio il Bambinello. Il quadro si anima e la
Madonna porge al frate Gesù Bambino: piangendo il frate lo stringe a sé. Felice
non è mai andato a scuola ma diventa famoso per le sue prediche fatte di parole
semplici, proverbi e poesie. Muore a Roma nel 1587 dove riposa nella Chiesa
dell’Immacolata Concezione. È patrono dei bambini e degli allevatori dei bachi
da seta. Protegge contro i disturbi della circolazione.
Autore: Mariella Lentini
Saint Felix of Cantalicio. Colour photogravure, 1898.
Felice Porro nacque a Cantalice quasi sicuramente nel 1515; fanciullo si trasferì a Cittaducale, dove servì in casa Picchi in qualità di pastore e di contadino. Alimentò l'innata inclinazione ad una vita austera, ascoltando leggere le Vite dei Padri. Nei primi mesi del 1544, travolto da giovenchi non domi e rimasto miracolosamente incolume, si decise a mettere in atto senza altri rinvii il proposito, lungamente meditato, di rendersi religioso tra i Cappuccini. Compì l'anno di noviziato a Fiuggi e nel maggio 1545 emetteva la professione dei voti nel convento di S. Giovanni Campano. Quindi sostò per poco più di due anni nei conventi di Tivoli e di Viterbo-Palanzana e, verso la: fine del 1547 o l'inizio del 1548, si trasferì a Roma, nel convento di S. Bonaventura (attualmente S. Croce dei Lucchesi sotto il Quirinale), dove nei rimanenti quarant'anni della sua vita questuò pane e vino per i suoi confratelli.
Felice ebbe un temperamento mistico. Dormiva appena due o tre ore e il resto della notte lo trascorreva in chiesa in preghiera, che per lo più era contemplazione dei misteri della vita di Gesù. Negli ultimi tre lustri della sua vita si comunicò quotidianamente. Nei giorni festivi soleva peregrinare alle "Sette Chiese" oppure visitava gli infermi nei vari ospedali romani. Nutrì una tenera devozione alla Vergine Madre, che gli apparve più volte.
Nei suoi contatti quotidiani con il popolo, fu efficace consigliere spirituale di gente umile e della stessa aristocrazia della Roma rinascimentale. Per molti anni dopo la sua morte (18 maggio 1587) ragazzi e signore seguitarono a cantare ballate da lui composte e insegnate, come queste:
"Gesù, somma speranza,
del cuor somma baldanza.
Deh! dammi tanto amore,
che mi basti ad amarti ";
oppure:
" Se tu non sai la via
d'andare in paradiso,
vattene a Maria
con pietoso viso,
ch'è clemente e pia:
t'insegnerà la via
d'andare in paradiso".
Fu amico di s. Filippo Neri e di Sisto V, al quale predisse il papato
ammonendolo a comportarsi rettamente, e che ne fece celebrare il processo
canonico l'anno stesso della morte (giugno-ottobre 1587) con l'intenzione di
canonizzarlo immediatamente, poiché i miracoli operati dal santo ancor vivente
e subito dopo la morte erano sulla bocca di tutti. Ma di fatto Felice fu
beatificato il 1 ottobre 1625 e canonizzato da Clemente XI il 22 maggio.
Il suo corpo riposa nella chiesa dell'Immacolata Concezione di via Veneto in Roma, dove fu trasportato il 27 aprile 1631. La festa liturgica ricorre il 18 maggio.
Autore: Mariano da Alatri
SOURCE : https://www.santiebeati.it/Detailed/53750.html
San Felice Porro da Cantalice (1515-1587), laico. Tale stampa è ascrivibile all'iconografia dei secoli XVIII e XIX. Il soggetto iconografico è dato dalla visione di Gesù Bambino, tema che diverrà dominante nelle chiese cappuccine di questo periodo.
Virgin offers the Holy Child to St. Felix of Cantalica, Santa Maria Immacolata a via Veneto, Rome
Alessandro
Turchi: Maria überreicht
Felix das Jesuskind,
1635, in der Kapuzinerkirche Santa
Maria della Concezione in Rom
San Felice Porro da
Cantalice (1515-1587)
1515: Felice Porro nasce
a Cantalice (Rieti)
1543 o 1544: nel convento
di Anticoli di Campagna (oggi Fiuggi) veste l'abito cappuccino
1545, 18 maggio: emitte
la professione religiosa nel convento di Monte S. Giovanni
1545-1547: è destinato
nei conventi di Anticoli, Monte S. Giovanni, Tivoli e della Palanzana (Viterbo)
1547-1572: è questuante
di pane, poi di vino e olio e fino alla morte dimora come questuante di città
nel convento di Roma S. Niccolò de Portiis
1587, 30 aprile: cade
infermo
1587, 18 maggio: muore
1587, 10 giugno: Sisto V
ordina d'istruire subito il processo, portato a termine il 10 novembre
1614-1616: nuovo processo
canonico
1625, 1 ottobre: Urbano
VII lo dichiara "beato"
1631, 27 aprile: il corpo
del b. Felice è trasportato dalla chiesa di S. Niccolò al nuovo convento
dell'Immacolata Concezione
1712, 22 maggio: Clemente
XI lo pone nell'albo dei santi
"O dolce amore,
Giesù, sopra ogni amore, / scrivimi nel cuor quanto mi amasti. / Giesù, tu mi
creasti, / ch'io ti dovessi amare". - "Giesù, Giesù, Giesù, /
Pigliati il mio cuore / e non me lo render più". - "O Giesù,
Giesù,/Figliolo di Maria, / chi ti possedesse / quanto bene averia!". -
"Chi la croce stringe bene / Giesù Cristo li sovviene / e il paradiso
ottiene / e la gloria eternale". - "In questa nostra terra / è nata
una rosella, / Una bella Verginella, / ch'è Madre di Dio". - "Croce
di Cristo in fronte mia, / parole di Cristo in bocca mia, / amor di Cristo nel
cuor mio: / mi raccomando a Giesù Cristo / e alla sua dolce Madre
Maria". (s. Felice da Cantalice)
Nella liturgia viene
ricordato il 18 maggio
IL SANTO DELLE VIE DI
ROMA
Il 22 maggio 1712 il papa
Clemente XI elevava agli onori dell'altare i santi Pio V, Andrea Avellino,
Felice da Cantalice e Caterina da Bologna: un papa, un sacerdote, un fratello
laico e una suora, vissuti tutti nel periodo storico caratterizzato dal grande
movimento della restaurazione cattolica - prima, durante e dopo il concilio di
Trento.
Sono tutti e quattro
"religiosi" (un domenicano, un teatino, un cappuccino e una
clarissa), quasi a sottolineare l'apporto che gli Ordini religiosi, antichi e
moderni, diedero per il rinnovamento della Chiesa. Un apporto a vari livelli:
dalla cattedra di Pietro (Pio V), in veste di formatore d'un clero nuovo
(Andrea Avellino), edificando il prossimo con l'umiltà e la pietà (Felice), dal
silenzio orante di un monastero (Caterina). Consapevole o no, nel canonizzarli
insieme, Clemente XI presentò, in una meravigliosa sintesi, quattro tipici
rappresentanti di coloro che avevano tradotto in pratica il rinnovamento della
Chiesa.
Tra essi v'è l'umile ed
emblematica figura di Felice da Cantalice, assunto anch'egli ai fastigi della
grande storia della Chiesa.
Nato nel minuscolo centro
agricolo di Cantalice (Rieti) nel 1515, Felice Porro entrò tra i
cappuccini tra la fine del 1543 e l'inizio del 1544 e, compiuto l'anno di
noviziato nel convento di Anticoli di Campagna (l'odierna Fiuggi), il 18 maggio
1545 emise la professione dei voti religiosi nel conventino di Monte San
Giovanni, dove ancora oggi si conserva il suo testamento, rogato il 12 aprile
1545.
Perciò egli appartiene
alla prima generazione di cappuccini, tra i quali venne non dalla famiglia
degli Osservanti o da altro Ordine religioso, bensí dal "secolo". Si
fece frate subito dopo la triste defezione di Bernardino Ochino (avvenuta nel
mese di agosto del 1542), allorché i poveri cappuccini venivano incriminati
pubblicamente di eresia, e tutto lasciava temere che dovessero essere
soppressi.
Nondimeno, dalle parole
dello stesso fra Felice veniamo a conoscere che cosa, in quel tristissimo
frangente, il popolo cristiano - non i persecutori oppure alcuni impiegati
della curia romana! - pensasse della vita e della religiosità dei cappuccini.
Infatti, ad un cugino agostiniano, che lo esortava a seguirlo nel suo Ordine,
Felice rispose che, se non si fosse potuto fare cappuccino, avrebbe preferito
restare nel secolo. Dal che si deve arguire che, nonostante le persecuzioni e
le calunnie, la Riforma cappuccina era altamente stimata.
Sembra superfluo
insistere nel ricordare tutta una serie di aneddoti pittoreschi che
caratterizzano la vita di fra Felice. Tra essi vanno certamente annoverati gli
incontri e lo scambio di lepide battute con Sisto V, san Filippo Neri, il
futuro cardinale Cesare Baronio, con san Carlo Borromeo, gli alunni del
Collegio Germanico o le dame della nobiltà romana, alla cui porta bussava in
cerca di elemosina. Tutte cose risapute, come pure sono ben note le canzonette
da lui cantate per le case e per le vie di Roma, le sue ammonizioni a
prepotenti e peccatori, le profezie e i miracoli che i testimoni riferirono in
occasione dei processi canonici e che Sisto V, nell'intento di abbreviare i
tempi della sua canonizzazione, si diceva pronto a confermarli con il
giuramento.
Va comunque sottolineato
che, delle cose meravigliose attribuite a fra Felice ancor vivente,
testimoniarono quasi unicamente gli estranei all'Ordine cappuccino: i frati, o
le ignoravano o non giudicarono opportuno raccontarle.
Ma, se dalla vita di fra
Felice si tolgono gli aneddoti, i detti ingenui e sapidi, i miracoli e le
profezie, ben poco rimane da narrare. Egli infatti, dopo aver trascorso i primi
quattro anni della sua vita religiosa nei conventi di Anticoli, Monte San
Giovanni, Tivoli e della Palanzana (Viterbo), per il resto dei suoi giorni
dimorò a Roma (1547-1587), dove giornalmente mendicò dapprima il pane (fino al
1572) e poi, fino alla morte, il vino e l'olio per i suoi frati. I cappuccini
che vissero a gomito con lui, lo ritenevano un buon religioso come tanti altri,
e perciò si stupirono grandemente nel vedere l'interminabile processione di
gente che accorreva a venerare il suo cadavere e che - insieme a uomini e dame
della nobiltà romana, a cardinali e allo stesso Sisto V - proclamava i suoi
miracoli e la sua santità.
Specialmente nei primi
processi, i frati si limitarono a raccontare come fra Felice occupasse il suo
tempo nella vita di ogni giorno. Per questo, noi oggi conosciamo quello che
egli faceva in ogni momento della sua operosissima giornata: quando pregava (di
giorno e di notte), si flagellava, andava per l'elemosina, dava consigli,
visitava i malati in convento e fuori, confezionava rozze crocette per i devoti
che gliele chiedevano.
Perciò, nei processi più
antichi sono pochissimi i miracoli narrati; al contrario, si indulge a
descrivere quella che era la vita quotidiana di Felice, che poi, pur con le
debite eccezioni, era il modo di vivere dei cappuccini nella seconda metà del
Cinquecento. Ognuno può rendersene conto dando una scorsa all'indice delle
cose, dei luoghi e delle persone che correda l'edizione critica dei processi di
beatificazione e canonizzazione di fra Felice, dove ben venti fittissime
colonne riguardano il Santo.
In questo modo ci è stata
trasmessa l'immagine d'un modello della vita cappuccina, in modo concreto e
dettagliato. Fra Felice incarnò alla perfezione ciò che le costituzioni
prescrivevano, non servilmente ma nella libertà del suo carisma. E con ciò
stesso divenne un modello da imitare, e di fatto imitato.
Mentre era ancora in
vita, fra Felice aveva insegnato - con modi non sempre garbati e dolci! - ad
alcuni frati a pregare e ad andare per l'elemosina. Dopo morte, per molti
divenne un modello. I testimoni che nel 1587 avevano riferito circa la sua vita
e le sue virtù, nei processi celebrati a distanza di venti o trent'anni
raccontarono cose meravigliose, taciute nel 1587. Come mai? Inventarono forse
delle favole? No; ma, col passare degli anni, avevano meglio compreso il
significato d'una vita che, mentre si svolgeva sotto i loro occhi, era loro
sembrata del tutto ordinaria e per nulla diversa da quella di tanti altri
frati.
Anche se confinato
all'ultimo posto, fra Felice era nondimeno vissuto per quarant'anni a Roma, nel
convento principale dell'Ordine, sede del vicario generale. Lo avevano
conosciuto tanti frati illustri, specialmente in occasione dei capitoli
generali. Bernardino da Colpetrazzo nota che, nel capitolo del 1587, a motivo
degli eventi che seguirono la morte di fra Felice, i frati capitolari
tralasciarono quasi del tutto i sermoni soliti a farsi in detta occasione, dal
momento che fra Felice aveva predicato più che abbastanza con la sua santa
morte. E furono precisamente i capitolari, quelli che portarono nelle varie
province la notizia delle cose meravigliose allora verificatesi. Furono subito
messe in circolazione "vite" e immagini di Felice, cosí come poi
saranno ovunque solennizzate la sua beatificazione (1625) e canonizzazione
(1712).
Nella schiera dei frati
che vanno ritenuti come i padri della Riforma cappuccina, fra Felice è secondo,
forse, soltanto a Bernardino d'Asti, che negli anni 1543/44, mentr'era
guardiano, lo aveva accolto nel convento di Roma. Bisognerebbe cercare di
conoscere meglio l'influsso (non ufficiale, ma carismatico e reale) da lui
esercitato sulla vita e nella storia dell'Ordine cappuccino, nell'ubertoso
campo della perfezione religiosa e della santità. Non mancano certo gli indizi
per scoprire i canali e le forme di detto influsso. Basti accennare alla
larghissima diffusione delle sue immagini ("Pictura est laicorum
litteratura", e non soltanto degli illetterati!), delle "vite ",
delle reliquie, del culto, di particolari formule di preghiere e, quel che più
conta, all'impegno di imitarlo specialmente da parte dei fratelli laici
cappuccini, alcuni dei quali sono stati annoverati nell'albo dei beati e dei
santi. È infatti accertato che, tra i cappuccini, fra Felice fu il santo
maggiormente amato e seguito come modello. Una indicazione in tal senso la si
può ravvisare persino nel gran numero dei frati che, entrando in Religione,
presero il nome di Felice. Cosí, nel 1650, tra i circa 11.000 cappuccini
d'Italia, 277 si chiamavano Felice e, fino al 1966, il Necrologio della
provincia Romana registra 217 frati che portarono lo stesso nome.
Ma forse l'influsso da
Felice esercitato fu più vasto e profondo di quanto si possa immaginare. Per
esempio, nell'Ordine cappuccino non v'è traccia di sorta di quella
clericalizzazione che, a distanza di pochi anni dalla morte di san Francesco,
si radicalizzò tra i frati Minori. Inoltre, persino contro le puntigliose
opzioni della Chiesa postridentina, l'Ordine cappuccino fu sempre impegnato a
rivendicare gli stessi diritti sia ai laici che ai chierici. Al quale indirizzo
assai difficilmente poté rimanere estraneo il ruolo di fra Felice, che per
primo aveva onorato l'Ordine con la nobiltà della santità e che, nel noviziato
di Anticoli di Campagna, aveva avuto come maestro fra Bonifacio, un cappuccino
non chierico.
Nel 1537, precisamente
nel convento di Anticoli era morto Francesco Tittelmans da Hasselt, mentre,
essendo vicario della provincia di Roma, vi sostava per la visita canonica. Da
un punto di vista umano, la sua immatura morte fu una sciagura per la giovane
famiglia cappuccina, di cui egli era una delle colonne portanti. Ma, di lí a
pochi anni, nel luogo stesso in cui il dottissimo Tittelmans era morto, muoveva
i primi passi nella palestra della vita religiosa l'"idiota" Felice.
Nonostante la diversa condizione - il Tittelmans gran professore, Felice un
laico illetterato - essi ebbero comune l'amore per il lavoro manuale, per
la contemplazione, per una rigida osservanza della Regola, per l'umiltà e la
cura degli infermi. Ma, a differenza del Tittelmans, Felice ebbe anche il tempo
per incarnare un perfetto modello di vita cappuccina improntato a quelle
opzioni. E il suo esempio ha fatto scuola.
Mariano D'Alatri
CIMP Cap - Conferenza
Italiana Ministri Provinciali Cappuccini
Piazzale San Lorenzo, 3 -
00185 Roma
C.F. 92034310588
Janez Jurij Remb (1650–1716), Sv. Feliks Kantališki, 1712, Ursuline Church of Ljubljana
Venerdì, 16 giugno 2000
Care sorelle,
1. "Grazia a voi e
pace a Colui che è, che era e che viene" (Ap 1, 4). Sono
particolarmente lieto di dare il benvenuto a voi, riunite in occasione del XXI
Capitolo Generale della Congregazione delle Suore di san Felice da Cantalice,
che si svolge nell'anno del Grande Giubileo. Questo è un anno nel quale la
Chiesa intera innalza le lodi di Dio per il dono del Verbo fatto carne e
celebra l'Incarnazione non solo come evento del passato, ma anche come esempio
dell'amore di Dio in ogni luogo e in ogni tempo. Anche fra le suore di san
Felice il Verbo è venuto a dimorare in modi profondi e potenti e per le grandi
cose che ha compiuto fra voi rendiamo grazie al Padre di ogni misericordia.
2. La vostra
Congregazione è sorta in un periodo molto difficile per la Polonia. La nazione
aveva perso la sua indipendenza e la questione di come riacquistare la libertà
ardeva nel cuore dei polacchi. Per alcuni l'unica risposta era la lotta armata;
tuttavia, ogni tentativo di eliminare con la forza il giogo dell'oppressione
portava soltanto a una maggiore sofferenza. In tale situazione, Dio presentò la
beata Maria Angela Truszkowska che propose una risposta radicalmente diversa
alla questione di come riacquistare la libertà, traendo ispirazione da san
Francesco d'Assisi e da san Felice da Cantalice. Da loro la vostra Fondatrice
apprese che la via verso la libertà autentica non era la violenza, ma il
gioioso svuotamento di sé. Questa non era la logica del mondo, ma del Figlio di
Dio che "umiliò se stesso facendosi obbediente" (Fil 2, 7); fu
questo a contraddistinguere tutta la vita della Beata Maria Angela e ad aiutare
una nazione a svegliarsi dal suo letargo spirituale. La logica
dell'incarnazione portò il grande san Francesco a liberarsi dall'attaccamento a
tutte le cose al fine di possedere tutte le cose in Dio. Volle accettare le
ferite della Croce nell'imitazione gioiosa del Salvatore sofferente.
La logica
dell'incarnazione significò per san Felice percorrere le strade di Roma come
"scimmia dei Cappuccini", elemosinando cibo per i suoi fratelli,
rispondendo sempre con il suo famoso "Deo Gratias" e sfamando i
poveri per la salvezza della sua anima.
Per la Beata Maria Angela
significò immergersi nella sofferenza del tempo, abbracciando "i
piccoli" in una vita di azione intensamente radicata nella contemplazione.
Tale vita la collocò fermamente in una tradizione di santità che giunge fino al
Signore crocifisso passando per san Felice e san Francesco.
La vostra Fondatrice
portava spesso i bambini che le erano stati affidati nella Chiesa dei
Cappuccini a Varsavia dove san Felice viene ritratto con Gesù Bambino fra le
braccia. Nella figura del Santo Bambino, la Beata Angela Maria riconosceva i
piccoli che era chiamata a servire. Sapeva che san Felice veniva descritto con
Gesù Bambino fra le braccia perché nel farsi carico del fardello dei bisognosi
aveva portato fra le braccia il povero Cristo stesso. La beata Maria Angela
riconobbe in questo la propria chiamata.
Facendosi carico del
fardello dei più deboli lei e le sue sorelle avrebbero portato il
"piccolo" Signore Gesù. La Beata Maria Angela sapeva anche che era
Maria che aveva posto il Santo Bambino nelle braccia di san Felice, e che era
Maria che ora stava ponendo suo Figlio bambino nelle braccia delle Suore di san
Felice. Quanto giusto fu dunque dedicare la Congregazione al Cuore Immacolato
di Maria!
3. Tuttavia la spada che
trafisse il cuore di Maria (cfr Lc 2, 35) trafisse anche il cuore
della Fondatrice. "Amare significa dare" scrisse, "dando ogni
cosa l'amore richieda; dando immediatamente, senza rimpianti, con gioia e
desiderando che ci venga chiesto ancora di più". Nell'obbedire alla logica
dell'incarnazione e nel portare fra le braccia il Signore stesso, la Beata
Maria Angela divenne una vittima d'amore. Passo dopo passo ascese il monte del
Calvario in un itinerario di sofferenza sia fisica sia spirituale fin quando la
sua vita non venne infiammata dal mistero della Croce.
Addentrandosi sempre più
nell'oscurità del Calvario insistette più che mai sul fatto che al centro della
vita della Congregazione vi fosse devozione soprattutto per la santa Eucaristia
e per il Cuore Immacolato di Maria. Lasciò alle sue sorelle il motto:
"tutto attraverso il Cuore di Maria in onore del Santissimo
Sacramento". Nelle lunghe ore di preghiera di fronte al Santissimo
Sacramento apprese che lei e le sue sorelle erano chiamate a "conoscere le
vie della morte del Signore" (cfr Fil 3, 10) cosicché potessero
divenire l'Eucaristia.
Nella Madre di Cristo, la
Beata Maria Angela riconobbe Colei che partecipò più intimamente alla Passione
di suo Figlio e seppe che ciò era anche la chiamata delle Suore. In Maria
Immacolata riconobbe la donna del Magnificat, la donna il cui svuotamento
di sé permise a Dio di colmarla della gioia dello Spirito Santo. Questa doveva
essere la vita delle Suore di san Felice.
4. Il nostro mondo è molto
diverso, ma non riceviamo una sfida minore dalla letargia spirituale del nostro
tempo e dalla questione della libertà autentica. E' dovere sacro della Chiesa
proclamare al mondo la risposta autentica a tale questione. I religiosi e le
religiose svolgono un ruolo cruciale in questo compito. Per voi, Suore di san
Felice, ciò deve significare una fedeltà ancora più radicale al programma di
vita che la vostra Fondatrice vi ha lasciato, poiché se fra voi non c'è questa
fedeltà allora anche voi potete divenire vittime della confusione spirituale
dell'epoca e può emergere fra voi l'ansietà e la disunione che sono i suoi
frutti.
Vi esorto, care suore, in
questo tempo critico nella vita della vostra Congregazione, a dedicarvi in
questo Capitolo Generale a un culto più ardente del Santissimo Sacramento, a
una devozione più profonda a Maria Immacolata e a un amore più radicale del
carisma della vostra Fondatrice.
Abbracciate la Croce del
Signore come fece la Beata Angela! Allora diverrete Eucaristia. Tutta la vostra
vita intonerà il Magnificat. La vostra povertà si colmerà delle
"imperscrutabili ricchezze di Cristo" (Ef 3, 8). Affidando il
vostro Capitolo Generale e tutta la Congregazione a Maria, Madre delle
sofferenze e madre di tutte le gioie e all'intercessione di san Francesco, di
san Felice e della vostra beata Fondatrice, imparto di cuore la mia Benedizione
Apostolica, quale pegno di grazia e di pace infinita in Gesù Cristo,
"testimone fedele, il primogenito dei morti" (Ap 1, 5).
© Copyright 2000 -
Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Copyright © Dicastero per
la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Statue
des Heiligen Felix bei Lanzenkirchen, Niederösterreich
ayside
sculpture of St. Felix near Lanzenkirchen, Lower Austria
Felix von Cantalice
Beiname:
Bruder Deogratias
Gedenktag katholisch: 18. Mai
Fest im Kapuzinerorden
gebotener Gedenktag im Orden der Franziskaner-Observanten
Messe an einigen Orten: 21. Mai
Name bedeutet: der
Glückliche (latein.)
Laienbruder
* 1515 in Cantalice in Italien
† 18. Mai 1587 in Rom
Der Hirtenknabe Felix
verbrachte der Überlieferung zufolge schon in seiner Jugend viele
Andachtsstunden vor einem in einen Baum eingeschnitzten Kruzifix. 1543 fand er
zu den Kapuzinern im Kloster nahe
Cittaducale, als der Ordensgeneral gerade den kurz zuvor gegründeten Orden
verließ, zu den Protestanten konvertierte und nach Genf ging;
der junge Orden, Hoffnungsträger kirchlicher Erneuerung, war bis in die
Grundfesten erschüttert und drohte daran zu zerbrechen.
Über das Kloster in
Anticoli di Campagna - dem heutigen Fiuggi - bei Frosinone kam Felix ins Kloster nach
Monte San Giovanni Campano, wo er 1545 seine Gelübde ablegte, und nach einer
Zeit ins damalige Kloster nach
Tivoli bei Rom. Nach einem Aufenthalt im Kloster in
Viterbo kam er ins Kloster an der Kirche San Nicola de Portiis in Rom - an
ihrer Stelle wurde 1631 die heutige Kirche Santa
Croce e San Bonaventura dei Lucchesi erbaut.
Über 40 Jahre lang war er
dort als Almosensammler tätig. Wegen des dadurch bedingten häufigen Dankens
trug er den Beinamen Bruder Deogratias, Dank im Namen Gottes. Felix
konnte nicht lesen und schreiben, aber er wirkte durch seine Ausstrahlung
eindrücklich auf die Menschen. Damit gewann er viele Menschen und half zur
Stabilisierung der Ordensreform. Nachts betete er stundenlang in der Kapelle
vor dem Altar, in der innigen Verbindung zum leidenden Jesus lag
sein Kraftquell. Trotz schwerer und schmerzhafter Erkrankung an Koliken
weigerte er sich, Gott um Linderung zu bitten: Wenn Gott mir Schmerzen
schickt, warum sollte ich nicht aus Liebe zu ihm leiden?.
Felix war mystisch
begabt, hatte zahlreiche Visionen der Maria und
konnte in die Zukunft schauen; so sah er die Wahl von Papst Pius V. und
dessen Sieg über die Türken bei der Seeschlacht von Lepanto / Nafpaktos voraus.
Mit Papst Sixtus V., Karl
Borromäus und Philipp
Neri verband ihn enge Freundschaft. Er wollte anderen Menschen dienen,
wollte ein Lastesel sein und auch im hohen Alter lieber unter dem Sattel
sterben, als dass er die angebotenen Erleichterungen angenommen hätte. Als er
im Kloster an der Kirche San
Nicola de Portiis starb, trauerte das Volk, seinen Sarg begleiteten
der Papst und Kardinäle.
Nach Aufgabe der Kirche
San Nicola de Portiis wurden Felix' Gebeine in
die Kirche Santa
Maria della Concezione überführt.
Kanonisation: Schon
im Jahr nach Felix' Tod leitete Papst Sixtus den Heiligsprechungsprozess ein.
Felix wurde dann am 1. Oktober 1625 selig- und am 22. Mai 1712 durch
Papst Clemens XI. heiliggesprochen; er war der erste Heilige seines Ordens und
wurde der meistverehrte, bis er vor einigen Jahren in dieser Rolle durch Padre
Pio abgelöst wurde.
Attribute: Jesuskind im Arm, Rosenkranz, Sack
Patron der Mütter und Kinder
Die Kirche Santa
Maria della Concezione in Rom ist werktags von 9 Uhr bis 13 Uhr und
von 15 Uhr bis 18 Uhr, sonntags nur von von 9.30 Uhr bis 12 Uhr geöffnet; das
angeschlossene Museum mit der Kapuzinergruft
ist täglich von 9 Uhr bis 19 Uhr geöffnet, hierfür beträgt der Eintritt 8,50 €.
Die ehemalige Klosterzelle von Felix, die aus dem Kloster an San Nicola de
Portiis - der heutigen Kirche Santa
Croce e San Bonaventura dei Lucchesi - hierher übertragen wurde - kann
nur im Rahmen einer speziellen Führung nach vorheriger Vereinbarung über segreteria@cappucciniviaveneto.it besucht
werden. (2017)
Artikel
kommentieren / Fehler melden
Suchen bei amazon: Bücher über
Felix von Cantalice
Wikipedia: Artikel über
Felix von Cantalice
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Autor: Joachim
Schäfer - zuletzt aktualisiert am 14.07.2023
Quellen:
• Vera Schauber, Hanns Michael Schindler: Heilige und Patrone im Jahreslauf. Pattloch, München 2001
• Hiltgard L. Keller: Reclams Lexikon der Heiligen und der biblischen Gestalten. Reclam, Ditzingen 1984
• Friedrich-Wilhelm Bautz. In: Friedrich-Wilhelm Bautz (Hg.): Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon, Bd. II, Hamm 1990
• Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, begr. von Michael Buchberger. Hrsg. von Walter Kasper, 3., völlig neu bearb. Aufl., Bd. 3. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1995
• http://wikimapia.org/32724840/it/Chiesetta-di-Sant-Agnese - abgerufen am 30.05.2022
• https://www.rieti2000.it/r2k/comuni/cittaducale/chiese/9.htm - abgerufen am 29.05.2023
• https://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/53750 - abgerufen am 14.07.2023
korrekt zitieren: Joachim Schäfer: Artikel Felix von Cantalice, aus dem Ökumenischen Heiligenlexikon - https://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienF/Felix_von_Cantalice.html, abgerufen am 28. 4. 2024
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet das Ökumenische
Heiligenlexikon in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte
bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über https://d-nb.info/1175439177 und https://d-nb.info/969828497 abrufbar.
SOURCE : https://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienF/Felix_von_Cantalice.html
_Felix_und_Wappen.JPG)
_Felix.JPG)
Den hellige Felix av
Cantalice (1515-1587)
Minnedag: 18.
mai
Den hellige Felix Porri
eller Felix «den lykkelige» (it: Felice) ble født den 18. mai 1515 i den lille
byen Cantalice (Cantalicio) ved Rieti i regionen Lazio i Midt-Italia, i det
tidligere hertugdømmet Spoleto. Han var sønn av fattige, men gudfryktige
fjellbønder. Allerede fra barndommen måtte han delta i tungt arbeid på markene,
og han gjette sine foreldres kveg. Fra han var ni år gammel ble han leid ut til
en bonde i Cittaducale. Der ble han i over tyve år, først som gjeter og
deretter som gårdsarbeider. Mens han drev på med dette arbeidet hadde han god
tid til ettertanke og bønn. I en nærliggende skog hadde gutten skåret inn et
kors i barken på et tre, og ofte knelte han i timevis foran krusifikset,
snakket med Gud og gråt.
I årenes løp følte Felix
en stadig dypere trang etter å leve som eneboer. Den ble enda sterkere etter at
han med nød og neppe berget livet en gang han var ute og pløyde. De unge oksene
slet seg løs, slo ham over ende, tråkket på ham og dro plogen over ham og løp
vilt. En prest ga ham til slutt det rådet å tre inn i et kapusinerkloster (Ordo
Fratrum Minorum Capuccinorum – OFMCap), fordi der ville han finne den
ønskede mulighet til å leve ut sine lengsler. Derfor trådte den trettiårige
Felix av Cantalice i 1543 inn som legbror i kapusinerklosteret i Città-Ducale.
Han gjennomgikk sitt
novisiat i Anticoli i ordenens romerske provins. I 1545 avla han sine løfter i
klosteret San Giovanni Campano. Deretter var han i litt over to år i klostre i
Tivoli og Viterbo-Palanzana før han sent i 1547 eller tidlig i 1548 ble sendt
av sin orden til det romerske klosteret St. Bonaventura, nå Santa Croce dei
Lucchesi i Quirinalet, som almissetigger. I over førti år vandret han deretter
rundt i Romas gater og tigde mat og penger til sine medbrødres daglige brød.
Han ble ikke alltid vennlig behandlet, og ofte fikk han skjellsord i stedet for
milde gaver. Men Felix hadde alltid to ord til svar: Deo gratias («Gud
være lovet»). Snart het kapusineren bare «Broder Deo gratias». Berømt ble også
hans tallrike Mariavisjoner. En legende forteller at en stormfull kveld, mens
han tok sin vanlige runde for å samle mat til klosteret, viste et strålende
barn seg for ham, ga ham et brød og forsvant så med en velsignelse.
Felix fikk lov av sine
overordnede til å gi bort noe av almissene han fikk, til fattige og syke i det
verdslige samfunnet, som han hadde stor omsorg for. Han gikk barbeint i all
slags vær, fastet på vann og brød og bar botsdrakt med nagler. Når han tjente
ved messen, var han av og til så hensunket i ekstatisk bønn at han glemte å gi
svarene.
Felix hadde aldri fått
noen utdannelse, og han lærte aldri å lese. Han pleide å si at han kjente bare
fem røde bokstaver og én hvit – Kristi fem sår og den hellige Jomfru. Likevel
ble han høyt skattet av lærde kirkemenn som de hellige Karl Borromeus og Filip Neri;
sistnevnte ble hans nære venn. Som svar på utskeielsene under det romerske
karnevalet, arrangerte Felix og Filip en unik prosesjon. Oratorianerne gikk
først med et kors fremst og deretter fulgte kapusinerne. Helt til slutt kom
Felix og ledet den velkjente kapusinske predikanten Fra Lupo med et tau rundt
halsen for å symbolisere Jesus da han ble ført for Pilatus. Da prosesjonen
nådde senteret for festlighetene, holdt Fra Lupo en så imponerende preken mot
det onde livet at karnevalet gikk i oppløsning av seg selv.
Kardinal Karl Borromeus
spurte Felix til råds om regelen for sine oblater, men han unnskyldte seg med
at han var analfabet. Men da regelen ble lest opp for ham, kom han med forslag
til forandringer av flere punkter som han syntes var for strenge. Også
kardinaler og fyrster var vennligsinnet over for ham og gledet seg når de så
ham eller den gudfryktige mannen omfavnet dem. Til tross for alle
vanskelighetene ved sitt embete som almisseinnsamler mistet Felix aldri sin
munterhet. Stadig hadde han en sang på leppene, og når han bante seg vei
gjennom trengselen, sa han muntert: «Vær vennlig å gi plass. Gi plass for
eselet fra kapusinerklosteret!»
Felix hadde en spesiell
kjærlighet for barn. Han samlet dem rundt seg og sang improviserte sanger for
dem, som de deretter gjorde kjent. Velgjørere inviterte ham hjem til seg, og
som takk sang han for dem og ga dem råd. Gjennom sitt vesen og virke bidro han
til å høyne religiøsiteten i Roma. Under hungersnøden i 1580 ba byens fedre
kapusinerne om å få låne Felix for å samle inn penger, og han var utrettelig i
arbeidet.
Kjærligheten til Jesus
vokste i Felix med årene. Det fortelles at en natt da han som vanlig var i
kirken og ba, ble hans hjerte så oppflammet av kjærlighet at han løp til
høyalteret, hvor statuen av Guds mor med Jesusbarnet var stilt opp. Innstendig
ba han Maria om hun kunne overlate ham gutten et lite øyeblikk. Jomfruen bøyde
seg vennlig frem og la barnet i hans armer. Dette øyeblikket, da Felix bar
Jesusbarnet i sine armer, er det vanligste motivet kunstnere velger når de skal
avbilde ham.
Da Felix var en olding på
72 år, forutsa han sitt dødstidspunkt for flere av sine brødre. Felix av
Cantalice døde den 18. mai 1587 i Roma, 74 år gammel, etter en visjon av Jomfru
Maria. Det var andre pinsedag. Dagen etter hans død ba pave Sixtus V (1585-90)
om en rapport om Felix’ liv slik at han kunne saligkåre ham. Hele byen strømmet
til kirken for å ta farvel med sin elskede tiggermunk. Så mange mennesker
presset seg inn at noen faktisk ble klemt i hjel, og det måtte slås ut en ny
utgang for å lette på presset. Da Felix’ grav senere ble åpnet, ble hans legeme
funnet fullstendig intakt.
Hans relikvier æres
fortsatt i Chiesa Cappuccini i kapusinerklosteret ved Via Veneto i Roma, få
meter fra Piazza Barberini. Der er også hans celle bevart. Det ble meldt om et
stort antall mirakler ved hans grav. «Broder Deo gratias» ble saligkåret den 1.
oktober 1625 av pave Urban VIII (1623-44) og helligkåret den 22. mai 1712 av
pave Klemens XI (1700-21) som første kapusiner. Helligkåringsbullen var datert
4. juni 1724 under pave Benedikt XIII (1724-30). Hans minnedag er 18. mai og
hans navn står i Martyrologium Romanum. 21. mai nevnes også som minnedag.
Felix av Cantalice er
antakelig den mest kjente og høyest ærede hellige fra kapusinerordenen. Det
finnes bilder av ham i alle kapusinerklostre. Han avbildes som kapusiner, ofte
med en Mariaåpenbaring eller med Jesusbarnet, eller med en tiggerveske hvor det
står «Deo gratias». På noen bilder legger Jesusbarnet et brød i vesken hans.
Han avbildes også sammen med Filip Neri og/eller Karl Borromeus.
Filip Neri ba maleren
Giuseppe de Cesari om å male et bilde av Felix. En dag da tiggermunken kom for
sine almisser, oppholdt Cesari ham og skisserte et portrett mens de snakket
uten å la Felix vite hva han gjorde. På baksiden av den lille tretavlen skrev
kunstneren noen få linjer og sendte bildet til Filip. Dette bildet er bevart i
Galleri Prins Gaëtani i Roma. Mange detaljer i Felix’ liv minner om andre
fransiskanske legbrødre som de hellige Ignatius av Laconi og Frans av Camporosso.
Alle tre minner oss om at mennesker fra beskjedne kår og med begrenset
utdannelse virkelig kan bli helgener.
Kilder: Attwater/John,
Attwater/Cumming, Butler (V), Benedictines, Bunson, Schauber/Schindler,
Dammer/Adam, Index99, KIR, CE, CSO, Patron Saints SQPN, Infocatho, Bautz,
Heiligenlexikon, santiebeati.it, zeno.org, heiligen-3s.nl - Kompilasjon og
oversettelse: p. Per Einar Odden
Opprettet: 11. mai 2000
SOURCE : http://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/fcantali
Voir aussi : http://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j217sd_FelixCantalice_05_18.html
https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/felice-da-cantalice-santo_(Dizionario-Biografico)/
