Saint François Jérôme (de
Geronimo ou de Girolamo)
Jésuite italien (+ 1716)
Il était originaire de Tarente en Italie.
Jésuite, prédicateur réputé et très écouté, il favorisa l'apostolat des laïcs
et de nombreuses œuvres sociales au service des malades, des jeunes et des
vagabonds.
Il fut canonisé en 1839.
À Naples, en 1716, saint François de Geronimo, prêtre de la Compagnie de Jésus,
qui se donna pendant plus de quarante ans aux missions populaires et au soin
pastoral des abandonnés.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1134/Saint-Francois-Jerome-(de-Geronimo-ou-de-Girolamo).html
SAINT FRANÇOIS de
GIROLAMO
Missionnaire, Jésuite
(1641-1716)
La Vie des Saints nous
fournit à chaque pas la preuve que Dieu bénit les grandes familles. François de
Girolamo, né en Sicile, était l'aîné de onze enfants.
Son enfance fut
remarquable par une compassion innée pour les misères d'autrui. Un jour, il
prenait un pain pour les pauvres, sans la permission de ses parents. Sa mère
lui en adressa d'amers reproches: "Croyez-vous que l'aumône appauvrisse?
dit-il à sa mère; regardez le buffet!" La mère regarda: aucun pain ne
manquait.
Entré jeune encore dans
la Compagnie de Jésus, il s'y montra dès l'abord saint religieux dans la force
du terme. Ce qu'il convient avant tout de remarquer en lui, c'est l'apôtre. Il
demande un jour à ses supérieurs d'aller évangéliser les Indes et le Japon:
"Les Indes et le Japon, lui est-il répondu, sont pour vous à Naples. Quant
au martyre, les épines du ministère apostolique suffiront." C'était vrai.
Qu'il est beau de le voir
chaque mois, la sonnette à la main, appeler Naples à la Sainte Communion, bravant
toutes les intempéries des saisons et réussissant à amener jusqu'à vingt mille
communiants, le même jour, à la Table sainte! Souvent l'église ne suffisait pas
à ses prédications; une éminence en plein air lui servait de chaire, et l'on
voyait les multitudes saisies d'émotion sous sa parole puissante.
Avant d'aller prêcher, le
missionnaire passait des heures en prière, déchirait sa chair à coups de
discipline, et ne paraissait devant la foule que le coeur débordant des flammes
de la charité qu'il avait puisée aux pieds du crucifix. Un jour, une personne
scandaleuse qui l'avait interrompu dans un sermon vint à mourir; le Saint alla
près de son lit funèbre et lui cria: "Où es-tu?" A ces mots, les
lèvres du cadavre s'agitent et répondent: "En enfer!" Dieu, par une
foule de miracles, centuplait la puissance apostolique de Son serviteur.
Plusieurs fois l'on put
constater sa présence en deux endroits simultanément; ses prophéties étaient de
chaque jour, sa foi rendit la vie à un enfant mort, et sa parole ressuscita une
multitude d'âmes à la vie de la grâce. Il prédit le jour de sa mort.
Abbé L. Jaud, Vie
des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame, 1950.
SOURCE : http://www.magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_francois_de_girolamo.html
François de Geronimo est
né en Italie en 1642 et mort à Naples le 11 mai 1716.
Il fut canonisé par Grégoire XVI en 1839.
Il était originaire de Tarente en Italie.
Jésuite, prédicateur réputé et très écouté, il favorisa l’apostolat des laïcs
et de nombreuses œuvres sociales au service des malades, des jeunes et des
vagabonds.
Saint François de Geronimo, prêtre de la Compagnie de Jésus, se donna pendant
plus de quarante ans aux missions populaires et au soin pastoral des
abandonnés.
SOURCE : http://www.jesuites.com/2013/01/saint-francois-de-geronimo-sj/
Saint François De Girolamo
Prêtre s.j.
Dans le Martyrologe
Romain la date de la mémoire est celle de la naissance au ciel (dies natalis) :
le 11 mai. Pour la Congrégation, et au niveau local, le jour de la mémoire est
le 02 juillet.
Francesco De Girolamo,
aîné de onze enfants, naît à Grottaglie (en Pouilles, Italie) le 17 décembre
1642.
Son enfance fut
remarquable par une compassion innée pour les misères d'autrui. Un jour, il
prenait un pain pour les pauvres, sans la permission de ses parents. Sa mère
lui en adressa d'amers reproches : « Croyez-vous que l'aumône appauvrisse? dit-il
à sa mère ; regardez le buffet! » La mère regarda : aucun pain ne
manquait.
Entré jeune encore dans
la Compagnie de Jésus, il s'y montra dès l'abord saint religieux dans la force
du terme. Ce qu'il convient avant tout de remarquer en lui, c'est l'apôtre. Il
demande un jour à ses supérieurs d'aller évangéliser les Indes et le Japon :
« Les Indes et le Japon, lui est-il répondu, sont pour vous à Naples.
Quant au martyre, les épines du ministère apostolique suffiront. » C'était
vrai.
Qu'il est beau de le voir
chaque mois, la sonnette à la main, appeler Naples à la Sainte Communion,
bravant toutes les intempéries des saisons et réussissant à amener jusqu'à
vingt mille communiants, le même jour, à la Table sainte ! Souvent l'église ne
suffisait pas à ses prédications ; une éminence en plein air lui servait de
chaire, et l'on voyait les multitudes saisies d'émotion sous sa parole puissante.
Avant d'aller prêcher, le
missionnaire passait des heures en prière et ne paraissait devant la foule que
le cœur débordant des flammes de la charité qu'il avait puisée aux pieds du
crucifix. Un jour, une personne scandaleuse qui l'avait interrompu dans un
sermon vint à mourir ; le Saint alla près de son lit funèbre et lui cria :
« Où es-tu? à ces mots, les lèvres du cadavre s'agitent et répondent
: “En enfer !” ». Dieu, par une foule de miracles, centuplait la puissance
apostolique de son serviteur.
Plusieurs fois l'on put
constater sa présence en deux endroits simultanément ; ses prophéties étaient
de chaque jour, sa foi rendit la vie à un enfant mort, et sa parole ressuscita
une multitude d'âmes à la vie de la grâce.
Il meurt, comme il
l’avait prédit, le 11 mai 1716, à Naples.
Béatifié le 02 mai 1806 par le Pape Pie VII (Barnaba Chiaramonti, 1800-1823), il fut canonisé le 26 mai 1839 per le Pape Grégoire XVI (Bartolomeo Cappellari, 1831-1846).
Source principale : wikipédia.org (« Rév. x gpm »). ©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
SOURCE : http://levangileauquotidien.org/main.php?language=FR&module=saintfeast&id=3997&fd=0
Santuario di Grottaglie, gruppo scultoreo raffigurante il santo in atto di
benedire una famiglia, realizzato (ricordiamo) Orazio Del Monaco ed inserito
nella grande nicchia dell’abside.
Also
known as
Francis di Girolamo
Francis de Geronimo
Francis de Hieronymo
Franciscus de Hieronymo
Francis Jerome
Francis of Jerome
Francesco De Geronimo
Profile
Studied humanities
and philosophy at
the Jesuit college of Taranto, Italy at
age 16; studied theology and canon
law at the college of
Gesu Vecchio. Ordained on 18 March 1666 at Naples, Italy,
and served as a parish priest.
Joined the Jesuits at
age 28 on 1 July 1670.
Rural missioner in
and around Naples for
40 years.
Successful and
effective preacher.
Ministered in prisons, brothels,
and galleys. Converted Moor and
Turkish prisoners of
war. Rescued chidren from
dangerous and degrading situations. Opened a charity pawn
shop. Organized laymen into
a group called Oratio della Missione to help fellow Jesuit missioners.
Numerous miraculous cures were
attributed to him in and after his life. His coffin was thronged by the people
of Naples during
his funeral procession. A few of his letters have survived, but no sermons.
Born
17
December 1642 at
Grottaglie, Apulia,
near Taranto, Italy
11 May 1716 at Naples, Italy of
natural causes
26 May 1839 by Pope Gregory
XVI
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Roman
Martyrology, 1914 edition
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
Saints
of the Society of Jesus
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
Office of Ignatian Spirituality
images
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
Dicastero delle Cause dei Santi
nettsteder
i norsk
MLA
Citation
“Saint Francis of
Girolamo“. CatholicSaints.Info. 11 May 2024. Web. 9 February 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-francis-of-girolamo/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-francis-of-girolamo/
Book of Saints –
Francis of Jerome
Article
(Saint) (May 11) (18th
century) Born near Taranto in Southern Italy, A.D. 1642, he led from childhood
a blameless and useful life. Ordained priest 116 A.D. 1666, he entered the
Society of Jesus. He was one of the most eloquent preachers of his time, and by
word and example converted innumerable sinners. The City of Naples was the
chief scene of his labours for God. He had a great devotion to Saint Cyrus the
Martyr, with whose relics he performed many miracles. He died on the day he had
predicted, A.D. 1716. His relics are in the Jesuit church at Naples. He was
canonised A.D. 1839.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Francis of Jerome”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info.
15 August 2018. Web. 9 February 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-francis-of-jerome/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-francis-of-jerome/
May 11th - Saint Francis
Jerome de Geronimo , SJ
Died : May 11, 1716
Beatified : May 2, 1806
Canonized : May 26, 1839
Francis Jerome, the first
of eleven children in the De Geronimo family was born in 1642, in Grottaglie,
near Taranto, in southern Italy. Around the age of ten he went to live
with the Theatine Fathers where he served as sacristan in their church in
return for his room and board. Francis often accompanied the Theatins as a
catechist when they conducted missions in the neighbouring towns. At sixteen
when he indicated his intention to be a priest, the Theatins recommended him to
join the Jesuit school in Taranto to begin his classical and philosophical
studies. He went to study civil and church law at the Jesuit college in Naples
in 1665 and in the following year he was asked to act as prefect for the sons
of the Italian nobility attending the school because of his exemplary conduct.
He was ordained in 1666 and began supervising the noble youths.
As he had known the
Jesuits for ten years, Fr Jerome was inclined to be one of them and thus in
1670, at the age of twenty-eight, he joined the Jesuit novitiate. After one
year, he was sent to the diocese of Lecce to assist an experienced home
missioner in giving retreats and missions where he stayed for the next three
years. After he passed his final examination in theology in 1676, Fr Jerome was
assigned to his “ Naples mission” and began a most fruitful apostolate that
extended over the next forty years until his death.
Fr Jerome worked with the
sodality of artisans who met in the chapel beneath the Gesu church. It was from
this group that he chose assistants to help him in his apostolate in the city
where every Sunday and holy-day evening, he preached in the city’s public
squares or busy thoroughfares where the masses could easily gather. He was also
credited with the promotion of monthly Communion. In addition, he also visited
the slaves and criminals chained to their places when the fleet of galleys
arrived at Naples Bay and would try to console and relieve their suffering in
whatever way he could, including getting them to leave the ship and attend Mass
in a nearby church.
Although Fr Jerome had
great success in his ministry, he encountered suspicion and jealousy among some
ecclesiastics who told the archbishop that they seriously doubted whether Fr
Jerome who was occupied with street preaching and who was in constant contact
with the worst kind of sinners, was suitable to give retreats to priests and
nuns who were striving in virtue. These complaints led to the severe
restriction of Fr Jerome’s ministry. The archbishop subsequently reinstated him
when he learned that the complaints against Fr Jerome came from prejudiced and
jealous individuals. Later his own Jesuit superior complained that Fr Jerome’s activities
took him away from his Jesuit community functions and henceforth he would have
to seek permission for any activity outside the Jesuit community which were
rarely granted. In all these, the humble Fr Jerome never yielded to depression
but viewed them as years of spiritual growth until the provincial admitted his
error and Fr Jerome was again free to return to his Naples ministry.
From 1702 onwards, Fr
Gerome was asked to carry his mission outside Naples which he did devoting six
months each year within Naples and the other six months as an itinerant
preacher outside Naples where his simple and earnest sermons were warmly
accepted. Fr Jerome fell ill from pleurisy in his last days and succumbed to
death on May 9, 1716, with his Jesuit brethren at the Gesu at his bedside to
commend his soul to God. Fr Jerome died at seventy-four and had been a Jesuit
for forty-six years.
SOURCE : https://www.jesuit.org.sg/may-francis-jerome-sj/
May 11, 2024
St. Francis di Girolamo,
SJ
Francis was born near
Taranto, Italy, in 1642, the oldest of 11 children. At the age of 12, he was
accepted for education by a group of secular priests living in community.
Recognizing his intelligence, the fathers promoted him to teaching catechism,
and he received the tonsure at 16. He later went to Naples in order to learn
canon and civil law and was ordained a priest in 1666, receiving a special
dispensation because he was under 24 years old.
For four years, Francis
taught in the Jesuit Collegio dei Nobili; at the age of 28, he joined the
Society of Jesus. After successfully completing a difficult year in the
novitiate, his superiors sent him to help the preacher Father Agnello Bruno in
his mission work among the peasants of Otranto. After three years of diligent
work, Francis was recalled to Naples to finish his theological studies and
complete his profession as a Jesuit.
From the moment Francis
was appointed preacher at the church known as the Gesu Nuovo in Naples, he
attracted huge crowds. His preaching was powerful and spell-binding, and he was
described as “a lamb when he talks and a lion when he preaches.” He conducted
at least 100 missions in the provinces and was commissioned to train other
missionaries. He was also much sought after as a confessor.
But Francis didn’t wait
for sinners to come to him, he often went in search of them himself, visiting
hospitals, prisons, brothels, and even galleys of ships — on one Spanish ship,
he is said to have converted 20 Turkish prisoners. One of his most notable
penitents was a Frenchwoman, Mary Alvira Cassier, who had murdered her father
and fled to the Spanish army, impersonating a man. Under Francis, she repented
and became very devout.
In addition to his
mission work, Francis also rescued many children from dangerous surroundings,
opened a charitable pawnshop, and organized an association of working men to
help the Jesuit fathers in their work.
Francis was credited with
many miracles in his lifetime, but he humbly attributed numerous cures to the
intercession of Saint Cyrus, to whom he had a special devotion. After a painful
illness, he died in 1716 at the age of 74. He was canonized in 1839.
Lessons
1. Jesus told the Twelve
to “Go out and make disciples of all nations.” As Pope John Paul II called us
to the “New Evangelization,” let us model ourselves after Francis di Girolamo,
who wasn’t afraid to go wherever necessary to bring the Good News of Jesus
Christ.
2. We may not be gifted
speakers as Francis was, but let us pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance to use
our gifts as effectively as we can for the Kingdom. Whatever we do in our
lives, no matter how humble or exalted our circumstances, we can be lights to
those around us.
Prayer
St. Francis di Girolamo,
you relentlessly sought out sinners on their own turf and won many to the
faith—pray for us!
Other Saints We Remember
Today
St. Francis di Girolamo (1716),
Priest, Apostle of Naples
Blessed Ladislaus of
Gielniow (1505), Franciscan
SOURCE : https://catholicexchange.com/st-francis-di-girolamo-sj-also-known-as-francis-jerome
Saints
of the Society of Jesus: Saint Francis of Hieronymo
Article
Saint Francis Of
Hieronymo, the apostle of Naples, was known already as the holy priest before
he entered the Society of Jesus. Not having obtained permission to seek the
martyr’s crown in India or Japan, he devoted the whole of his life to the work
of giving missions. There was no end to his labors, his austerities. His zeal
met with its recompense, for all grades of persons yielded to his influence, in
particular the classes whom all missionaries know to be the most difficult to
convert, at least to sincere and lasting repentance – public sinners, thieves,
and abandoned women. More than once, when one of these latter had refused to yield
to his entreaties, he obliged the dead body to speak and reveal the torments of
the condemned soul. Among those who were already good Christians he increased
wonderfully the practice of devotion, frequent Communion, prayer and spiritual
retreats. Such a man necessarily aroused the anger of the devil and made
enemies – an enmity which only revealed his courage and his patience. As an
instance of his meekness, it is said that a Mahometan slave, having struck him,
began to experience terrible pains in his arm; Saint Francis blessed the arm,
released the man from his suffering, and, delivering him at the same time from
the darkness of his errors, received him into the Christian Church. Several
times he literally turned one cheek when he had been struck upon the other.
Saint Francis of Hieronymo died in the year 1716, at the age of seventy-four.
He was beatified and canonized in the early part of this century.
MLA
Citation
Father D
A Merrick, SJ.
“Saint Francis of Hieronymo”. Saints
of the Society of Jesus, 1891. CatholicSaints.Info.
29 December 2018. Web. 9 February 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-society-of-jesus-saint-francis-of-hieronymo/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-society-of-jesus-saint-francis-of-hieronymo/
Saint Francis di Girolamo
Jul 18, 2020 /
Written by: America
Needs Fatima
Feast May 11
Patron Saint of Naples
Born in Taranto in the
province of Naples of exceptionally virtuous parents, the “Apostle of Naples”
was the eldest of eleven children.
Showing early signs of
intense piety and intellectual ability, he was received into a community of
secular priests who initiated his education. He received the tonsure at sixteen
and was ordained with special permission before the age of twenty-four.
He taught at a Jesuit
college for several years, and at twenty-eight was received into the Society of
Jesus, having overcome his father's strong opposition to his decision by his
own meekness and charity.
His novitiate complete,
Francis was sent to Leece to assist a renowned preacher, Father Agnello Bruno.
For the next three years
the two ardent priests traversed the length and breath of the province of
Otranto. At the close of the mission Francis completed his theological studies
and was professed.
The next field of his
apostolic labors was to preach at the Church of Gesu Nuovo in Naples, and from
the onset, attracted huge crowds.
His preaching produced
such excellent results that he was appointed to train other missionaries.
Preaching was his
dominant talent. Wherever he went, people were spellbound by his eloquence and
crowded his confessional. He preached in one church after another, at times
impromptu in the street, he visited hospitals, prisons, and galleys. Once he
brought to the Faith twenty Turkish prisoners in a Spanish galley.
The holy Jesuit’s
preaching was enhanced by his reputation as a wonder-worker, though he
continuously disclaimed any extraordinary powers, and rather attributed the
numerous cures which accompanied his ministry to the intercession of St. Cyrus
to whom he had a special devotion.
After suffering from a
painful illness, St. Francis of Girolamo died at age seventy-four. He was
canonized in 1839.
SOURCE : https://americaneedsfatima.org/articles/saint-francis-di-girolamo
Francis di Girolama, SJ (RM)
(also known as Francis Jerome)
Born at Grottaglie, near Taranto, Italy, in 1642; died 1716; canonized in 1839.
Francis was the oldest of 11 children. Once he had received his first communion
at age 12, he was received into the house of some secular priests. Recognizing
his intelligence, the fathers promoted him to teaching catechism, and he
received the tonsure at 16. He accompanied one of his brothers to Naples. While
his brother wanted to study under an eminent painter, Francis went learn canon
and civil law.
In 1666, he was ordained a priest under a special dispensation because he was
under 24. He taught in the Jesuit Collegio dei Nobili for five years. At 28,
having persuaded his family to consent, he entered the Society of Jesus. During
his first year of novitiate, he was severely tested by his superiors, but he
received their complete approval by the time he finished, and they sent to help
the preacher Father Agnello Bruno in his mission work. For three years the two
worked tirelessly and with great success, primarily among the peasants in the
province of Otranto. Francis was then recalled to Naples, finished his
theological studies, and was professed.
He was appointed preacher at the church known as the Gesu Nuovo in Naples. From
the start, he attracted huge crowds. He was commissioned to train other
missionaries and conducted at least one hundred missions in the provinces. His
very effective preaching was marked by brevity and vigor: He was, it is said,
'a lamb when he talks and a lion when he preaches.' In search of sinners he
penetrated into prisons, the brothels, and the galleys, and continued his
missions in hamlets, back lanes, and at street corners. He converted 20 Turkish
prisoners on a Spanish galley.
One of his most interesting penitents was a Frenchwoman, Mary Alvira Cassier.
She had murdered her father and served in the Spanish army, impersonating a
man. Under Francis, she repented and became very devout.
He rescued many children from dangerous surroundings, opened a charitable
pawnshop, and organized an association of workingmen to help the Jesuit fathers
in their work.
Although Francis was credited with miracles, he disclaimed that they were due
to his own powers, attributing numerous cures to the intercession of Saint
Cyrus, for whom he had a special devotion. He died at age 74, after a painful
illness, and at his funeral all the poor of Naples thronged around his coffin.
His remains were interred in the Jesuit Church of Naples (Attwater,
Benedictines, Walsh, White).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0511.shtml
St. Francis de Geronimo
(Girolamo, Hieronymo).
Born 17 December, 1642; died 11 May, 1716. His birthplace was Grottaglie,
a small town in Apulia, situated about five or six leagues from Taranto.
At the age of sixteen he entered the college of Taranto,
which was under the care of the Society
of Jesus. He studied humanities and philosophy there, and was so
successful that his bishop sent
him to Naples to
attend lectures in theology and canon
law at the celebrated college of Gesu Vecchio, which at
that time rivalled the greatest universities in Europe.
He was ordained there,
18 March, 1666. After spending four years in charge of the pupils of the college of
nobles in Naples,
where the students surnamed him the holy prefect, il santo
prefetto, he entered the novitiate of
the Society
of Jesus, 1 July, 1670. At the end of his first year's probation he was
sent with an experienced missioner to get his first lessons in the art of
preaching in the neighborhood of Otranto.
A new term of four years spent labouring in towns and villages at missionary work revealed so
clearly to his superiors his wonderful gift of preaching that, after
allowing him to complete his theological studies,
they determined to devote him to that work, and sent him to reside at
Gesù Nuovo, the residence of the professed fathers at Naples. Francis would
fain have gone and laboured, perhaps even laid down his life, as he often said,
amidst the barbarous and idolatrous nations
of the Far East. He wrote frequently to his superiors, begging them to grant
him that great favour. Finally they told him to abandon the idea altogether,
and to concentrate his zeal and
energy on the city and Kingdom
of Naples. Francis understood this to be
the will of God,
and insisted no more. Naples thus
became for forty years, from 1676 until his death, the centre of
his apostolic labours.
He first devoted himself to stirring up the religious enthusiasm of a
congregation of workmen, called the "Oratio della Missione",
established at the professed house in Naples.
The main object of this association was to provide the missionary father
with devoted helpers amidst the thousand difficulties that would
suddenly arise in the course of his work. Encouraged by the
enthusiastic sermons of the director, these people became zealous co-operators.
One remarkable feature of their work was the multitude of sinners they brought
forth to the feet of Francis. In the notes which he sent his superiors
concerning his favorite missionary work, the saint takes
great pleasure in speaking of the fervour that animated the members of his dear
"Oratory". Nor did their devoted director overlook the
material needs of those who assisted him in the good work. In
the Oratory he succeeded in establishing a mont de piété. The
capital was increased by the gifts of the associate. Thanks to this
institute they could have each day, in case of illness, a sum of four carlines
(about one-third of a dollar); should death visit any of the members, a
respectable funeral was afforded them costing the institute eighteen ducats;
and they had the further privilege, which was much sought after, of
being interred in
the church of the Gesù Nuovo (see Brevi notizie, pp. 131-6). He
established also in the Gesù one of the most important and beneficial works of
the professed house of Naples,
the general Communion on the third Sunday of
each month (Brevi notizie, 126). He was an indefatigable preacher, and often
spoke forty times in one day, choosing those streets which he knew to be the
centre of some secret scandal.
His short, energetic, and eloquent sermons touch the
guilty consciences of his hearers, and worked miraculous conversion.
The rest of the week, not given over to labour in the city, was spent visiting
the environs of Naples;
on some occasions passing through no less than fifty hamlets a day, he preached
in the streets, the public squares, and the churches. The
following Sunday he would have the consolation of seeing at
the Sacred Table crowds of 11,000, 12,000, and even 13,000 persons;
according to his biographer there were ordinarily 15,000 men present at the
monthly general Communion.
But his work par excellence was giving missions in the open air and
in the low quarters of the city of Naples.
His tall figure, ample brow, large dark eyes, and aquiline nose, sunken cheeks,
pallid countenance, and looks that spoke of
his ascetic austerities produced a wonderful impression. The
people crushed forward to meet him, to see him, to kiss his
hand, and to touch his garments. When he exhorted sinners to repentance, he
seemed to acquire a power that was more than natural, and his feeble voice
became resonant and awe-inspiring. "He is a lamb, when he
talks", the people said, "but a lion when he preaches". Like the
ideal popular preacher he was, when in the presence of an audience as fickle
and impressionable as the Neapolitans, Francis left nothing
undone that could strike their imaginations. At one time he would bring a
skull to the pulpit,
and showing it to his hearers would drive home the lesson he wished to impart;
at another, stopping suddenly in the middle of his discourse, he would uncover
his shoulders and scourge himself with an iron chain until he bled. The effect
was irresistible: young men of evil lives
would rush forward and follow the example of the
preacher, confessing their sins aloud;
and abandoned women would
cast themselves before the crucifix, and cut off their long hair, giving
expression to their bitter sorrow and repentance.
This apostolic labour in union with the cruel penance and
the ardent spirit of prayer of
the saint worked
wonderful results amid the slaves of sin and
crime. Thus the two refuges in Naples contained
in a short time 250 penitents each; and in the Asylum of
the Holy Ghost he sheltered for a while 190 children of these
unfortunates, preserving them thereby from the danger of afterwards following
the shameful tradition of their mothers. He had the consolation of
seeing twenty-two of them embrace the religious
life. So also he changed the royal convict ships, which were sinks
of iniquity, into refuges of Christian peace
and resignation; and he tells us further that he brought many Turkish and Moorish slaves to
the true faith,
and made use of the pompous ceremonials at their baptisms to
strike the heart and imaginations of the spectators (Breve notizie,
121-6).
Whatever time was unoccupied by his town missions he devoted to
giving country or village missions of four, eight, or ten days, but never more;
here and there he gave a retreat to a religious community,
but in order to save his time he would not hear
their confessions [cf. Recueil de lettres per
le Nozze Malvezzi Hercolani (1876), p. 28]. To consolidate the great
he work tried to establish everywhere an association of St.
Francis Xavier, his patron and model; or else a congregation of
the Blessed Virgin. For twenty-two years he preached her praises every
Tuesday in the Neapolitan Church,
known by the name of St. Mary of Constantinople. Although he
engaged in such active exterior work, St. Francis had
a mystical soul.
He was often seen walking through the streets of Naples with
a look of ecstasy on
his face and tears streaming from his eyes; his companion had constantly to
call his attention to the people who saluted him, so
that Francis finally decided to walk bare-headed in public. He had
the reputation at Naples of
being a great miracle-worker, and his biographers, as those who testified
during the process of his canonization,
did not hesitate to contribute to him a host of wonders and cures of
all kinds. His obsequies were, for the Neopolitans, the occasion of a
triumphant procession; and had it not been for the intervention of
the Swiss
Guard, the zeal of
his followers might have exposed the remains to the risk of desecration.
In all the streets and squares of Naples,
in every part of the suburbs, in the smallest neighboring hamlets, everyone
spoke of the holiness, zeal,
eloquence, and inexhaustible charity of the deceased missionary.
The ecclesiastical
authorities soon recognized that the cause of his beatification should
be begun. On 2 May, 1758, Benedict
XIV declared that Francis de Geranimo had practiced
the theological and cardinal
virtues in a heroic
degree. He would have been beatified soon
afterwards only for the storm that assailed the Society
of Jesus about this time and ended in its suppression. Pius
VII could not proceed with the beatification until 2 May,
1806; and Gregory
XVI canonized the saint solemnly on
26 May, 1839.
St. Francis de Geronimo wrote little. Some of his letters have been collected
by his biographers and inserted in their works; for his writings, cf.
Sommervogel, "Bibl. de la Comp de Jésus", new ed., III, column 1358.
We must mention by itself the account he wrote to his superiors of the fifteen
most laborious years of his ministry, which has furnished the materials for the
most striking details of this sketch. The work dates from October 1693.
The saint modestly calls it "Brevi notizie della cose di gloria
di Dio accadute negli exercizi delle sacri missioni di Napoli da quindici anni
in quâ, quanto si potuto richiamare in memoria". Boero published
it in S. Francesco di Girolamo, e le sue missioni dentro e fuori di
Napoli", p. 67-181 (Florence, 1882). The archives of the Society
of Jesus contain a voluminous collection of his sermons,
or rather developed plans of his sermons.
It is well to recall this proof of
the care he took in preparing himself for the ministry of the pulpit,
for his biographers are wont to dwell on the fact that his eloquent discourses
were extemporaneous.
Sources
Among his chief
biographers the following are worthy of particular mention: Stradiotti, who
lived twenty-five years with the saint on the professed house at Naples and had
been his superior; he wrote his life in 1719, just three years after the death
of St. Francis. Six years later, a new life appeared, written by a very
remarkable Jesuit, Bagnati. He lived with St. Francis for he last fifteen years
of his life and was his ordinary confessor. The most popular biography is that
written by de Bonis, who composed his work at the time the process of the
beautification of the saint was being drawn up. Worthy of note also is
the Summarium de virtutibus ven. Francisci de Hieronymo (1751). It is
a work to be used with caution; the postulator of the saint's cause,
Muzzarelli, extracted from it a great number of important facts relating to the
labours and miracles of the saint, "Raccolta di avveminenti singolari
e documenti autentici spettanti alla vita del B. Francesco di Geronimo" (Rome,
1806). Lastly, the Historie de S. François de Geronimo, ed. Bach (Metz,
1851) is the most complete work on the subject, but strives too much after the
edification of the reader. C. Carayon, Bibliographie historique de la
Compagnie de Jésus, nn. 1861-89 (Paris, 1864).
Van Ortroy,
Francis. "St. Francis de Geronimo." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1909. 11 May
2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06218b.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by M. Donahue.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. September 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2020 by Kevin
Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06218b.htm
SAINT FRANCIS DI
GIROLAMO, C.—1642-1716 A.D.
Feast: May 11
From his life written by
Father Longaro degli Oddi, S. J., according to the original documents used in
the process of his beatification, entitled <Vita del B. Francesco di
Girolamo>; ROMA, 1806. The following abridgment of that edifying work is taken
from the English translation published in London, and now for the first time
Included in "Butler's Lives of the Saints."
In that part of the
kingdom of Naples which is commonly called Terra d'Otranto, a small village
near Taranto gave birth to St. Francis di Girolamo. This event, which was
destined to exercise so important an influence over the world in these latter
times, took place upon the 17th of December, 1642. His parents, John Leonard di
Girolamo and Gentilesca Gravina, were distinguished less by the honorable
station which they occupied in society, than by their virtues and the excellent
education they gave to their children—eleven in number, of whom Francis was the
eldest.
But not only was virtue thus the inheritance of our saint, and as it were the
natural growth of his soul, but it sprung up therein with an energy that early
developed the rich qualities of the soil it occupied. A judgment beyond his
years, a sweet submission and obedience to his parents, a virginal modesty, and
an ardent love of prayer and retirement, marked the childhood of the saint, and
betokened his future greatness and sanctity. At a proper age the holy youth was
admitted to the sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist; from which moment his
hunger and thirst for this sacred banquet constantly increased, drew him to its
participation as often as possible, and nourished in him that love for our
Lord, which kept him ever in communion with the Spouse of souls. His pious
parents were careful to cultivate the extraordinary talents with which God had
blessed him, by procuring him early instruction. He was taught the rudiments of
the Latin tongue, which he acquired with surprising facility; and so quickly
did he learn, and so correctly retain, the truths of religion, that already, in
his tender years, he commenced his apostolic career, by teaching the children
of his own age their catechism. When he was sixteen years of age, his parents,
ever watchful over his interests, sent him to Taranto, that he might study
philosophy and theology in the schools of the Society of Jesus. Here his
exemplary conduct won for him the esteem and affection of his venerable
archbishop, who, more and more persuaded of his worthiness, advanced him
successively to the minor orders, subdeaconship and deaconship. With the
consent of his parents he went to Naples, in order to acquire the canon and
civil law, at the same time that he prosecuted the study of theology. But what
Francis had most at heart-to complete the dedication of himself to God-occupied
his first thoughts on arriving at Naples. Wherefore, procuring dimissorial
letters from his archbishop, and a dispensation from the pope, on account of
his age, he received priest's orders from the hands of Don Sanchez de Herrera,
bishop of Possuoli. Deeply penetrated with a sense of the awful responsibility
he had assumed, and the exalted dignity with which he was invested, Francis,
although pure and holy and studious before, became now more watchful, fervent,
and assiduous, and dreaded lest the shadow of imperfection should obscure for a
moment the virginal purity of his soul. And though he lived in the world as one
not belonging to the world, still he was now anxious to quit it entirely, and
to betake himself to some solitude far removed from its dissipations and the
breath of its polluted atmosphere, where he might have full leisure to attend
to his advancement in learning and sanctity. Heaven granted the wish of its
favored servant. A prefect's post became vacant in the College of Nobles of the
Society of Jesus. Francis applied for, and obtained it. The youths who were
submitted to his care, were not slow to discover that a saint had been set over
them. His countenance and demeanor, his amiable manners and sweet and pious
conversation, the austerities and mortifications which all his efforts did not
entirely conceal, soon manifested the exalted degree of perfection which he had
attained.
After five years' residence there, in the situation of prefect, our saint, in
his twenty-eighth year, felt a sudden and strong inclination to enter the
Society. Indeed, he had all the qualifications requisite to become a member,
and though the idea presented itself to him for the first time, his mind was
prepared to receive it with avidity, from the sentiments which he had long
cherished, and which his education among the Jesuits, and his long connection
since with the order, had considerably strengthened. But now an obstacle arose,
which it cost the saint no little pains to overcome. This was his father's
opposition to the step. He wrote Francis a long and vehement letter, full of
pathetic remonstrances, which the saint so affectionately and eloquently
answered, as at least to subdue his reluctance, and induce him to acquiesce in
the will of God. Thus all difficulties being removed, on the eve of the
Visitation of Our Lady, in the year 1670, being then in his twenty-eighth year,
he repaired to the house of probation to perform his novitiate.
No sooner did Francis find himself admitted among the novices, and bearing the
sacred habit, than his soul burst into lively effusions of gratitude; and with
such zeal did he apply himself to the duties now imposed upon him, that the
master of the novices soon perceived what an acquisition the Society had made.
A more fervent, mortified, and obedient novice than Francis, never was found.
He scrupulously complied with the minutes" and most irksome ordinances.
Being of a meek and affable disposition, he won the hearts of others by his
amiable conduct; and, being appointed to preside over the lay-novices, his
exalted virtues and profound spirituality speedily wrought a beneficial change
in their dispositions. Armed at all points, and strengthened against every
assailant, he issued from the first year of his novitiate, exulting like a
giant, to run the career of apostolic virtue. He was sent to Leece, together
with the celebrated Father Agnello Bruno, and during three years, these holy
missionaries traversed every city and village in the two provinces of Terra
d'Otranto, and in that of Apulia, preaching, and converting, wherever they
went, an infinite number of sinners. It used to be said of them, "Father
Bruno and Father Girolamo seem not mere mortals, but angels sent expressly to
save souls." In 1674, our saint was recalled to Naples, in order to finish
his course of scholastic theology, previous to his being solemnly professed.
When his studies were completed, he was, in 1675, by a special disposition of
Providence, appointed to the church called the Gesu Nuovo, where he commenced
the labors of that apostolic career, which he continued for forty years,
without intermission, unto the close of his earthly pilgrimage. For the first
three years, indeed, his only fixed duty was to give the invitation to
communion, as is the custom in that church, on the third Sunday of every month;
which task, however, is arduous enough to discourage any but a most zealous
laborer. Yet, oven this and the other incessant works of charity in which he
spent these three years, could not satisfy the cravings of our saint's zeal.
Wherefore, on the news reaching him that the mission of Japan was once more to
be opened, he importuned the superiors, by letters dispatched to Rome, to let
him have a part in this glorious enterprise, so that he might slake, in some
degree, the burning thirst which devoured him. For his desire had ever been to
die for the faith, yet was he content to linger out a painful life, amidst the
thorns of martyrdom, even though it should be denied him to pluck the rose he
so much coveted. The answer came, precise and peremptory. He was to consider
Naples as his <India>, and to perfect the sacrifice he had made of
himself to God, by the surrender of his inclinations. Thenceforward he looked
upon Naples as that province in the vineyard of our Lord, which the divine
husbandman wished him to exclusively cultivate. Such was the sovereign will of
God, manifested in the command of his superiors, and in which our humble saint
acquiesced without hesitation; nor was that Providence, which rules events,
slow in carrying its purpose into effect.
The superiors, in 1678, confided the whole mission to Francis. Here it may be
proper to describe the duties such a charge imposed. First, to watch over and
maintain the fervor of a pious congregation, who assisted at all the processions,
and were the right arm of the missionary: secondly, to preach every Sunday and
festival-day during the year, in the squares or other frequented parts of the
city; and this not only in Naples, but also in other towns and provinces of the
kingdom. And thirdly, to give the monthly invitations to communion. Our saint
undertook the first of these obligations with an ardor only surpassed by the
success which attended his efforts. He reformed all abuses, and excluded every
imperfection that could retard the spiritual advancement of his scholars. He
introduced, or established among them, the custom of frequenting the sacraments
every Sunday, and on all the festivals of our Lady, and the practice of mental
as well as vocal prayer, and of public penance and humiliation. The law of the
Gospel he was careful to instil into them by frequent exhortations, and he gave
efficacy to his precepts by his example. But as the members of this
confraternity were destined to be his partners and coadjutors in the apostolic
ministry, he was, above all, assiduous in kindling and keeping alive the flames
of zeal in their breasts; so that they became his zealous and indefatigable
assistants. Besides this, he chose seventy-two of the most efficient and
capable, with whom he held counsel twice a month, and sent them into the heart
of the city, to spy out the evil that existed, and learn what souls stood most
in need of ghostly and bodily succor. The vigilance he exercised over all,
extended to each in particular. With marvellous dexterity he practiced what St.
Basil calls the insinuating arts of grace. His charity also and forbearance
were unbounded: in sickness he never abandoned them a moment, but continued his
affectionate attentions to the last. Another practice, to which he had recourse,
to promote piety, was the visit to the seven churches, in commemoration of our
Redeemer's seven journeys. This was performed in the following manner: a
procession, carrying the crucifix, chanted the litanies as they went, and at
every church where they stopped, Francis delivered an impressive exhortation.
The devotion terminated with a renewal of the oblation each one made of
himself, to our Lord Jesus and our Lady, with vows of perpetual fidelity.
The second duty, of preaching in public, embraced a much more extensive range,
and required a proportionately greater degree of toil. When the Sunday came, he
first spent two hours in mental prayer, then said Mass, and afterwards recited
the Canonical Hours, bareheaded and kneeling, either in his room, or in the
church before the blessed Sacrament. His private devotions being satisfied, he
spent the rest of the morning in the Confessional, or with his congregation. At
the appointed hour the saint and his companions went into the streets in
procession, and then, distributing themselves in divers parts, began to preach
to the people. Francis usually mounted a stage, near or opposite to the dancers
or mountebanks, who either slunk away at his approach, or vainly strove,
through rage and spite, to distract the attention of the audience, who were
fascinated by his eloquence. After the discourse, he would kneel at the foot of
the cross, and scourge his shoulders with the discipline: then once more he
betook himself to the Confessional, where he remained till the doors of the
church were closed. Still his ardor longed for more extensive occupation; and,
with the approbation of the superiors, and the concurrence of his companions,
he repeated the missionary labors on holidays, during the week as well as
Sundays.
The third duty annexed to his charge was the invitation to communion. For nine
days preceding the third Sunday of every month he went about the principal
streets, along with a few companions; by ringing a little bell, he gave notice
of the approaching day of communion; and, to excite the attention of his
hearers, recited, in a loud voice, some short, but sententious maxim or
admonition from Holy Writ. Thus he continued all the morning until dinner-hour,
and after noon resumed his task with never-wearying zeal till nightfall.
In the suburbs, also, of Naples, he performed this laborious duty; nor is it
easy to conceive the pains and privations it cost him; how, under the scorching
sun, or pouring rain, he journeyed through marshes, over rocks, oft times to
the peril of life and limb, and always on foot, until, in his latter days, he
was constrained to ride. When the day arrived, and from fifteen to twenty
thousand communicants appeared, Francis used his strenuous efforts to keep
order among them. The troops of men and women who came from the adjoining towns
and villages, he received at the door, and placed in their respective posts.
The children, crowned with cowers, were welcomed by him with tears of joy; but
it was in imparting to them the life-giving food, that his soul overflowed with
tenderness, and the love of Jesus beamed from his countenance, and thrilled in
the fervid expressions with which he excited their devotion. Such were the
labors of our saint's mission, and such the manner he discharged them. On the feast
of the Immaculate Conception of our Lady, in the year 1682, Francis made his
solemn profession; on which occasion he manifested that humility which
distinguished him, by falling on his knees in public, and kissing the feet of
the superior, thanking him aloud for admitting so unworthy a member into the
society.
Before we enter further into the detail of his apostolic career, it may not be
improper to give some notions of that quality whereby he wrought so many
wonders,—his extraordinary eloquence. His voice was loud and sonorous, and was
heard distinctly at a great distance; and the style of his preaching was
copious, simple, and impressive. No one ever knew the human passions better, or
swayed them with more tact and delicacy. Sometimes he stole upon his hearers
with an insinuating grace, that charmed them almost unconsciously into
persuasion, at other times, he would pour out such a volley of arguments,
sustained by suitable quotations from Scripture, or the fathers, and
illustrated by all the images of a lively fancy, so as to overpower all
opposition, and force conviction on the most stubborn. His descriptions were
forcible and graphic; his pathetic appeals were sure to draw tears, and his
energy astounded and terrified. Indeed, he was accustomed to speak with so much
vehemence, as occasionally to bring blood to his lips: he often talked himself
hoarse, and till his palate was parched; and once, in the midst of an animated
invective against sins, he dropped down suddenly and swooned away. The method he
ordinarily pursued in his discourses, was first to paint the enormous malice of
sin and the terrors of the Divine judgments, in colors so striking as to raise
self-indignation and alarm in sinners. Then, changing his tone with a
master-skill, he dwelt upon the sweetness and mildness of Jesus Christ, so as
to make despair give way to hope, and the most hardened melt into compunction.
This moment he seized, to make an appeal so tender and so overpowering as to
cause his hearers to bend their knees before the image of their crucified Lord,
and implore, in tears, and sobs, and broken accents, forgiveness and
reconciliation. It was usual for him to subjoin, at the conclusion, some
striking example of God's chastisements or favors, whereby his audience might
carry away a deeper and more lively impression of the truths he had just been
inculcating. His eloquence, however, was less the result of any natural talent,
than of his ardent love of God and zeal for his service. When he was to preach,
he used to note down in few words his arguments, authorities, and examples; and
at the foot of the crucifix, he prepared himself to treat on his affairs with
men, by communing with God. Thence, like another Moses, he descended—all on
fire from his colloquy with the Deity; and it seemed as if God himself often
inspired him with expressions of supernatural efficacy.
It was matter of surprise to all who knew him, how he could possibly go through
so many labors, which were more than sufficient to occupy five missionaries,
and far beyond the natural strength of his weak constitution and emaciated
frame; so that it was not unreasonably thought, that to prolong such exertions
for the space of forty years, he must have been supported by a miracle. He was
in constant attendance on the hospitals, prisons, and galleys, besides visiting
the sick in their houses, and ministering to the spiritual necessities of
monasteries, asylums, confraternities, and schools. The consequence of these
labors was the amendment of numberless sinners; the conversion of several
Turkish infidels to the faith of Jesus Christ; and the introduction of a
surprising regularity of manner in those habitual abodes of wretchedness and
vice—the galleys and the prisons. His zeal also reclaimed the soldiery from a
state of the greatest disorder to the most edifying piety. Still, however, his
ardor, which knew no bounds, thirsted for more fruit; accordingly he used to go
and preach, during the night, in the very hotbeds and receptacles of vice, that
sinners might be awed into repentance by the novelty and solemnity of this
warning, at the hour when they least apprehended interruption. Once our saint,
being in prayer in his chamber, felt a sudden inspiration to go out and preach,
which, by the advice of his superiors, he obeyed. For some time, he wandered in
the dark—he knew not whither, till he came to the corner of a street, where he
began to preach on the necessity of immediate correspondence with the divine
grace; and having finished, returned home, satisfied with having complied with
his duty, though ignorant to what purpose, or with what fruit. The next
morning, however, a young woman came to him to confession; and, with signs of
the bitterest compunction, told him that when in company, the evening before
with her paramour, her attention was suddenly arrested by his voice in the
street, denouncing God's vengeance against unrepenting and procrastinating
sinners, which so terrified her that she began to exhort her partner in guilt
to break off their unlawful intercourse. To this, however, he would by no means
consent, and even laughed at and derided the holy man's threats: when, to her
horror, she beheld their awful fulfilment. For the man suddenly ceasing to
speak, she found him a breathless corpse; his soul having taken its flight to
God's tribunal, while the words of blasphemy were yet upon his lips. Plunged
into the greatest alarm by this catastrophe, she implored pardon of God, with
sighs and tears, and now came to effect her reconciliation, and to expiate her
past scandals by a life of penance.
Francis had to experience many mortifying contradictions. Yielding to certain
representations, the cardinal archbishop forbade him to preach any more. The
humble saint uttered no complaint or remonstrance, but consoled his zeal by a perpetual
attendance in the confessional. Soon after, moved by the conduct of the saint,
as well as by the entreaties of wiser and more virtuous advisers, who assured
him that he was depriving Naples of its apostle, the cardinal gave Francis back
his faculties. For the purpose of proving his virtue, the superior forbade him
to quit the house without obtaining express permission—a command with which
Francis for several months scrupulously complied; till she father, edified by
his humility, and convinced of his virtue, removed the restraint. Even the
lay-brother who was assigned him, being a man of morose temper, was a great
cause of trouble to him. Where his zeal thought to effect most good, it often
met with the harshest construction and reproof. He was abused as a meddling
busybody-a disturber of the public quiet. He was often overwhelmed with
outrages, and more than once turned out of doors. A certain cavalier had such
an aversion for him, that he could not bear his presence. A large sum was
entrusted to Francis for this person, with whom he more than once sought an
interview, without being able to attain it. "Well!" said the
cavalier, who admitted him at last, "what brings you here? the usual
story! charity, I suppose—I've nothing for you." My lord duke," replied
the saint, "I certainly have a small favor to ask, which is, that you
would exercise your benevolence so far as to furnish a poor person with money
to purchase a bed to sleep upon. And this cannot inconvenience you, for in the
purse I here present, you will find two hundred ducats, which I have been the
means of restoring to you." The cavalier exclaimed, in a rage:
"That's not all." "Nay," replied the saint, "I know
nothing, but that such a sum was given to me." "And by whom?"
"I cannot inform you." Whereupon he snatched the purse out of his
hands, and turning his back upon him, left him to depart. But not long after he
had occasion to recall him: for falling dangerously ill, he was anxious to
conciliate the man he had so grossly insulted; and though he was then forty
miles distant from Naples, he sent for him. The saint assisted him at the hour
of his death, to his great spiritual advantage and consolation.
His charity, indeed, towards those who injured him, was remarkable. Attempting
one day to quell a strife among some soldiers, he received from one of them a
blow upon the head that drew blood copiously: and when the captain, hearing of
it, would have punished the man severely for the sacrilege, our saint did not
desist from his entreaties until he obtained his pardon. Even in the tribunal
of confession he was not secure from insults. Two poor women had come from a
great distance to confession, and were anxious to get home early, as there was
no one to take care of their houses in their absence. Whereupon the saint
requested a man, who was also waiting, to allow them precedence. This he did,
but with a very bad grace. He even threw out a slanderous insinuation against
the saint, who, after he had dismissed the women, heard the confession of this
very man, and treated him with so much sweetness and charity, that he sent him
away with an altered temper and feelings of esteem and admiration.
One of the most frequent and effectual instruments which our saint employed for
the sanctification of souls, were the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius. It
is impossible to conceive with what energy and fruit he delivered the
meditations which compose this course of Christian philosophy. Often he was
obliged to interrupt his discourses, that the sighs, tears, and, sobs which
they occasioned, might subside. Private individuals, as well as
communities-ignorant and learned-the aged and the young of both sexes, alike
profited by his exhortations, and to such a pitch of enthusiasm did he excite
tile compunction of sinners, that they openly declared their offences and
inflicted severe chastisements upon themselves, so that sometimes it was
necessary to restrain their ardor. Nor was this a transient effect, but a
durable benefit; hence followed many conversions of sinners, who for ten,
twenty, or thirty, or even fifty years, had thrown off the yoke of religion.
Indeed, Francis possessed a wonderful tact in bringing back sinners to duty, as
the following examples will show.
A certain man had not been to the sacraments for five-and-twenty years; at
length, admonished more than once in a dream to have recourse to our saint, he
obeyed, to his own great happiness and the glory of Our Lady, to whose mercy he
was indebted for the admonition. Another, commencing his confession, was asked
by the saint, how long it was since he had last made it; whereat he burst into
tears, and besought the holy mall not to dismiss him, for that he was a great
sinner; but he, bidding him not be discouraged, asked him if it was ten,
twenty, or fifty years? "Fifty," said he, "exactly, father, have
I kept aloof from God." "Kept aloof from God?" repeated Francis,
"why should you avoid so tender a parent-a Saviour, who has poured out the
last drop of his blood for you? Nay, rather turn and meet Him who has been
running after you so long." And the man confessed with sincerity and
compunction all the crimes he had committed, and thenceforward led a virtuous
life. An inveterate sinner was once dying, without giving any sign of hope, or
manifesting a wish to repent. After Francis had urged him long in vain to
confide in the mercies of God, suddenly changing his tone, he thus addressed
him: "Do you think that God incurs any obligation, if you accept his offer
of Paradise; or that he must needs mourn if you prefer hell? how many princes
and nobles are lost, whom God suffers to perish; and do you suppose God cares
more for you? If <you> will be damned, be so;" and he turned away
from him. This sudden and impressive address wrought a wonderful change in the dying
man, who in agony of grief and alarm, besought the saint not to abandon him. He
then confessed his sins, with every demonstration of sincere contrition, and
expired full of hope. Indeed, no heart, however hardened, could withstand the
exhortations of the holy man. A young man once threw himself at the feet of the
saint, exclaiming: "Father, behold here, not a human being, but a very
demon: a soul abandoned to despair. Many years ago, a confessor denied me
absolution; I have never since confessed, never heard mass, never entered a
church, or even as much as recited a Hail Mary, or made the sign of the cross.
Alas, I have even gone so far in wickedness as to league myself with Satan, and
to have recourse to his aid, through those who are skilled in the black art. Can
I, after such a life, presume to hope; dare I ask for mercy?" "Why
not, my son?" replied Francis: "it is true thy crimes are great, yet
cloth the mercy of God surpass their magnitude: was it not for sinners that
Jesus Christ died? There is yet pardon for thee, if thou wilt seek it
earnestly, and fervently, and set about reforming instantly thy life."
These consoling words revived the sinner, long dead in iniquity, and gave to
God a persevering penitent.
Still more remarkable is the following occurrence, which the saint was
accustomed to relate in his public sermons. One day a young man presented
himself before him, with a grave and devout air: "Father," said he,
"I am come to declare to you the wonders of God's mercy in my regard, and
to beseech you both to return him thanks for his signal favors, and to counsel
me how I may best profit by them. Many years have elapsed since I was addicted
to a certain vice, which struck such deep root into my soul, that God permitted
my reason to be clouded, and my heart to be changed, so that I fancied myself a
beast. In this persuasion I stripped myself of clothing, and wandered through
the fields, and crawled along the ground exposed to the sun and rain, the frost
and the snow, in company with the irrational animals, partaking their food, and
imitating their cries. After a year of this life it pleased God to take
compassion on me, and to restore me to my reason. Words cannot describe the
confusion and shame I felt. I clearly perceived that it had been a punishment
of my sins. I made the best confession I was able, as soon as I could, and have
lived ever since, by God's grace, up to his divine laws. What think you-hath he
not used unparalleled mercy towards me?" Our saint, embracing him, said:
"In very deed cloth the sinner become like the brute beast, that hath no
understanding." He approved his present conduct, confirmed his sentiments,
and comforted him by the assurance that God would never withdraw his grace from
him, so long as he was faithful to his resolutions.
An assassin, who had been hired to murder some persons, passing a crowd to whom
the saint was preaching, stopped on his road, saying within himself,
"Perhaps he whom I seek is among this multitude." Whereupon he stood
to observe, and could not help hearing the discourse of the preacher, and
hearing, was, as it were, spell-bound to the spot. When suddenly these words
caught his ear—"thousands bewail past sins, and cost thou, wretched
sinner, meditate new crimes? Unhappy creature whom neither the arm of God
outstretched to launch his thunderbolts, nor hell opening beneath Thy feet to
swallow thee, can deter from thy wickedness!" His guilty conscience smote
him, his heart turned away from evil, he confessed his enormities, and from a
murderer became a saint. A youth of disordered life was so moved by another
sermon of Francis, that overcoming every human respect, he cast himself in
public at the foot of the crucifix, and exclaimed—" Father, I am lost: for
nearly twenty years I have not been to a confessor," and so saving, wept
bitterly, and lashed himself with the discipline. Then, accompanying the
confraternity to the Gesu Nuovo, he sought Francis, who embraced him like a
tender father, and exhorted him to have confidence in God, with whom he was
instrumental in reconciling him. The young man not only forsook his former
vicious habits, but exhibited a model of repentance, and persevered in an
exemplary life. But if, on the one hand, the happiest results were experienced
by all who attended to his counsels, on the other, grievous chastisements often
befell those who neglected or despised his warnings. A youth of depraved
conduct had the effrontery to laugh at and deride his remonstrances, and even
dared to heap abuse upon him. Francis bore all meekly, in imitation of our
Blessed Saviour, "who when he was reviled, did not revile;" but God
would not suffer such a crime to go unpunished, for shortly after the young man
perished miserably in a riot. But it is now time to take a rapid view of his
labors out of Naples.
The fame of his great achievements in this city occasioned earnest
solicitations to be made, that the fields of his exertions might be extended to
the provinces. But Naples was by no means willing to surrender its apostle,
even for a short time; and the intervention of several distinguished persons
was requisite to effect the desired object. In upwards of a hundred missions
which Francis undertook in consequence, he traversed all the provinces of the
kingdom, with the exception of the Calabrias. Incredible were the hardships and
privations he encountered,—the difficulties and obstacles he surmounted in the
execution of this work of charity. Wherever he went, the clergy and most
respectable inhabitants came out to meet him, and gave him an honorable
reception. Without however losing a moment, the indefatigable servant of God
commenced his career by an introductory discourse and an invocation of the
tutelar saint and guardian angels of the place. At daybreak he celebrated mass,
and spent the remainder of the morning in a manner somewhat similar to that
already described, in speaking of his mist signs in Naples. It was an edifying
and affecting sight, to witness the communion of the children, and the
procession of penitents through the streets. But when at length he came to give
the concluding discourse, and to repeat his farewell admonitions, then was it
that the fruit of his exertions was perceptible. The seed of grace, which had
struck deep root, gave signs of vigorous growth and duration; for when he
exhorted the people to perseverance, with one voice they promised to preserve
inviolably their engagements; and when he imparted his last blessing, with his
customary "adieu, to meet again in Paradise," no words can describe,
no imagination is able to conceive, the emotions of the multitude.
Not always, however, did Francis meet with such consoling encouragement to his
zeal. The devil, raging to behold so many souls redeemed from his snares by the
active charity of the holy man, spared no pains to molest and baffle him, by
raising against him hosts of enemies, who threw discredit, upon his conduct,
fomented suspicions and jealousies, and waged war against him by every possible
art that bad passions or his own malignant spirit could suggest. Hence it not
infrequently happened that he experienced insults instead of welcome, on his
arrival at places where calumnies had beforehand been industriously spread.
Sometimes he found no attention paid to his exhortations; yet, finally, his
invincible forbearance and persevering charity, his saintly demeanor-itself a
confutation of his calumniators-triumphed over all opposition. Few details
respecting these memorable missions have been recorded, but some, preserved by
the testimony of eye-witnesses, have been rescued from the oblivion of time.
When the holy man was on his way to Capua, the carriage stuck in a deep ditch,
and resisted all the efforts of the driver to extricate it. Whereupon, after
the manner of this class of persons, he began to curse and swear. "O my
son," cried the saint, "blaspheme not, for God's sake."
"Why, father," said the man, would not a saint swear in such an
infernal hobble, with nobody near, nor a chance of any one's coming to assist
us?" "Have patience," rejoined the holy man; and as he was yet
speaking, two robust young men, turning the corner of the road, volunteered
their services and relieved the travellers from their difficulty; after which,
without waiting to be thanked, they disappeared. Wherever he went he reconciled
enemies, converted sinners, besides performing many prodigies.
He had to contend against obstacles of another description. He applied to
Monsignor Capece, bishop of Cheti, a capital town of the Abruzzi, for leave to
preach there. "Certainly," replied the bishop; "but, Father
Francis, you must be forewarned ours is a sensible and cultivated city,
accustomed and able to weigh well the force of reason; and therefore you will
at once perceive that certain addresses to the senses, such as the exposition
of the crucifix, or images of the Virgin and other saints,—things admirable in
themselves, would here be quite out of place, and calculated to do more harm
than good." "Your lordship's wishes shall assuredly be attended
to," said the humble saint, "till such time at least as you yourself
shall deem it proper to recall them."
Not long after this the prelate felt an acute pain, for which he could not
account; but as his conscience troubled him, he sent word to the saint, that in
regard to the subject of their conversation he might use his discretion. The
bishop had himself more than one occasion of witnessing the fruit which the
practices he was disposed to condemn invariably produced; and Francis knew so
well how to employ them, that the mission of Cheti succeeded beyond the most
sanguine expectations. With the like fruit did Francis perform the missions in
various other towns, working conversions and prodigies too numerous to he here
mentioned.
It would be superfluous to enlarge upon the particular virtues of our saint;
his public life being rather the subject of this history. Yet are we unwilling
to pass over unnoticed, his great and fervent love of Jesus Christ. Especially
he honored and worshipped him in his divine infancy, his sacred passion, and
his adorable sacrament. When he meditated upon these mysteries, he was always
absorbed and penetrated with love; and when he approached the sacrament of the
altar, his countenance glowed, as though he stood before a fire. Nothing
provoked his indignation, or drew down his severe rebuke, so much as disrespect
towards the blessed Eucharist. He removed many abuses: he would not suffer any
levity in the church; and once reproved a lady of quality who had remained
seated during the consecration. In like manner he was tenderly devoted to our
blessed Lady. For twenty-two years he preached a sermon in her praise and honor
every week. To youth especially, it was his custom to recommend this devotion
as the surest preservation of innocence, and the best remedy after sin: saying
that one could hardly be saved who felt no devotion towards the Mother of God.
Mary was his counsellor in doubt, his comfort in toil, his strength in all his
enterprises, his refuge in danger and distress. He experienced an inexpressible
delight whenever he recited the rosary of our tender Mother. He was likewise
particularly devoted to his angel guardian, to St. Francis Xavier, and St.
Januarius. His charity, humility, purity, and obedience, were never surpassed;
nor did God withhold from him those gifts with which he is pleased at times to
favor his chosen servants.
Our saint was favored with the foreknowledge of his dissolution. On the death
of his brother he observed, "A year hence we shall meet;" and while
he was still in health, taking leave of the nuns of St. Mary del Divino
Amore—" My dear daughters," said he, "this is the last time I
shall ever address you. Do not forget me in your prayers; adieu till we meet in
Paradise." When he was sick, the festival of St. Cyr drawing near, "I
shall not live to see it," he exclaimed. And finally, when the physician
that attended him paid him his last visit, he thanked him for his attentions,
and said:—"We shall never see each other again on this side of the grave,
for Monday will be the last day of my life."
During the month of March, 1715, at the beginning of Lent, he was, for the
third time, giving the retreat to the students of the noble college, when
suddenly he felt a racking fever assail his limbs, insomuch that he was obliged
to be carried home. In a few days, however, it was somewhat subdued; and,
though weak, he resumed his usual labors. Still his health declined, and
towards December his constitution appeared quite broken down. Anxious to
preserve so valuable a life, the superior sent him to take the mineral waters
of Puzzuoli. But he experienced not the smallest benefit; and in March, 1716,
on his return to Naples, he took up his abode in the infirmary. The agonies he
suffered are not to be expressed; and yet a murmur never escaped him.
"Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who consoles us in
all tribulation," was his constant exclamation. When some one approached
to sympathize with him, the heroic man crossed his hands on his breast, saying:
"Crescant in mille millia." He was told of the great good he had achieved.
"Nothing, nothing," he cried, "the fault I have most to
apprehend is my slothfulness."
Death now began to hasten on apace; wherefore, on the Feast of the Exaltation
of the Cross, making a general confession, he received the viaticum; and six
days later was anointed. All night long, he gave vent to the fulness of his
heart in such expressions as the following-" Let us bless the Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost; let us praise and exalt Him forever. Great is the Lord, and
exceedingly to be praised, in the city of our God, on his holy mountain."
Then kissing the wounds of his crucified Saviour, he cried out, weeping,
"Remember, dear Jesus, that this soul has cost the ransom of every drop of
thy precious blood." And when the infirmarian entreated him to pray rather
with his heart than his lips, by reason of the distress which speaking
occasioned him: "Ah, my dear brother," said he, "whatsoever we
think, or say of so great a God, his greatness is beyond all thought and
expression." Then fixing his eyes upon an image of our Lady: "Ah,
Mary," said he, "my dearest mother, thou last ever cherished me like
a loving parent, though I have been thy too, too unworthy child. Complete now
the measure of thy mercies in my regard, by obtaining for me the love of thy
divine Son." Then, as though at the gate of Paradise, he exclaimed,
"How great is the house of the Lord! Blessed are they who dwell in Thy
house, O Lord; forever and ever shall they sing thy praise. Ye holy angels, why
delay ye? Open the gates of Justice. Entering therein, I will praise the
Lord."
His malady, however, continued for some days longer. Although he had repeatedly
expressed a wish to be left alone, it was impossible to keep away numbers, who
pressed to see him for the last time, to kiss his hand, and to receive his farewell
blessing. With an amiable sweetness, he welcomed them all; and seeing their
sorrow, said:-" Weep not; I go to heaven, where I shall remember you, and
be better able to assist you." But what sunshine so serene is not
occasionally clouded, what sea so calm as never to be ruffled by a storm? It
pleased God to enhance our saint's virtue by submitting it to a dreadful trial.
The frame of the holy man shook under the severity of the struggle. With a loud
cry he called upon the Almighty, the eternal Son, our Lady, and all the saints,
to save him. Being asked the cause of this fearful commotion, "I am
fighting," he exclaimed, "fighting! pray for God's sake that I may
not perish." Then, as if rebuking the evil spirit, he cried-"No, it
shall never be. Begone! I have no part with you." His countenance at last
brightening, he repeated softly, "'Tis well, 'tis well!" and so
saying, chanted the <Magnificat> and <Te Deum>. He was anxious to
receive the holy sacrament; but the superior did not judge it advisable, as he
had lately been to communion; and the humble saint acquiesced. He now fell into
his agony; the recommendation of a departing soul was recited; and, amidst the
tears of his brethren, Francis di Girolamo expired, about mid-day, on Monday,
the 11th of May, 1716, in the seventy-fourth year of his age, and the
forty-sixth of his religious life, having spent forty years in the labors of an
apostolic career.
Although, from a motive of prudence, the superior had forbidden the bell to be
tolled, to announce his death, there needed no sound to convey the intelligence
through the city; it was read in every countenance, and spread so rapidly, that
in a short time the Gesu Nuovo was filled with an immense concourse of people
of all classes. The infirmarian being desirous of keeping some relic of so holy
a man, before he laid him out in the sacerdotal habit, pared off a piece of the
hard skin of the sole of his foot. But the pious theft soon became apparent,
though he had used every effort to conceal it; for the blood began to flow so
freely from the wound, as not merely to stem the knell, but to fill a vial
holding three or four ounces: which portion being preserved, retained during
three months its ruddiness and liquidity, and wrought many cures.
In the evening the body was carried into the church, that the office might be
chanted, and a detachment of Swiss guards was hardly sufficient to protect it
from the indiscreet devotion of the crowd. Indeed, three psalms had scarcely
been sung, before they broke through all restraint, and pressed towards the
body, eager to carry away some relic, especially to dip their handkerchiefs in
the blood, which still streamed from the wound already mentioned. At length,
the body was removed into a side-chapel, where it was secured against further
violence by iron railing, through which, at the same time, it was visible to
all. Still it was impossible to refuse the prayer of several devout persons, to
be permitted to approach and kiss the hand or the saint, and at night some
artists were admitted to take likenesses and effigies of him. A throng of
suppliants crowded to the church next morning, and implored the saint to
deliver them from their evils and distempers. Nor were they disappointed. Many
cures took place on the spot, and the church again and again echoed with the
cry of "A miracle, a miracle." Three days the body was left thus
exposed, and the fourth was buried in a leaden coffin. On the 3d of July, 1736,
leave being obtained, the coffin of our saint was disinterred, and the body was
found mouldered into dust, which was carefully collected, deposited in another
coffin of wood lined with brass, and translated from the common cemetery to the
chapel of Saint Ignatius.
Numerous miracles quickly spread the fame of his holiness throughout Italy. He
was scarcely dead, when the most prudent and virtuous individuals gave him the
title of saint: and cardinal Orsini, afterwards Benedict XIII., who was
singularly devoted to him, preached his panegyric in the cathedral of
Benevento. Not long after his decease, the city of Naples, joined by Benevento,
Nola, and several others, petitioned the Congregation of Rites to have him
beatified; and the juridical process of his virtues and miracles was drawn up,
and sent to Rome by Cardinal Pignatelli, in conjunction with other cardinals,
nobles, and magistrates of the kingdom. After the requisite preliminaries, a
decree declaring his heroic virtues was published by Benedict XIII., on the 2d
of May, 1758. His miracles were approved by another, of Pius VII., dated the
9th of February, 1806, and finally the definitive decree of his beatification
was issued by the same pontiff, on the feast of St. Joseph in the same year. He
was subsequently canonized by Gregory XVI., on Trinity Sunday, 26th May, 1839.
The martyr sheds his blood but once, and is exalted forever; then what I reward
will be prepared for the missionary, who, while he burns to die for I the
faith, is yet content to live for the greater honor and glory of God, and the
profit of his neighbor? He, therefore, who would imbibe the spirit of zeal, and
learn the arts of wisdom necessary in directing souls, should study and
contemplate the career of that extraordinary man whose virtues and achievements
are the subject of the sketch we here present.
(Taken from Vol. V of "The Lives or the Fathers, Martyrs and Other
Principal Saints" by the Rev. Alban Butler, the 1864 edition published by
D. & J. Sadlier, & Company)
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San Francesco de Geronimo e la profezia su Sant'Alfonso Maria de Liguori,
quadro conservato nella Cappella di Famiglia a Marianella (Na)
François
de Geronimo prédit aux époux Liguori, que leur enfant Alphonse vivra vieux,
sera évêque et saint.
San Francesco de Geronimo and the prophecy about Sant’Alfonso Maria de Liguori,
picture kept in the Family Chapel in Marianella
San Francesco De Geronimo Sacerdote
Grottaglie (Taranto), 17
dicembre 1642 - Napoli, 11 maggio 1716
Etimologia: Francesco =
libero, dall'antico tedesco
Martirologio Romano: A
Napoli, san Francesco De Geronimo, sacerdote della Compagnia di Gesù, che a
lungo si dedicò alle missioni popolari e alla cura pastorale degli abbandonati.
FRANCESCO DE GERONIMO (DI
GIROLAMO, DE GIROLAMO), santo.
Nacque a Grottaglie
(Taranto) il 17 dicembre 1642, primo di undici figli, di cui tre ecclesiastici,
da una famiglia benestante e di profonda fede cristiana.
Ebbe la fortuna di
trovare nel suo paese natale una scuola di lettere e di pietà, che gli giovò
grandemente, fino ai diciassette anni. Fu, infatti, affidato all'età di dieci
anni circa, a una congregazione di sacerdoti dediti all'insegnamento e alle
missioni fra il popolo. Il piccolo Francesco, anziché essere ammesso alla sola
frequenza delle scuole, ebbe il privilegio di abitare presso quei pii
sacerdoti, dai quali gli fu ben presto affidata la cura della chiesa quale
sagrestano e l'insegnamento del catechismo ai fanciulli. A volte, poi,
accompagnava i sacerdoti nelle missioni aiutandoli nell'istruzione catechistica
ai fanciulli.
A sedici anni gli fu
conferita la prima tonsura su proposta della stessa Congregazione (1658) e a
diciassette fu ricevuto nel seminario diocesano a Taranto per continuare i suoi
studi, destinato ormai definitivamente al sacerdozio. Frequentò nelle scuole
del collegio dei Gesuiti i corsi di retorica, di scienze e filosofia, venendo
ordinato suddiacono nel 1664 e di lì a qualche tempo diacono. Nel 1665 andò a
Napoli, per consiglio dei suoi stessi maestri, a frequentare i corsi di diritto
civile e canonico, conseguendo la laurea in tali materie, pare nel 1668, e in
teologia.
Per non pesare sul
bilancio familiare chiese e ottenne un posto di assistente dei giovani studenti
nel collegio massimo dei Gesuiti napoletani. Nel 1666, frattanto, durante il
corso di teologia fu ordinato sacerdote e nel 1670 diventò gesuita non ancora
terminati gli studi teologici, che completerà qualche anno dopo per poter
sostenere l'esame de universa philosophia et theologia richiesto dalle
costituzioni dell'Ordine per la professione solenne dei quattro voti. Dal 1671
al 1674 fu addetto ai ministeri apostolici in Puglia, particolarmente nella
diocesi di Lecce.
Come già nella vita di
studente e di assistente dei giovani si erano rivelate le sue eccellenti doti
intellettuali e le sue virtù, fino ad essere denominato dai giovani il
sacerdote "santo", così nell'attività apostolica si rivelarono le sue
doti di apostolo zelante e di predicatore efficace.
Una volta ritornato a
Napoli per completare gli studi di teologia, vi rimase poi per tutta la vita
addetto alle missioni popolari che lo fecero apostolo di Napoli e che
sostituirono le missioni dell'India o dell'Oriente da lui insistentemente
chieste. Compì la solenne professione religiosa (8 dicembre 1682) nel pieno del
suo apostolato napoletano, essendo addetto dal 1676 alla Casa Professa del Gesù
Nuovo con tutte le mansioni inerenti all'ufficio affidatogli. Si trattava
praticamente di un triplice ufficio: le missioni al popolo, che consistevano in
prediche da tenersi nelle piazze e lungo le strade, dove confluiva più gente
nei giorni festivi, allora piuttosto numerosi; la Comunione generale ogni terza
domenica del mese, preparata anch'essa con prediche all'aperto: il de Geronimo
con i suoi aiutanti conduceva la moltitudine del popolo nella chiesa del Gesù,
ove numerosi sacerdoti già pronti ascoltavano le confessioni; la conversione
delle donne di cattiva vita. Era uno degli aspetti delle sue missioni di
piazza, ma aveva di particolare che egli penetrava nei quartieri ove più
numerose erano le case che accoglievano quelle infelici e cominciava a
predicare sotto le loro finestre. I suoi biografi ricordano molti casi, a volte
miracolosi, di conversioni o di resipiscenza di quelle donne.
Ma questo triplice
ufficio non esauriva l'attività del missionario, che estendeva il suo
apostolato a tutti coloro che ne avevano bisogno, quali gli addetti alle navi,
i carcerati, gli ammalati e gli uomini della sua congregazione degli artigiani:
una specie di circolo cattolico o di confraternita che gli era di validissimo
aiuto nelle missioni al popolo e nell'organizzare, come si è detto, le
Comunioni generali della terza domenica del mese.
Anche se la città di
Napoli fu per circa quarant'anni il suo campo missionario, pure non si esaurì
in essa il suo zelo di apostolo giacché si sa che egli prese parte tante volte
a missioni in altre regioni del regno di Napoli quali l'Abruzzo, le Puglie, il
Sannio. Soprattutto, però, Napoli e dintorni beneficiarono dell'opera sua e
subirono il forte ascendente della sua personalità taumaturgica, come
dimostrano gli avvenimenti del 1707, allorché l'esercito austriaco occupò
Napoli scacciando gli spagnoli di Filippo V. Come soleva accadere in simili
circostanze, il popolo si abbandonava a rivolte e a saccheggi. Quella volta
però l'autorità morale del de Geronimo valse a scongiurare il pericolo o a
limitarlo notevolmente. Anzi, pare che egli concorresse a impedire che gli
spagnoli asserragliati nelle fortezze bombardassero la città, facendo da
mediatore, come attestano i processi di canonizzazione, sebbene nessuna
menzione ne facciano il nunzio e il residente veneto nei loro minuziosi
dispacci.
Un'altra attività
apostolica del de Geronimo va ricordata, cioè quella degli esercizi spirituali
alle diverse classi di persone: i monasteri di religiose e di religiosi, i
conservatori per la gioventù, i carcerati, e i "galeotti" delle navi.
Dappertutto egli portava una parola calda di fede e di amore, infiammato
com'era di un'ardente carità specialmente verso Gesù Cristo eucaristico e la
sua santissima Madre. Fra le devozioni favorite e diffuse dal de Girolamo fu
particolare quella a s. Ciro, medico e martire, il cui corpo riposa nella
cappella omonima della chiesa del Gesù Nuovo a Napoli. Egli portava con sé
nelle missioni una reliquia del santo e ad essa attribuiva tutti i prodigi che
andava operando durante le sue prediche, sebbene parecchi testimoni coevi ritengano
che Iddio operasse miracoli per le sue stesse virtù e che egli, nella sua
umiltà, si celasse dietro il potere taumaturgico di s. Ciro. Tale testimonianza
vale a dimostrare quale stima avessero delle sue virtù i contemporanei, che del
resto furono concordi nell'affermarne la santità della vita in tutti i processi
di canonizzazione cominciati già pochi anni dopo la sua morte, avvenuta a
Napoli il giorno 11 maggio 1716.
Fu beatificato da Pio VII
il 2 maggio 1806, allorché i Gesuiti, su richiesta del re Ferdinando IV di
Borbone, erano stati riconosciuti per il regno di Napoli (la restaurazione
dell'Ordine avverrà nel 1814). Fu poi canonizzato dal papa Gregorio XVI il 26
maggio 1839 e la sua festa fu fissata nel giorno della morte. Il corpo,
traslato nella cappella a lui intitolata nella chiesa del Gesù Nuovo di Napoli,
che venne arricchita dallo scultore Jerace dell'artistica statua del santo in
atto di predicare, vi rimase fin dopo la seconda guerra mondiale, allorché fu
trasportato nella chiesa dei Gesuiti di Grottaglie, patria del santo.
Autore: Egidio Papa
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/32450
FRANCESCO Di Geronimo,
Santo
di Giuseppe Castellani
- Enciclopedia Italiana (1932)
FRANCESCO Di
Geronimo, Santo. - Nato il 17 dicembre 1642 a Grottaglie (Taranto), morto a
Napoli l'11 maggio 1716. Sacerdote e prefetto nel Collegio dei nobili a Napoli,
entrò novizio fra i gesuiti il 1° luglio 1670. Dopo un anno fu mandato a Lecce
compagno del missionario Agnello Bruno, e ivi fece le sue prime prove oratorie,
finché nel 1674, richiamato a Napoli, terminò gli studî di teologia, per
passare l'anno seguente al Gesù Nuovo. Nel 1678 gli venne affidata dai
superiori l'intera cura delle missioni nel regno di Napoli, e in tale carica
rimase fino alla morte. Pio VII lo beatificò nel 1806; Gregorio XVI lo
canonizzò il 26 maggio 1839. La sua festa si celebra l'11 maggio.
Restano di lui
alcune Brevi notizie sulle cose principali occorsegli nelle missioni,
pubblicate da G. Boero, S. Francesco di Girolamo e le sue
missioni, dentro e fuori di Napoli, Firenze 1882, pp. 67-181, un centinaio
di lettere e una voluminosa raccolta di abbozzi per prediche conservati negli
archivî della Compagnia.
Bibl.: Principali
biografie quelle dei padri Sradiotti, Bagnati, de Bonis, degli Oddi; la più
completa è di J. Bach, Hist. de S. F. di G., Metz 1867. Per i mss. vedi C.
Sommervogel, Biblioth. de la C. de J., III, s. v.
FRANCESCO De Geronimo,
santo
di Dario Busolini - Dizionario
Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 49 (1997)
FRANCESCODe Geronimo,
santo. - Nacque a Grottaglie, nei pressi di Taranto, il 17 dic. 1642, primo
degli undici figli di Giovanni Leonardo De Geronimo, proprietario terriero
titolare di una conceria, e di Gentilesca di Gravina.
La famiglia di F.
viveva nobiliter e contava propri esponenti nelle maggiori cariche
cittadine. Il padre, desideroso che i suoi figli ricevessero un'istruzione e
che tra loro vi fosse il futuro arciprete di Grottaglie, tra il 1652 e il 1653
affidò il primogenito ad una congregazione di preti secolari seguaci della
spiritualità teatina e dediti alle missioni rurali, che in paese officiava la
chiesa di S. Mattia.
Qui F. ricevette
un'istruzione elementare e coltivò, come chierichetto e sacrestano, la sua
futura vocazione. Avuta la prima tonsura a sedici anni, nel 1659 si recò a
studiare a Taranto, nel collegio dei gesuiti, dove, per la prima volta nella
sua vita, portò a termine corsi regolari di retorica, letteratura e filosofia,
al termine dei quali, tra la fine del 1664 e l'inizio del 1665, fu ordinato
suddiacono e diacono.
In quello stesso anno
partì per Napoli, desideroso di arrivare al sacerdozio con una laurea, insieme
con il fratello minore Giuseppe Maria, anch'egli ex alunno dei preti di S.
Mattia che, portato alla pittura, i genitori volevano mandare a bottega da un
artista di fama.
I primi tempi del
soggiorno napoletano restano in parte oscuri. Sembra che F. si sia dapprima
orientato a studiare diritto canonico e civile nell'università, tra il 1665 e
il 1666, senza però conseguire la laurea, e che abbia seguito, insieme con il
fratello, delle lezioni di pittura, o almeno di disegno, i cui frutti sono
visibili nei raffinati ornamenti calligrafici che accompagnano alcune sue
lettere. A Napoli comunque maturò la scelta di entrare nella Compagnia di Gesù.
Nel 1666 riuscì ad
ottenere, sebbene fosse ancora un diacono secolare e non un sacerdote come
prescritto, il posto di prefetto del collegio dei nobili, che gli garantiva uno
stipendio per mantenersi durante gli studi di teologia, cominciati
contemporaneamente presso il collegio Massimo. Già il 20 marzo però a Pozzuoli,
per quanto avesse appena iniziato lo studio della materia, venne ordinato
sacerdote dal vescovo B. Sanchez de Herrera, regolarizzando così la sua
posizione nel collegio. Per diventare gesuita dovette attendere ancora e
scontrarsi con l'opposizione del padre, il quale reputava F. adatto alla vita
da prete a Grottaglie, che gli avrebbe conferito una certa autorità, ma non a
quella di religioso, dove, pensava, non avrebbe potuto emergere. Il 1° luglio
1670 F. entrò infine nel noviziato della Compagnia, dieci giorni dopo l'ingresso
del fratello Giuseppe, già membro della corporazione dei pittori.
Alle soglie dell'ultimo
anno di teologia, nel 1672, F. interruppe nuovamente gli studi perché fu
inviato nel collegio di Lecce, come assegnato alle missioni in Terra d'Otranto
e di Bari. L'incarico rispondeva al suo desiderio di essere mandato in una
missione estera ed egli contava di compiere in Puglia, aiutato dal compagno e
amico A. Bruni, una specie di noviziato missionario.
Il biennio 1672-73 segnò
invece il primo incontro con il mondo delle missioni popolari in patria, che
sarà il suo ministero principale per tutta la vita.
Nelle prime predicazioni
di F. già emergono i temi caratteristici del suo insegnamento: la condanna
dell'ipocrisia, il pressante invito alla conversione dai peccati, la minaccia
del giudizio divino preannunciato dai castighi di Dio, vale a dire la carestia,
le epidemie ed i Turchi. La pedagogia, quindi, di una religione punitiva, tale
da destare negli ascoltatori il senso del peccato (espiabile attraverso la
penitenza e la preghiera), una dottrina incentrata più su di un rigido codice
morale che sui contenuti teologici della fede cristiana, conforme ai canoni
delle missioni popolari gesuitiche nell'Italia meridionale. Ma insieme con ciò,
F. suscitò da subito l'interesse dei fedeli per la sua oratoria priva di
barocchismi e comprensibile alle orecchie popolari.
L'incarico leccese ebbe
comunque breve durata. Il 2 luglio 1672 F. emise i tre voti e nell'estate del
1674 venne richiamato a Napoli dal provinciale A. Del Pozzo per portare a
termine gli studi teologici e preparare l'esame di laurea, dedicando però le
domeniche ed i giorni di festa alle missioni popolari cittadine. Completato
finalmente il cursus studiorum, il 25 maggio 1675 F. chiese ufficialmente
di partire per le missioni estere, ottenendo la risposta di "trovar
l'India nell'Italia stessa". Nondimeno, rinnovò questo desiderio quattro
volte e la domanda venne tenuta in sospeso, perché in quel periodo pareva
prossima una riapertura delle frontiere del Giappone ai missionari, finché nel
febbraio 1678, dileguatasi questa possibilità e ormai, a trentasei anni,
reputato di età troppo avanzata e già affermatosi come predicatore, F. accettò
la nomina ufficiale a "missionario di Napoli" e la residenza nella casa
professa accanto alla chiesa del Gesù Nuovo. Egli tuttavia non tardò a
parificare la missione nelle Indie con quella napoletana, fino ad ammettere,
come si evince da una sua frequente invocazione a s. Francesco Saverio, che
nella capitale "alcuni stanno peggio di quell'indiani ai quali
predicasti".
Al 1678 rimontano,
insieme con la nomina a missionario, anche i primi appunti sul numero dei
propri penitenti e la tipologia dei loro peccati, schematicamente e
sommariamente aggiornati poi, anno dopo anno, e infine riuniti in sette brevi
relazioni, quattro quinterni scritti per obbedienza ai superiori, che formano
la sua principale opera edita (pubblicata da G. Boero in S. F. di Girolamo
e le sue missioni dentro e fuori Napoli, Firenze 1882, pp. 67-181).
Le Brevi notizie delle
cose di gloria di Dio accadute negli esercizi delle sacre missioni di Napoli da
quindici anni in qua, quanto si è potuto richiamare in memoria, Alcune
piccole notizie della santa missione di Napoli, le Missioni nelle galere,
la Comunione generale, l'Oratorio, gli Esercizi spirituali e
le Missioni per li casali, compendiano l'attività pastorale di F.: nel
primo scritto egli riassume le vicende della sua missione napoletana tra il
1680 e il 1689, nel secondo si sofferma su casi particolari relativi al 1693,
dal terzo al sesto - sono narrazioni di sole cinque pagine ciascuna - descrive
gli effetti dei suoi principali strumenti di apostolato e nell'ultimo espone,
senza riferimenti cronologici, le vicende delle proprie tredici missioni in
diverse località del contado di Napoli. Da queste brevi note, redatte con
distacco in terza persona, emergono gli scopi dell'attività di F. a Napoli: la
missione popolare propriamente detta, in primo luogo, che F. svolgeva "per
le piazze principali… e strade pubbliche", particolarmente "pei
quartieri scandalosi di donne meretrici", tesa ad invitare gli ascoltatori
alla penitenza e alla "Comunione generale che si suole fare la terza
Domenica di ciascheduno mese"; quindi "incontri con brevi sermoncini
per le pubbliche strade" e "il formare la congregazione degli
artisti, detta della missione, per valersene, oltre all'utile della loro anima,
in profitto anche dell'altrui in aiutando la missione" (D'Aria, 1943, pp.
132 ss.).
Entrambe le istituzioni,
missione e congregazione di artigiani, erano preesistenti a F., ma fu lui a
rafforzarle portandole al loro massimo sviluppo. Convinto di vivere in un tempo
di eresie, frequentazione solo formale dei sacramenti e vizio, egli si
preoccupò di fare della congregazione, che chiamava anche "oratorio",
un organismo sempre aperto a nuovi aderenti ma in cui scattasse subito la
cancellazione per gli assenti ingiustificati alle riunioni. Formò così una base
di circa duecento iscritti, da cui trasse settantadue (in memoria dei
settantadue discepoli di Cristo) membri di provata fedeltà che fece entrare
nella "congregatione secreta", riservata ai migliori ed ambita perché
ai congregati spettavano i frutti di un luogo di Monte, che garantiva loro un
sussidio in caso di malattia e la spesa per le esequie in quello di morte, con
diritto di sepoltura nel Gesù Nuovo. Principali aiutanti di F. furono suo
fratello Cataldo e Carmine Diamante, un "mastro stagnaro" nominato
"custode dell'olio di s. Ciro". Accanto a costoro, una variegata folla
di popolo napoletano, ritratta dalle disposizioni rese al processo di
beatificazione, che F. s'industriava di soccorrere con le elemosine ottenute
dalle persone facoltose.
Di carattere umile e
bonario, al confessionale "né rigido né benigno", F. era severo nei
confronti di due categorie di persone: le prostitute e le attrici della
commedia dell'arte. Gli aneddoti in proposito sono numerosi: è certo che contro
i commedianti di piazza di Castelnuovo egli, se non bastavano le prediche
davanti ai palcoscenici per impedire le esibizioni delle donne, ricorse a
denunce di concubinaggio alle autorità civili, accompagnate però dalla
richiesta di non eccedere con le pene. Così pure, andava a recitare i suoi
sermoni sotto le finestre delle case abitate da prostitute nei quartieri spagnoli
(soprattutto nelle feste infrasettimanali e nel periodo carnevalizio),
sistemando le penitenti con un matrimonio o un posto ai conservatori di S.
Maria del Presidio o presso gli Incurabili. L'elevata dimensione di
quest'ultimo fenomeno a Napoli lo indurrà, verso il 1692, a fondare una
congregazione mariana, molto simile a quella maschile per le missioni,
destinata alle donne dei conservatori e alle religiose che le accudivano.
Periodicamente curava anche missioni rivolte ad altri ceti sociali, ai soldati
della guarnigione, agli schiavi, e sermoni particolari nelle più importanti
ricorrenze o nelle pubbliche calamità, come il terremoto del 5 giugno 1688.
Il F. era assai devoto
alla Madonna (ideò uno stendardo ed un inno mariano per la sua congregazione),
a Gesù Eucarestia e soprattutto a s. Ciro, in cui vedeva il modello di santità
cui ispirarsi, cioè la capacità di curare i mali del corpo come quelli dello
spirito. Egli si fece apostolo della diffusione del culto di questo santo a
Napoli e nell'Italia del Sud, cercando di ricondurre all'intercessione del
medico martire e ai poteri delle sue reliquie una fama di taumaturgo e
dispensatore di grazie, che crebbe ben presto intorno a sé, arrivando, secondo
la testimonianza del nunzio G.A. Vicentini, al numero di diecimila grazie a lui
attribuite. La fama del santo si diffuse parallelamente a quella del suo
diffusore: nel 1700 F. introdusse il culto di s. Ciro a Portici, nel 1703-1705
in Abruzzo (dove ottenne che gli Aquilani lo eleggessero a loro patrono), nel 1707
e 1708, in concomitanza con l'entrata degli Imperiali a Napoli, nella sua città
natale e nel 1712 e 1713 a Barletta ed Andria. Sebbene sempre residente a
Napoli, F. ripetutamente lasciò la città per brevi missioni popolari nella
campagne, attività che amava pur dovendo ammettere che "in dieci anni non
farebbe mai per tutta la provincia tanto, quanto si fa a Napoli in un
anno" (Boero, p. 106).
Solo dopo aver trascorso
dodici anni di una tale vita religiosa nella Compagnia, F. ebbe il permesso di
compiere la professione solenne, nel Gesù Nuovo, l'8 dic. 1682, nelle mani del
generale Ch. de Noyelle. Seguirono altri trentaquattro intensi anni di lavoro
missionario, che lo resero un personaggio popolarissimo: lo spettacolo delle
sue uscite domenicali dal Gesù Nuovo a capo della schiera di congregati che lo
accompagnavano alla missione divenne familiare ai Napoletani, come le adunate
di penitenti in attesa della confessione individuale (egli contava solo i
peccatori più incalliti che chiedevano di confessarsi da lui, circa
quattrocento all'anno), preceduta non di rado dalla disciplina collettiva.
Alla morte di F., l'11
maggio 1716 a Napoli, la salma dovette essere sepolta di nascosto nottetempo
per fuggire la pressione della folla che fece a pezzi il suo confessionale per
ricavarne reliquie mentre già da tempo circolavano in città stampe e ritratti
di F., considerati miracolosi ed appesi nei confessionali e nelle pubbliche
vie.
È complesso valutare
l'efficacia dell'apostolato missionario di Francesco De Geronimo. Alfonso de'
Liguori (il cui destino di santo fu profetizzato da F. alla madre) noterà che,
pur dopo le migliaia di conversioni attribuite al gesuita pugliese, egli si
trovava a contatto di una plebe in nulla cambiata rispetto alle condizioni
della generazione precedente. In effetti, le missioni popolari dei gesuiti
commuovevano gli ascoltatori per il breve periodo della permanenza dei
religiosi, ma partiti costoro, restavano immutate le condizioni che
determinavano tanto la loro povertà e ignoranza, quanto i peccati.
F. interpretò al massimo
livello la pastorale gesuitica di differenziazione dei tempi e delle modalità
di approccio ai fedeli, secondo la loro condizione, mosso da un sincero
desiderio di farsi comprendere e non badando al gusto oratorio del tempo
(stilisticamente, infatti, le sue prediche vennero ritenute dai suoi
confratelli inferiori a quelle di altri padri e perciò mai pubblicate). Proprio
questo suo scendere al livello popolare, d'altra parte, lo coinvolse in qualche
equivoco tra magia e miracoli, fede e superstizione. F. scontava del resto i
limiti della sua epoca e delle dottrine del suo Ordine religioso, tesi al
rafforzamento delle pratiche di culto più che all'elevazione degli individui.
Resta però innegabile l'adesione popolare alle iniziative di F., che non può
essere confuso né con i predicatori suoi contemporanei, né con i molti epigoni
che riuscirono ad imitare il suo stile, ma non la sua santità di vita.
Appena due anni dopo la
morte iniziò il processo per accertare l'eroicità delle virtù di F., che si
protrasse fino al 1740. La proclamazione di questa avvenne, da parte di
Benedetto XIV, nel 1758. Le vicende legate alla soppressione dei gesuiti
interruppero l'iter verso la canonizzazione, ripreso su istanza dello
stesso Ferdinando IV di Borbone, ancor prima della ricostituzione della
Compagnia. Beatificato il 2 maggio 1806, in luglio le sue spoglie vennero
portate a Roma. Tornate a Napoli nel 1822, finalmente il 26 maggio 1839
Gregorio XVI proclamò F. santo, insieme con il Liguori e Veronica Giuliani.
Intanto, anche se già dal
1830 era iniziata in Grottaglie la costruzione di un santuario in suo onore, il
corpo di F. rimase per lungo tempo a Napoli, in una cappella del Gesù Nuovo a
lui dedicata ed arricchita, l'11 febbr. 1932, da un grande gruppo marmoreo
dello scultore F. Jerace raffigurante il santo tra una penitente, un ragazzo,
un'orfana ed un galeotto. Solo al termine delle seconda guerra mondiale le
spoglie vennero trasportate, il 16 sett. 1945, nel santuario di Grottaglie,
meta di pellegrinaggi.
Fonti e Bibl.: La vita
del F. si presta ad essere narrata per la grande ricchezza di aneddoti popolari
e prodigi, che formano però anche il limite di gran parte della sua copiosa
bibliografia (un catalogo completo in Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de
Jésus, a cura di Ch. Sommervogel, I, V, VII, IX, X, XI, Bruxelles-Paris
1890-1932, ad Indicem, e L. Polgár, Bibliographie sur l'histoire de
la Compagnie de Jésus, 1901-1980, III, Roma 1990, pp. 563-565).
Il primo biografo del F.
fu il fiammingo K. Begrup, in una Vita stampata ad Anversa nel 1717,
mentre di maggior mole sono le opere dei tre storici suoi contemporanei, S.
Bagnati (1725), C. De Bonis (1734) e C. Stradiotti (1719), le cui opere
appartengono però ad un filone agiografico ormai superato, come i successivi
lavori di L. Degli Oddi (1761) e A. Muzzarelli. Di diverso spessore la
biografia di F.M. D'Aria, che nella Napoli del dopoguerra cercò di far rivivere
l'apostolato di "restauratore sociale" del santo, anch'essa di
carattere agiografico ma costruita sui documenti di archivio (Un restauratore
sociale.…, I, Roma 1943). Purtroppo il D'Aria, come già F. Canger (a cura
del quale sono state pubblicate le Massime spirituali di s. F. Di G.,
Firenze 1891) e G. Boero, non riuscì a pubblicare, in un progettato secondo
volume, le lettere e i molti appunti di prediche lasciati dal santo in vari
archivi della Compagnia di Gesù (inventario in F.M. D'Aria, S. F. De G.
oratore sacro, in La Civiltà cattolica, XCIII [1942], 2133, p. 8). Si
tratta di materiale in forma di schemi e appunti sparsi, bastanti per
ricostruire la divisione delle parti dei suoi discorsi (esordio, prove
dell'assunto, testimonianze della Scrittura e dei Padri), ma non il
loro calore, che oggi sembrano falsare la reale immagine del santo
accentuandone gli elementi più superati della predicazione popolare.
Più in dettaglio, sulla
figura e le attività di F., si veda ancora: Roma, Arch. Rom. Soc. Iesu, Postulazione
generale, nn. 212-239; Acta canonizationis b. Francisci de Hieronymo,
I-IV, Romae 1767-1835; M. Volpe, I gesuiti nel Napoletano, I, Napoli 1914,
pp. 10, 13; B. Croce, Uomini e cose della vecchia Italia, s. 2, Bari 1927,
pp. 118, 121; F. Nicolini, Aspetti della vita italo-spagnola nel Cinque e
Seicento, Napoli 1934, pp. 330-334; G. Barrella, La Compagnia di Gesù
nelle Puglie, Lecce 1941, pp. 52, 74, 76, 84; F.M. D'Aria, La famiglia di
s. F. de G., in Rinascita salentina, X, (1942), pp. 78-90; Id., Un
restauratore sociale. Storia critica di s. F. De G. Da documenti inediti, I,
Roma 1943; Un amico del popolo, s. F. De G., Napoli 1945; R. De
Maio, Società e vita religiosa a Napoli nell'età moderna, 1656-1799,
Napoli 1971, ad Indicem; Id., Pittura e controriforma a Napoli,
Bari 1983, ad Indicem; M. Corcione, La storia e la città di s. F. De
G., Napoli 1982; P. Lopez, Clero, eresia e magia nella Napoli del Viceregno,
Napoli 1984, p. 174; R. Colapietra, Spiritualità, coscienza civile e
mentalità collettiva nella storia dell'Aquila, L'Aquila 1984, p. 511; R.
Quaranta - S. Trevisani, Grottaglie, Grottaglie 1986, ad Indicem; A.
Guidetti, Le missioni popolari. I grandi gesuiti italiani, Milano
1988, ad Ind.; E. Novi Chavarria, Pastorale e devozioni nel XVI e
XVII secolo, in Storia del Mezzogiorno, IX, Napoli 1991, pp. 378, 394,
401; E. Papa, F. De G., in Bibliotheca sanctorum, V, Romae 1964,
coll. 1201-1204.
SOURCE : https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/santo-francescode-geronimo_%28Dizionario-Biografico%29/
Urna contenente i resti mortali di San Francesco de Geronimo conservata
nell'omonimo santuario di Grottaglie
Châsse du saint dans l'église de Grottaglie
Den hellige Frans di
Girolamo (1642-1716)
Minnedag: 11.
mai
Den hellige Frans di
Girolamo [de Geronimo eller «av Hieronymus»] (it: Francesco) ble født den 17.
desember 1642 i Grottaglie i nærheten av Taranto i regionen Puglia i
Sør-Italia. Han var den eldste av 11 søsken i en familie med etternavnet De
Geronimo. Etter at han hadde mottatt sin første kommunion i en alder av tolv
år, ble han tatt inn i husholdningen til noen Theatinerprester i nabolaget som
levde et kommunitetsliv. Til gjengjeld for kost og losji arbeidet han som
sakristan i deres kirke. Patrene skjønte straks at han ikke var noen vanlig
gutt, og fra å gi ham ansvaret for kirken forfremmet de ham til å undervise i
katekismen, og han mottok tonsuren i 1658, da han knapt var 16 år. Dette var et
tegn på hans intensjon om å bli prest.
Med theatinernes
anbefaling begynte han i 1659 på sine klassiske og filosofiske studier på
jesuittenes skole i Taranto. I 1665 flyttet han for å studere sivil- og
kirkerett på jesuittenes berømte kollegium Gesù Vecchio i Napoli, som
på den tiden konkurrerte med de største universitetene i Europa. Han flyttet
til Napoli sammen med en bror som ønsket å studere under en berømt maler der.
Året etter lette jesuittene etter en eksemplarisk ung prest som kunne bli
prefekt for sønnene av den italienske adelen som gikk på skolen, og de tilbød
stillingen til Frans. Han aksepterte den og ble ordinert som sekularprest den
20. mars 1666, etter å ha fått dispensasjon siden han ennå ikke var 24 år
gammel.
I de neste årene
underviste han i jesuittenes Collegio dei Nobili i Napoli, hvor studentene
kalte ham «den hellige prefekten», il santo prefetto. Etter å ha kjent
jesuittene i ti år ønsket Frans nå å slutte seg til dem, og etter å ha overvunnet
foreldrenes motstand, påbegynte 28-åringen den 1. juli 1670 novisiatet i
jesuittordenen (Societas Jesu – SJ). I den første tiden i novisiatet
ble Frans utsatt for eksepsjonelt harde prøver av sine overordnede, men de var
så fullstendig fornøyde med den nye novisen at de etter bare ett år sendte ham
for å hjelpe den berømte predikanten p. Agnello Bruno i hans misjonsarbeid i
bispedømmet Lecce.
Fra 1671 til 1674
arbeidet de to prestene utrettelig om med stor suksess, hovedsakelig blant
bøndene i provinsen Otranto. Etter at misjonen var avsluttet, ble Frans kalt
tilbake til Napoli, hvor han bosatte seg i den napolitanske kirken kjent som Il
Gesù Nuovo, residensen for patre med avlagte løfter i Napoli. Frans avla
løftene, avsluttet sine teologiske studier og tok sin endelige eksamen våren
1676.
Selv om Frans stadig ba
om å få bli sendt til det fjerne østen som misjonær, bestemte hans orden at det
var mer bruk for ham i hjemlandet. Fra 1676 til sin død var han folkemisjonær i
kongedømmet Napoli, både byene og landdistriktene. Han ble utnevnt til
predikant i Gesù Nuovo. Helt fra begynnelsen trakk hans forkynnelse til seg
enorme folkeskarer og førte til bemerkelsesverdige omvendelser. Det ble sagt at
han «var et lam når han snakket og en løve når han prekte». Han oppnådde så
store resultater at han ble satt til å lære opp andre misjonærer. I provinsen
gjennomførte han minst hundre misjoner. Enkelte dager holdt han opp til 40
korte prekener! Etter ham er det bevart nesten 10.000 sider med prekener.
Han trengte inn i
fengslene, bordellene og galeiene, og fortsatte sin misjon i landsbyer,
bakgater og på gatehjørner. Ved en anledning brakte han tyve tyrkiske fanger om
bord på en spansk galei til den kristne tro. Overalt strømmet menn og kvinner
til hans skriftestol, og det ble sagt at han hvert år førte 400 «forherdede
syndere» tilbake til Kirken. Hans mest fremtredende botferdige synder var den
franske kvinnen Maria Alvira Cassier. Hun hadde myrdet sin far og deretter
forkledd seg som mann og tjenestegjort i den spanske hæren. Under Frans'
veiledning ble hun ikke bare brakt til bot og omvendelse, men nådde også en høy
grad av hellighet.
Han reddet mange barn fra
farlige omgivelser, og hans navn er udødeliggjort gjennom opprettelsen av flere
sosiale institusjoner, som for straffanger, jenter i faresonen, unge kvinner og
arbeidere. Han åpnet en veldedig pantelåner og organiserte en forening av
arbeidere for å hjelpe jesuittpatrene i deres arbeid. Mange mirakuløse
helbredelser ble tilskrevet Frans, men han nektet hele tiden for å ha noen
overnaturlige evner og tilskrev de utallige helbredelsene til den hellige
Kyros' forbønn – den aleksandrinske legen som ble martyrdrept på 200-tallet og
som han hadde en stor ærbødighet for.
Men hans suksess ble også
møtt med motstand og misunnelse. Fra 1688 til 1694 ble han møtt med ydmykelse
og motstand. Noen prester sa til erkebiskopen at de var i alvorlig tvil om
Frans, som befattet seg med gateforkynnelse og som var i konstant kontakt med
de verste syndere, var egnet til å gi retretter for prester og nonner. Som et
resultat av disse klagene innførte erkebiskopen begrensinger på hans arbeid.
Han fikk ikke lenger lov til å preke i byens gater, så han tilbrakte tiden i
skriftestolen i Il Gesù. Hvis han ikke kunne komme til fårene, kunne fårene
komme til ham. Erkebiskopen skjønte til slutt at klagene kom fra fordomsfulle
og misunnelige enkeltpersoner, så derfor ba han ham om unnskyldning og fjernet
restriksjonene.
Men deretter var det hans
egen superior i ordenen som brakte sorg inn i hans liv. Provinsialen klaget
over at Frans' arbeid utenfor jesuittenes kommunitet tok så mye av hans tid at
han ikke var i stand til å ivareta funksjoner i kommuniteten. Deretter måtte
han be om tillatelse til alt han ønsket å gjøre i byen. Deretter ba den ydmyke Frans
stadig om tillatelse, men ofte avslo provinsialen eller insisterte på å sende
en annen prest i stedet. Gjennom disse vanskelige årene henfalt Frans aldri til
depresjoner, og han betraktet det som år av åndelig vekst. I 1694 innrømmet
provinsialen til slutt sin feil og Frans var igjen fri til å gjøre tjeneste for
sine napolitanere.
Frans fortsatte arbeidet
i Napoli og forstedene til 1702, da han ble bedt om å gjennomføre sine misjoner
også utenfor Napoli. Fra da av og til sin død var han halve året i Napoli og
tilbrakte resten av året som omvandrende predikant. Han ga sin siste misjon i
1715 og sin siste preken på den tredje søndagen i mars 1716. I sine siste dager
led han av brysthinnebetennelse, og da det var klart at hans død nærmet seg,
samlet hans elskede napolitanere seg rundt Il Gesù for å høre nytt om hans
helsetilstand.
Den 9. mai fikk han
sykesalvingen («den siste olje»), og om morgenen den 11. mai 1716, mellom
klokken ni og ti, samlet hans jesuittiske brødre i Il Gesù seg i hans sykerom
for å overlate hans sjel til Gud. Klokken ti døde han, 74 år gammel. Han hadde
vært jesuitt i 46 år. Han ble gravlagt i jesuittkirken i Napoli, og i
begravelsen trengte alle Napolis fattige seg sammen rundt hans kiste. I 1736
ble hans levninger flyttet til kapellet St. Ignatius. Da franskmennene
okkuperte byen tidlig på 1800-tallet, ble levningene fjernet og ført i
sikkerhet, men ble returnert til Il Gesù da byen igjen var opprettet i byen.
Etter Annen verdenskrig ble de flyttet til jesuittkirken i Grottaglie, hans
fødeby, hvor de fortsatt befinner seg.
Han ble saligkåret den
11. mai 1806 (dokumentet (Breve) var datert den 2. mai) av pave Pius VII
(1800-23) og helligkåret den 26. mai 1839 av pave Gregor XIV (1831-46). Hans
minnedag er 11. mai, mens jesuittene feirer ham den 2. juli.
Kilder:
Attwater/John, Attwater/Cumming, Butler, Butler (V), Benedictines, Bunson,
Tylenda, Schauber/Schindler, Index99, KIR, CE, CSO, Patron Saints SQPN,
Infocatho, Bautz, Heiligenlexikon - Kompilasjon og oversettelse: p. Per
Einar Odden - Opprettet: 2000-05-11 23:40 -
Sist oppdatert: 2005-12-24 16:11
SOURCE : http://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/fgirolam
