lundi 5 mai 2014

Saint ANGE de JÉRUSALEM (ANGELUS, ANGELO), carme et martyr



Ange naquit en 1185 à Jérusalem qui était alors en Terre croisée. A la mort de ses parents, Juifs convertis, il entra ainsi que son frère jumeau Jean chez les Carmes au couvent du Mont-Carmel qui n' était pas encore sous l' emprise des Sarrazins musulmans. La Palestine était en pleine époque des Croisades. Richard Coeur de Lion ne réussit pas à reprendre Jérusalem conquise par Saladin.

Le Mont-Carmel en Palestine ( hauteur 659 mètres ) marque la limite de la Galilée et de la Samarie. L' Ordre contemplatif de rite oriental se latinisa et se transforma progressivement et devint un Ordre mendiant au XIIIème siècle quand il fut introduit en Occident selon la règle de saint Albert de Jérusalem vers 1214. En 1215 eut lieu le  quatrième Concile de Latran.

C' était l' époque de saint François d' Assise et de saint Dominique et de la " révolution spirituelle " menée par les Ordres mendiants. C' est pendant cette période que saint Ange entra chez les Carmes. Il fut ordonné à 25 ans et en 1218 quitta la Terre Sainte pour se rendre à Rome. C' était avant l' époque de la Sixième Croisade où Frédéric II fut proclamé roi de Jérusalem.

Son Ordre avait demandé au Pape Honoré III la confirmation de la nouvelle Règle du Carmel.

Le Pape qui approuva la création de l' Ordre franciscain concéda aux Carmes l' approbation de leur nouvelle Règle en 1226. Après avoir été invité à prêcher à saint Jean de Latran, saint Ange de Jérusalem fut envoyé en Sicile pour prêcher contre les Cathares.

L' hérésie cathare qui se propagea autour de l' an mille en Europe avait une conception manichéenne du bien et du mal. Le monde procédait du mal et les Cathares divisés en croyants et en parfaits condamnaient les biens terrestres et les liens charnels. Il rejetaient le mariage, niaient la résurrection de la chair et refusaient la propriété privée. Beaucoup pratiquaient le végétarianisme, l' union libre ( les parfaits eux s' abstenaient de pratiques sexuelles ) et les plus sectaires se laissaient parfois mourir de faim. Ce rejet total du monde comme origine du mal ne laissait pas la place à la rédemption et finalement à la charité.

Saint Ange fut en butte à l' hostilité d' un seigneur local, Béranger seigneur de Licate ( ou Licata ) près d' Agrigente. Celui-ci était cathare et vivait librement dans l' inceste. Ayant convaincu sa compagne de le quitter saint Ange fut tué à coup d' épée alors qu' il prêchait à l' église des saints Philippe et Jacques.

Il mourut le 5 mai 1225 et l' église devint rapidement un lieu de pélerinage. Le Pape Pie II approuva le culte du saint en 1456. En 1662 on fit construire une nouvelle église pour recueillir les restes du saint. 

Aujourd' hui se saint est très populaire en Sicile et pendant trois jours de magnifiques processions et fêtes ont lieu en son honneur.


SOURCE : http://ut-pupillam-oculi.over-blog.com/article-6561972.html


Filippo Lippi (1406–1469). Saint Ange de Jérusalem avec la Vierge et Saint Albert de Trapani
Détail central de: La Madonne à l'enfant, ou La Madonne Trivulzio, 1431,

Saint Ange

Martyr à Licata ( 1225)

Il est né à Jérusalem sans doute dans une famille juive convertie. Nous le trouvons chez les carmes de Palestine à l'âge de dix-huit ans où il fait profession religieuse sur ce Mont-Carmel sanctifié par le Prophète Elie. Devenu prêtre, il est envoyé quelque temps après à Rome pour défendre les intérêts de son Ordre et obtenir la confirmation de la Règle de son Ordre. Il est envoyé en Sicile pour évangéliser les cathares et c'est un jour qu'il prêchait à l'église saint Jacques de Licata en Sicile qu'il fut tué de cinq coups d'épée par un seigneur incestueux dont il avait converti la complice. Voilà pour la vérité historique. L'un de ses confrères estimant que cela ne suffisait pas, lui ajouta dans le bréviaire carmélitain d'extraordinaires péripéties. Il lui fit arrêter le cours du Jourdain, rencontrer le Christ qui le conduit en Sicile. Que sais-je encore ? L'admiration n'engendre pas toujours la vérité historique, pas seulement pour la vie des saints, mais nous-mêmes comment faisons-nous parfois pour raconter nos souvenirs de famille…

À Licata en Sicile, vers 1225, saint Ange, prêtre de l’Ordre des Carmes et martyr, tué par des sicaires aux gages du seigneur du lieu, à qui il reprochait sa vie scandaleuse.


Martyrologe romain



Sebastiano Conca. Gravure de Licata, Sicile, protégé par Saint Ange de Jérusalem au sommet. 

Dessin, 1765.

Saint Angelus of Jerusalem

St. Angelus, who was one of the early members of the Carmelite Order, suffered martyrdom for the Faith at Leocata, Sicily. The story of his life, as it has come down, is not very reliable. It may be summarized as follows: His parents were Jews of Jerusalem who were converted to Christianity by a vision of our Lady. She told them that the Messiah they were awaiting had already come to pass and had redeemed His people, and she promised them two sons, who would grow up as flourishing olive trees on the heights of Carmel-the one as a patriarch and the other as a glorious martyr.

From childhood the twins displayed great mental and spiritual gifts when, at the age of eighteen, they entered the Carmelite Order, they already spoke Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. After Angelus was born in Jerusalem in 1185, his parents were converted Jews. Angelus was one of the first Carmelites to come to Sicily from Mt. Carmel. According to trustworthy sources, he was killed by unbelievers in Licata during the first half of the thirteenth century. He has been named patron of many places in Sicily.had been a hermit on Mount Carmel for five years, Our Lord appeared to him and bade him go to Sicily, where he would have the grace to offer the sacrifice of his life. The saint immediately obeyed the call. During his journey from the East as well as after his arrival in Sicily, he converted many sinners by his teaching, no less than by his miracles.

At Palermo over two hundred Jews sought Baptism as the result of his eloquence. Similar success attended his efforts in Leocata, but he aroused the fury of a man called Berengarius, whose shameless wickedness he had denounced. As he was preaching to a crowd, a band of ruffians headed by Berengarius broke through the throng and stabbed him. Mortally wounded, Angelus was born in Jerusalem in 1185, his parents were converted Jews. Angelus was one of the first Carmelites to come to Sicily from Mt. Carmel. According to trustworthy sources, he was killed by unbelievers in Licata during the first half of the thirteenth century. He has been named patron of many places in Sicily.fell on his knees, praying for the people, but especially for his murderer.


SOURCE : http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/angelus-of-jerusalem/


Pietro Novelli, La Vierge Marie et les Saints du Carmel: le troisième est Ange de Jérusalem, 1641

May 5

St. Angelus, Carmelite Friar, Martyr

HE was of Jewish parents, and a native of Jerusalem. Being converted to the faith, he embraced the austere life of certain anchorets on the banks of the Jordan; from whom he passed to the hermits of the desert on Mount Carmel. He seems to have been one amongst them at the time when the blessed Albert drew up a rule for them in 1206: at least he became one of the first friars of that holy Order. Coming to preach in the West, he was massacred by the heretics at Licate or Leocato, in Sicily, in 1225, by the contrivance of a powerful rich man, whose incest with a sister he had severely reproved, and had converted her from that scandalous life. The annals of the Order furnish the most material circumstances of his glorious death, and the account of his miracles. See Papebroke the Bollandist, t. 2, Maij. p. 56, who sets no great value on any of the three different acts or relations of his martyrdom, but gives long accounts of miracles performed since his death, and of the great veneration which is paid to him in Sicily, especially at Leocata and at Palermo. See also on St. Angelus, the new Bibliotheca Carmelitana, printed at Orleans, in 1752, t. 1, p. 113.

Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73).  Volume V: May. The Lives of the Saints.  1866.

SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/5/053.html

Angelus of Jerusalem, OC M (RM)
(also known as Angelo)


Born in Jerusalem in 1145; died in Sicily, 1220. Saint Angelus, born of Jewish parents, was one of the early friar-hermits of Mount Carmel. He was commissioned to obtain the approval of Pope Honorius III for the rule written by Saint Albert in 1206 for the use of the new friars. Angelus travelled to Rome and shortly thereafter went to Sicily (Palermo and Messina) to preach.


According to one version of the legend, he was killed in Licate or Leocata, Sicily, by Count Berenger whose incest with his sister he had denounced. He had converted the count's sister from this scandalous life and thereafter was hanged and shot with arrows. Many miracles were worked at Angelus's intercession after his death, especially in Leocata and Palermo (Benedictines, Husenbeth, Tabor).

Saint Angelus is depicted in art as a Carmelite with a knife in his head. He may also be shown (1) with a sword in his breast, holding a book, palm (symbol of martyrdom), and three crowns; (2) as an angel brings him three crowns; (3) with lilies and roses falling from his mouth as symbols of his eloquence; or (4) tied to a tree and shot with arrows (Roeder, Tabor). He is venerated in Leocata, Sicily (Roeder).


SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0505.shtml



Statue de St Ange (Sant'Angelo da Gerusalemme)
église de Santa Marta S. Maria del Carmine, Milan


Sant' Angelo da Gerusalemme (di Sicilia) Martire, carmelitano


Gerusalemme, 1185 – Licata (Agrigento), 5 maggio 1225

Angelo è annoverato tra i primi Carmelitani che dal monte Carmelo tornarono in Sicilia, dove, secondo le fonti tradizionali degne di fede, morì a Licata per mano di uomini empi, nella prima metà del secolo XIII. Venerato come martire, ben presto fu edificata una chiesa sul luogo del suo martirio, e ivi venne deposto il suo corpo. Nel 1662 le reliquie furono traslate nella nuova chiesa, edificata nello stesso luogo in seguito alla liberazione della città dalla peste (1625) per intercessione del Santo. Il culto di sant'Angelo si diffuse in tutto l'Ordine e anche tra il popolo.

Emblema: Palma, tre corone, spada

Martirologio Romano: A Licata in Sicilia, sant’Angelo, sacerdote dell’Ordine dei Carmelitani e martire.

Angelo nacque a Gerusalemme nel 1185, i suoi genitori erano dei giudei convertiti, alla loro morte lui e il fratello gemello Giovanni, decisero di entrare fra i Carmelitani, emettendo poi la professione religiosa nelle mani del Superiore generale s. Brocardo, nel convento sul Monte Carmelo. 

Il Monte Carmelo in Palestina (alto m. 659) segna il confine tra la Galilea e la Samaria e termina con il promontorio omonimo che forma il golfo di Haifa, fu la culla dell’antico Ordine monastico contemplativo d’origine orientale, che prese il nome proprio dal monte, i Carmelitani. 

L’Ordine si trasformò da contemplativo in Ordine mendicante nel XIII secolo, quando fu introdotto in Occidente, secondo la Regola di s. Alberto di Gerusalemme (1214 ca.); era il secolo di s. Francesco d’Assisi e di s. Domenico Guzman e del sorgere ed espandersi degli Ordini mendicanti, che tanta rivoluzione spirituale, portarono nella Chiesa di Cristo. 

E in quel periodo Angelo entrò nel Carmelo; a 25 anni fu ordinato sacerdote e un po’ più tardi nel 1218, gli diedero la missione di recarsi a Roma per illustrare ed ottenere dal papa Onorio III la conferma della nuova e definitiva Regola del Carmelo; il papa, lo stesso che approvò l’Ordine Francescano, la concesse nel 1226. 

Dopo aver predicato fruttuosamente in s. Giovanni in Laterano, Angelo fu inviato in Sicilia per predicare contro i ‘catari’ che infestavano l’isola. L’eresia catara si propagò dopo il 1000, dall’Oriente all’Occidente; essa portava a concepire un’antitesi primordiale tra il Bene e il Male (dal quale procede il mondo) e alla condanna radicale di tutto ciò che è carnale e terreno: condanna del matrimonio, negazione della resurrezione della carne, vegetarianismo, divieto dell’esercizio della giustizia e delle armi, condanna della proprietà privata. 

Fra gli adepti vi erano i semplici ‘credenti’ ed i ‘perfetti’, che si distinguevano per il loro ascetismo, per cui si lasciavano morire anche di fame. 

Il movimento eretico assunse secondo la Nazione in cui si estendeva, varie denominazioni: Albigesi, Bulgari, Patarini, Pubblicani e nel periodo in cui visse s. Angelo era particolarmente in fase di espansione in tutto l’Occidente cristiano. 

A Licata (Agrigento) s’imbatté in un signorotto locale, certo Berengario, che oltre ad essere un cataro ostinato, viveva nell’incesto; Angelo convinse la compagna di quest’uomo a lasciarlo, Berengario infuriato lo assalì, mentre predicava nella chiesa dei ss. Filippo e Giacomo, ferendolo mortalmente con cinque colpi di spada.
Fu trasportato in una casa vicina dai fedeli, dove quattro giorni dopo morì per le ferite riportate, era il 5 maggio 1225, chiedendo agli abitanti e fedeli di Licata di perdonare l’uccisore. 

Fu sepolto nella stessa chiesa del martirio e il suo sepolcro divenne subito meta di pellegrinaggi, il suo culto si diffuse rapidamente. 

L’Ordine Carmelitano lo venera come santo almeno dal 1456 e papa Pio II (1405-1464) ne approvò il culto. Nel 1662 le sue reliquie furono traslate nella nuova chiesa, edificata nello stesso luogo in seguito alla liberazione della città dalla peste (1625) per intercessione del Santo. Nell’arte è raffigurato con la palma del martirio in mano, tre corone (verginità, predicazione, martirio) e con una spada che gli trapassa il petto. 

Il culto di s. Angelo da Gerusalemme concorse fortemente all’espansione dell’Ordine Carmelitano in Sicilia e in Italia. La sua festa si celebra il 5 maggio.

Autore:
Antonio Borrelli