Antonio Sicurezza (1905–1979). Charles
de Sezze, 1969
Saint Charles de Sezze
Frère mineur (✝ 1670)
Saint Charles de Sezze Macchione
Frère lai Franciscain, portier, sacristain...
Favorisé de dons mystiques, consulté par les Papes, stigmatisé.
Béatifié en 1882 à Rome par Léon XIII et premier saint canonisé par Jean XXIII le 12 avril 1959.
Homélie du Card. José Saraiva Martins pendant la concélébration eucharistique à l'honneur des saints patrons du diocèse et de la ville de Sezze (Latina) (3 juillet 2004) [Italien]
À Rome, en 1670, saint Charles de Sezze, religieux de l’Ordre des Mineurs. Contraint depuis son enfance de gagner sa nourriture quotidienne, il amenait ses compagnons à l’imitation du Christ et des saints. Enfin, comme il le désirait, revêtu de l’habit franciscain, il se consacra à l’adoration devant l’autel du saint Sacrement.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/379/Saint-Charles-de-Sezze.html
Saint Charles de Sezze MACCHIONE
Nom: MACCHIONE
Prénom: Jean
Charles (Giancarlo)
Nom de religion:
Charles de Sezze
Pays:
Italie
Naissance:
1613 à Sezze Romano (Latium)
Mort:
06.01.1670 à Rome
Etat:
Frère lai Franciscain
Note:
Portier, sacristain, etc. Favorisé de dons mystiques, consulté par les Papes,
stigmatisé.
Béatification:
1882 à Rome par Léon XIII
Canonisation:
12.04.1959 à Rome par Jean XXIII
Fête: 6
janvier
Réf. dans
l’Osservatore Romano:
Réf.
dans la Documentation Catholique: 1959 col.583-587
Notice
Giancarlo
Macchione naît en 1613 au village de Sezze en Latium d'une pieuse famille de
cultivateurs. Élevé par sa grand-mère, il manifeste dès son plus jeune âge une
grande piété et se fait l'apôtre de ses camarades. Il mène une vie pure et
mortifiée. Frappé d'une grave maladie à 17 ans, il en sort miraculeusement
après avoir fait le vœu d'entrer en religion. Il est reçu chez les Franciscains
comme frère lai, car son manque d'instruction lui interdit l'accès au sacerdoce
comme le désirait sa famille. Mais Dieu qui manifeste sa force dans la
faiblesse, donne à Frère Charles de Sezze de telles lumières qu'il résout les
embarras de savants théologiens et que des cardinaux et Clément IX lui-même
viennent le consulter. Par obéissance il compose, en prose ou en vers, des
écrits très simples mais profonds. Il désire enfin aller en mission pour y être
martyr, mais une maladie providentielle l'empêche au dernier moment de partir.
C'est à Rome, au couvent de S. François de Transtévère, que, brûlant d'amour
pour le Seigneur, il meurt le six janvier 1670. Il avait 57 ans.
SIGNES SUR LA VIE DE SAINT CHARLES DE SEZZE
Né à
Sezze le 22 d'Octobre du 1613, Jean Charles (ceci était son nom de Baptême) fut
obligé bientôt à laisser les écoles publiques pour attendre à la garde du
troupeau, amis au même temps il réussit à cultiver la profonde dévotion à
l'Esprit chrétien lui transmise grâce à ses parents.
L'amour pour la Croix
et la Vierge Marie lui fûrent deux conseillers pour son chemin spirituel;
Charles entra au couvent franciscain de Nazzano, en indossant le vêtement du
Pauvre d'Assise le 18 de mai du 1635.
En étant obeissant aux
dispositions de ses supérieurs, il exercita ses charges réligieux dans de
différents couvents de Morlupo, Ponticelli, Palestrina, Piglio, Carpineto
Romano, Castel Gandolfo, S. Pietro in Montorio et S. Francesco à Ripa en Rome,
en vivant toujours en extrème humilité et discipline franciscaine.
Fr. Charles accomplit
des oeuvres qui étaient joyeusement tournées pour procurer une certaine
soustentation aux pauvres et l'assistance aux infirmes et aux moribonds. Le
Seigneur voulût reconnaitre l'extraordinaire foi de Fr. Charles.
Un matin, pendant que
le frère participait à la S.te Messe à l'Eglise de S. Joseph à Capo le Case en
Rome, au moment de l'élévation, un rayon lumineux, parti de l'Ostie sainte
touchat Charles au coeur, en lui procurant une profonde blessure. Tel fut le
signe d'amour reçu est décrit de lui comme ça: "Il était entre deux
extrèmese, c'est à dire entre la douceur et suavité de la douceur, et on avait
l'impression que l'àme voulait sortir du corps. Pour la doucer j'aurais
supporté quelconque tourment et chaque peine".
Ceci arriva en octobre
du 1648.
Fr. Charles accomplit
beaucoup de miracles, comme des guérisons des infirmités et des multiplications
de mets. Frappé de maldie il mourut au couvent de S. François à Ripa le 6 de
Janvier 1670. Au point ou le Seigneur lui infligéat la blessure d'amour, un
signe à forme de croix commença à apparaitre après sa mort; le phénomène a été
un des miracles reconnus de la Sacrée Congrégation des Rites.
Une fois que les
miracles proposés pour la béatification furent reconnus, le décret de
Béatification fut en octobre 1881 sous le Pontificat de Léon 13.
Fr. Charles de Sezze
fut reconnu Saint de part de l'Eglise le 12 avril 1959, du Pape Jean 23.
S. Charles est connu
comme le seul Saint stigmatizé de l'Eucharistie.
Saint Charles of Sezze
Also known as
Giancarlo Marchioni
John Charles
Marchioni
Karl av Sezze
Karl von Sezze
Memorial
Profile
Born to a poor but pious rural family, he worked as a shepherd as a child. His family encouraged his vocation to
the priesthood, but Charles was a terrible student, barely able to read or write, and had
no hope of success in seminary. Franciscan lay brother at age 22 at Naziano. Poor
health prevented his going on foreign missions, and he served in assorted
menial positions, such as cook, porter, and gardener at friaries near Rome.
Once a friary superior ordered Charles, as porter, to give food only to traveling friars.
When Charles strictly adhered to the rule, alms to the friary
decreased. He convinced the superior the two things were related, and Charles
was allowed to be more opened handed to travellers; alms to the friars
increased.
Worked among plague victims in 1656. Wrote several mystical works, and at the direction of his confessor, his autobiography, The Grandeurs of the Mercies of God. Had a
strong devotion to the Eucharist and the Passion. The simple layman was sought out for spiritual advice,
and the dying Pope Clement IX called
Charles to his bedside for a blessing.
Stigmatist, with a visibly open wound in his
side; said to have been opened by a piercing ray of light that came from an
elevated host during Mass at the Church of Saint Joseph in Capo le Case. The
area was marked with a cross after his death.
Born
19 October 1613 at Sezze, Roman Campagna, Italy as John Charles Marchioni
Died
6 January 1670 at San Francesco a Ripa, Rome, Italy of natural causes; entombed at the Church of
Saint Francis, Rome
Beatified
Canonized
Additional
Information
Our
Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints, by Matthew Bunson, Margaret
Bunson, and Stephen Bunson
Works
Birth of Holy Mary's Novena
Christmas Novena
Holy Settenario
Invalid Path of the Soul
Jesus Christ's Talk About Life
The Three Ways
Readings
God does not command us to live in hair shirts and chains, or to chastise
our flesh with scourges, but to love Him above all things and our neighbor as
ourselves.
-Saint Charles of Sezze
The autobiography of Charles stands as a very strong refutation of the
opinion, quite common among religious people, that saints are born saints, that
they are privileged right from their first appearance on this earth. This is
not so. Saints become saints in the usual way, due to the generous fidelity of
their correspondence to divine grace. They had to fight just as we do, and more
so, against their passions, the world and the devil.
-Father Serverino Gori
Redemptoristenkloster und Schule Katzelsdorf, Niederösterreich:
Wandmalerei von Josef Weilharter im Kreuzgang: "Ich ergänze, was dem
Leiden Christi mangelt." - Maria Franziska von den Fünf Wunden, Betha von
Reute, Katharina von Siena, Karl von Sezze
St. Charles of
Sezze
(St. Charles de Sezza)
Feast Day – January
7
Charles, the son of lowly
country folk, was born at Sezze in Italy on October 22, 1613. At the urgent
request of his grand-mother, the rearing of the child was entrusted to her, and
the gentle boy acquired a great love of God and of prayer from the example and
teaching of this devout lady. He grasped the truths of religion so readily that
his parents entertained the sweet hope that Charles would later become a
priest.
But when Charles was old
enough to go to school, his studies did not meet with marked success; and so,
when his schooling ended, his parents were sensible enough to put him to work
in the fields with his brothers. There, in God’s free nature, a new light came
to the boy. From books he had not learned much, but he understood very well the
wonders of God’s creation. Everything conspired to raise his thoughts to
heavenly things, so that his work was constantly mingled with interior prayer.
He began to receive the sacraments more frequently, and evinced real zeal for
Christian perfection.
Our of veneration for the
Virgin Mother of God, he made a vow of chastity at the age of seventeen, and he
preserved it so faithfully that the Beloved of pure souls, “who feeds among the
lilies” (Cant. 2,16), seemed to have His dwelling-place in the heart of
Charles. He was seized with a great desire for holiness. He read with delight
the lives of the saints and related them to the others while at work. In the
Franciscan church which he often visited, he used to study the pictures of the
saints with a desire to imitate them.
When he was twenty years
old he fell dangerously ill, so that his life was despaired of. Then he made a
vow that, if he would recover, he would enter the Franciscan Order. At once his
illness took a turn for the better, and, true to his vow, although there were
many hardships to overcome, Charles received the habit two years later. After
his consecration to God through the vows, he advanced visibly not only in piety
but in all the virtues of his state of life, so that even the oldest brothers
were edified by him and followed his example. He ardently desired to shed his
blood for Christ, and asked that he might be sent as a lay brother to the
missions in India; but a new illness frustrated the design.
He was sent to a convent in
Rome so that he could fully recover his health. But here God Almighty destined
him for another field of labor. He received remarkable enlightenment about
things divine and about the truths of religion, so that the most learned
theologians were astonished at it and consulted with him on some of the most
difficult questions. The cardinals and even Pope Clement IX sought his advice.
In compliance with the will of God he also wrote several books about spiritual
things.
At the same time the pious brother remained deeply humble. Concerning his
remarkable gift of enlightenment he used to say to himself, that Our Lord in
His wisdom hides such things from the wise but reveals them to the simple, to
which class he belonged. He so fervently adored his Lord under the appearances
of bread that one day a ray of light like an arrow went out from the Sacred
Host and impressed a wound in his left side. This wound was still visible after
his death.
Charles died on January 6,
1670. Pope Leo XII pronounced him blessed in 1882, and Pope John XXIII
canonized him in the spring of 1959.
*from: The Franciscan Book of Saints, ed. by Marion Habig, ofm
January 18: Saint Charles of Sezze
Posted by Jacob
“God does not command us to live in hair shirts
and chains, or to chastise our flesh with scourges, but to love Him above all
things and our neighbor as ourselves.”
Today, January 18, we celebrate the feast of Saint
Charles of Sezze (San Carlo de Sezze, 1613-1670), a man
remembered for holiness, simplicity, service, and humility. His devotion to the
Lord, and love of the Eucharist, was such that he was graced with a mystical
wound on his heart. Throughout his life, Saint Charles demonstrated the virtues
of charity and self-giving love to all he encountered.
Born John
Charles Marchioni, the future saint belonged to a pious, but poor family, in
rural Sezze, Italy. As a child—like many of the region—John worked as a
shepherd, and spent long hours in the fields with the family sheep. Due to his
work, he had little time for education, and was barely able to read and write.
In the fields, the love of the Lord, the Eucharist, and the Blessed Virgin grew
deeper within him, and he felt certain that he was destined to become a priest.
While his family encouraged his call to vocation, John’s poor academic
abilities precluded the seminary as a viable option. Instead, he entered the
Franciscan Order as a lay brother, joining a community in Naziano, and working
in the most menial of positions. He served his brothers as cook, porter, and
gardener, and never complained. While Charles wished to participate and assist
in foreign missions, his poor health prevented this as well. Instead, he
embraced his role at the monastery, serving with simplicity, humility, and love
for all he encountered.
In his
autobiography, Charles tells us, "Our Lord put in my heart a
determination to become a lay brother with a great desire to be poor and to beg
alms for his love." Following this determination, Charles became
well known for his holiness and charity. He was frequently sought out for
spiritual advice and counsel. Even the dying Pope Clement IX called Charles,
the simple lay brother, to his bedside for a blessing. Charles also became
known for his generosity and charitable nature. His superior, worried that his
constant charity would deplete the monastery’s stores, forbade Charles to
continue with his generosity to all travelers. Instead, he was ordered to only
provide food to visiting friars. Ever obedient, Charles followed the rule
strictly, but immediately noticed that alms to the friary decreased at the same
time. After some time, he was able to convince his superior that the decrease
in charity was related to the decrease in generosity of the community. As he
was allowed to provide food generously to all, so, too, did the alms increase!
In 1656, Italy
was struck with the plague, and Charles worked tirelessly among the victims. He
traveled amongst the sickest of the sick, providing prayer, medical care, food,
and assistance. He performed numerous miracles of healing and multiplication of
foods to serve all in need. This, like all his works, were completed with sincerity
and humility.
Charles’ devotion to the Passion and Eucharist—devotion that had begun in the
fields of his youth—continued to grow each day. He was rewarded by the Lord, in
recognition of his devotion and extraordinary faith—with the mystical experience
of the stigmata. One morning, while Charles was participating in Mass, a bright
ray of light emanated from the Sacred Host as it was elevated, and struck
Charles in the heart. The experience left him deeply wounded, yet filled with
incredible joy. One of his brothers described him in the following manner: "It
was between two extremes, that is between pain and sweet bliss, and it seemed
as if the spirit wanted to leave the body. I would have sustained whatever
great torment or any hardship because of the sweetness.”
Sick the
majority of his life, Charles died in the convent of Saint Francis in Ripa,
Italy. The wound that had resulted form his miraculous encounter with the Holy
Eucharist changed into the form of a cross following his death. His
body remains incorrupt.
Saint Charles
wrote several mystical works during his lifetime—despite having limited
education—including his autobiography entitled “The
Grandeurs of the Mercies of God.” Of this work, Father Serverino
Gori wrote, “The autobiography of Charles stands as a very strong
refutation of the opinion, quite common among religious people, that saints are
born saints, that they are privileged right from their first appearance on this
earth. This is not so. Saints become saints in the usual way, due to the
generous fidelity of their correspondence to divine grace. They had to fight
just as we do, and more so, against their passions, the world and the devil.”
Saint Charles of Sezze followed where the Lord led him. When he was unable to
become a priest, he entered the Franciscans as a lay brother. When he was
unable to go on foreign missions, he embraced the most menial of tasks with
charity, obedience, and humility. Saint Charles, in his quiet and simple way,
is the perfect example of the love of Our Lord, shining forth to the world,
through those who adore Him.
Lord our God, You are the shield and glorious
reward of those who walk blamelessly in Your sight. keep us steadfast in Your
holy service so that aided by the wise teaching and intercession of Brother
Charles of Sezze, we may with hearts open to You run the way of perfect
charity.
Saints of the
Day – Charles of Sezze
Article
(born John Charles Marchioni)
Born at Sezze, Roman Campagna, Italy, October 19,
1616; died in Rome in January 6, 1670; beatified in 1882; canonized by Pope
John XXIII in 1959; feast day may be January 6 or 7. Born of humble parents in
the Roman Campagna, John Charles Marchioni (or possibly Melchoir) became a
shepherd and wanted to become a priest. When unable to do so because of his
poor scholarship (he barely learned to read and write), he became a lay brother
of Franciscan Order at Naziano (in Rome?), served in various menial positions –
cook, porter, gardener – at different monasteries near Rome and became known
for his holiness, simplicity, and charity. His was a life of great mystical
experiences; it is told that his heart was pierced by a ray of light proceeding
from the Sacred Host, which left a visible wound. He wrote several mystical
works, lived a life of great mortifications, and worked heroically to help the
stricken in the plague of 1656 (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Perotti).
MLA Citation
Katherine I Rabenstein. Saints
of the Day, 1998. CatholicSaints.Info.
5 December 2020. Web. 6 January 2021. <https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-day-charles-of-sezze/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-day-charles-of-sezze/
Châsse de Charles de Sezze dans l'église San Francesco a Ripa, Roma
San Carlo da Sezze Frate laico
francescano
Sezze (Latina), 19 ottobre 1613 - San Francesco a
Ripa, 6 gennaio 1670
Giancarlo
Marchionne nacque a Sezze (Latina) nel 1613 da genitori contadini. Fece anche
lui il pastore e l'agricoltore. A 17 anni fece voto di castità in onore della
Vergine e poco dopo entrò nell'Ordine dei Frati minori come fra Carlo. Fu in
numerosi conventi del Lazio come cuoco. portinaio, questuante e sacrestano. Ma,
nonostante gli scarsi studi, aveva doni di scienza straordinari e ciò gli
permise di realizzare una vasta produzione di opere ascetico-letterarie. Fu
consigliere di Alessandro VII e Clemente IX. Morì nel 1670 ed è santo dal 1959.
E' patrono di Sezze e della diocesi di Latina-Terracina Sezze-Priverno. (Avvenire)
Etimologia:
Carlo = forte, virile, oppure uomo libero, dal tedesco arcaico
Martirologio
Romano: A Roma, san Carlo da Sezze, religioso dell’Ordine dei Frati Minori:
costretto fin dalla fanciullezza a procurarsi il vitto quotidiano, esortava i
compagni all’imitazione di Cristo e dei santi; indossato finalmente, come
desiderava, l’abito francescano, si dedicò all’adorazione del Santissimo
Sacramento.
Nato a
Sezze (Latina) il 19 ottobre 1613 da Ruggero Melchiori (o Marchionne) e Antonia
Maccione, contadini piissimi e di buona condizione, Carlo fu battezzato il 22
dello stesso mese, come risulta dall'unico registro contemporaneo esistente
tuttora presso la cattedrale di S. Maria. Per motivi di salute dovette
sospendere gli studi elementari: fece il pastore e poi il contadino. A
diciassette anni emise il voto di perpetua castità in onore della Vergine e
quindi, contro il parere dei genitori e dei parenti che lo avrebbero voluto
sacerdote, preferì, per spirito di umiltà, rendersi religioso converso. Vestì,
pertanto, l'abito dei Frati Minori nel convento di S. Francesco in Nazzano il
18 maggio 1635 e, dopo aver superato molte difficoltà, professò il 18, o il 19
maggio dell'anno seguente. Risiedette successivamente nei conventi di S. Maria
Seconda in Morlupo, di S. Maria delle Grazie in Ponticelli, di S. Francesco in
Palestrina, di S. Pietro in Carpineto Romano, di S. Pietro in Montorio e di S.
Francesco a Ripa in Roma. Tra il 1640 e il 1642 dimorò per breve tempo nei
conventi di S. Giovanni Battista al Piglio e in quello di S. Francesco in
Castelgandolfo. NelI'ottobre 1648, ascoltando la Messa nella chiesa di San
Giuseppe a Capo le Case in Roma, al momento dell'elevazione, ricevette
dall'Ostia divina una ferita di amore al petto.
Impiegato negli uffici propri del suo stato, di cuoco, ortolano, portinaio,
questuante e sagrestano, Carlo si distinse per l'umiltà, l'ubbidienza, la pietà
serafica e l'amore verso il prossimo, riuscendo ad unire alla più intensa vita
interiore e contemplativa una instancabile attività caritativa e apostolica che
lo condusse a Urbino, a Napoli, a Spoleto e in altre città.
Laici, sacerdoti, religiosi, vescovi, cardinali e pontefici si giovarono
dell'opera di Carlo, che aveva avuto da Dio doni straordinari, tra i quali, in
particolare, quelli del consiglio e della scienza infusa (riconosciuto, questo
prorsus mirabile dal breve stesso della beatificazione). Ad Alessandro VII, che
lo interrogava su Girolama Spada, giustiziata come eretica a Campo de' Fiori il
5 luglio 1659, Carlo rispose che non si era mai recato a casa della donna,
sapendo che in lei non v'era nulla di buono. Clemente IX lo inviò a Montefalco
per esaminarvi lo spirito di una monaca, falsamente ritenuta santa. Carlo
predisse il supremo pontificato ai cardinali Fabio Chigi (Alessandro VII),
Giulio Rospigliosi (Clemente IX), Emilio Altieri (Clemente X) e Gianfrancesco
Albani (Clemente XI).
Dopo la morte, avvenuta il 6 gennaio 1670 a San Francesco a Ripa, comparve sul
petto di Carlo un singolare stigma, che fu riconosciuto di origine
soprannaturale da un'apposita commissione medica e fu addotto come uno dei due
miracoli richiesti per la beatificazione. I processi canonici, iniziati poco
dopo la morte, subirono notevoli ritardi dovuti a contingenze storiche.
Clemente XIV dichiarò l'eroicità delle virtù il 14 giugno 1772; Leone XIII, con
breve del 1° ottobre 1881, lo beatificò il 22 gennaio 1882, e Giovanni XXIII lo
canonizzò il 12 aprile 1959. La sua festa si celebra il 6 gennaio. Benché a
scuola avesse imparato a leggere e a scrivere malamente, Carlo fu autore
straordinariamente fecondo.
Autore: Severino
Gori
