Ascoli Piceno: chiesa di San Pietro Martire (xilografia). Strafforello Gustavo, La patria, geografia dell'Italia, III. Provincie di Ancona, Ascoli Piceno, Macerata, Pesaro e Urbino. Unione Tipografico-Editrice, Torino, 1898.
Bienheureux Constant
Servoli de Fabriano
Prêtre dominicain (+ 1481)
Homme zélé menant une vie
austère et homme de paix, il prit part à la réforme de l'Ordre. Son corps est
encore vénéré dans l'église de Saint Pierre d'Ascoli Piceno, alors que son chef
l'est dans la cathédrale de Fabriano.
À Ascoli Piceno dans les
Marches, en 1481, le bienheureux Constant Servoli de Fabriano, prêtre de
l’Ordre des Prêcheurs, qui s’illustra par l’austérité de sa vie et son zèle à
promouvoir la paix.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/11476/Bienheureux-Constant-Servoli-de-Fabriano.html
Bx Costanzo (Constant) Servoli
Prêtre o.p. († 1481)
Costanzo Servoli naît
en 1410 à Fabriano (province d’Ancône, dans la région Marches, en Italie
centrale). Les anciens historiens de l’Ordre l’appellent « illustre et
très brillante étoile du ciel dominicain ».
De famille modeste, il
entra dans l’Ordre à 15 ans et eut comme maîtres St
Antonino, de Florence (1389-1459)puis le Bx Corradino de Brescia. Avec de
si bons guides, il devint un parfait frère prêcheur.
Homme zélé menant une vie
austère et homme de paix, il prit part à la réforme de l'Ordre. De 1440 à 1467
il fut prieur à Fabriano, en 1445 à Pérouse, en 1459 et 1470 à Ascoli
Piceno.
Dans la ville d’Ascoli, presque détruite par la discorde civile, il ramena la
paix. Il restaura entièrement le couvent Saint-Dominique, où il fit refleurir
les études et la discipline régulière, et où il termina sa carrière le 24
février 1481.
Âme de prière, il disait
que le Seigneur ne lui avait jamais refusé une grâce quand il récitait le
Psautier entier. En plus de l’office divin, il récitait l’office des morts
chaque jour. Son corps est encore vénéré dans l'église San Pietro martire
d’Ascoli Piceno, alors que son chef l'est dans la Cathédrale de Fabriano, sa
ville natale, qui l’a choisi comme Patron.
Le Pape Pie VII (Barnaba Chiaramonti, 1800-1823), le 22 septembre1821, a accordé la Messe et l’office propre.
Source principale : cite-catholique.org (« Rév. x gpm »).
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2017
SOURCE : http://levangileauquotidien.org/main.php?language=FR&module=saintfeast&id=14671&fd=0
Blessed Constantius of Fabriano, OP (AC)
Born in Fabriano, Marches
of Ancona, Italy, 1410; died at Ascoli, Italy, 1481; equivalently beatified in
1821 (or 1811).
Constantius Bernocchi is
as close to a 'sad saint' as it's possible for a Dominican to get; he is said
to have had the gift of tears. However, that is not his only claim to fame.
Constantius had an
remarkable childhood, not only for the usual signs of precocious piety, but
also for a miracle that he worked when he was a little boy. Constantius had a
sister who had been bedridden most of her nine years of life. One day, the
little boy brought his parents in to her bedside and made them pray with him.
The little girl rose up, cured, and she remained well for a long and happy
life. Naturally, the parents were amazed, and they were quite sure it had not
been their prayers that effected the cure, but those of their little son.
Constantius entered the
Dominicans at age 15, and had as his masters Blessed Conradin and Saint
Antoninus. He did well in his studies and wrote a commentary on Aristotle. His
special forte was Scripture, and he studied it avidly. After his ordination, he
was sent to teach in various schools in Italy, arriving eventually at the
convent of San Marco in Florence, which had been erected as a house of strict
observance. Constantius was eventually appointed prior of this friary that was
a leading light in the reform movement. This was a work dear to his heart, and
he himself became closely identified with the movement.
Several miracles and
prophecies are related about Constantius during his stay in Florence. He one
day told a student not to go swimming, because he would surely drown if he did.
The student, of course, dismissed the warning and drowned. One day, Constantius
came upon a man lying in the middle of the road. The man had been thrown by his
horse and was badly injured; he had a broken leg and a broken arm. All he asked
was to be taken to some place where care could be given him, but Constantius
did better than that--he cured the man and left him, healed and astonished.
Constantius was made
prior of Perugia, where he lived a strictly penitential life. Perhaps the
things that he saw in visions were responsible for his perpetual sadness, for
he foresaw many of the terrible things that would befall Italy in the next few
years. He predicted the sack of Fabriano, which occurred in 1517. At the death
of Saint Antoninus, he saw the saint going up to heaven, a vision which was
recounted in the canonization process.
Blessed Constantius is
said to have recited the Office of the Dead every day, and often the whole 150
Psalms, which he knew by heart, and used for examples on every occasion. He
also said that he had never been refused any favor for which he had recited the
whole psalter. He wrote a number of books; these, for the most part, were
sermon material, and some were the lives of the blesseds of the order.
On the day of
Constantius's death, little children of the town ran through the streets crying
out, "The holy prior is dead! The holy prior is dead!" On hearing of
his death, the city council met and stated that it was a public calamity.
The relics of Blessed
Constantius have suffered from war and invasion. After the Dominicans were
driven from the convent where he was buried, his tomb was all but forgotten for
a long time. Then one of the fathers put the relics in the keeping of
Camaldolese monks in a nearby monastery, where they still remain (Benedictines,
Dorcy, Encyclopedia).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0225.shtml
Blessed Constantius
of Fabriano
Also
known as
Constantius Bernocchi
Constantius Servoli
Constantius di Meo
Costanzo….
Costante….
Profile
Known as a pious child;
Constantius once convinced his parents to pray with
him for the healing of
his terminally ill sister
– and she was immediately cured.
He joined the Dominicans at
age 15 at the convent of
Santa Lucia. Spiritual student of Blessed Laurence
of Ripafratta, Blessed Corradino
of Brescia and Saint Antoninus
of Florence. Reforming prior of
friars in the Italian cities
of Florence, Fabriano, Perugia and Ascoli
Piceno. Noted preacher and peacemaker in
local disturbances; worked with Blessed Peitro
da Mogliano and Saint James
of the March. Known for his deep prayer life,
as a miracle worker.
and for his gift of prophecy; he miraculously knew the instant of the death of Saint Antoninus.
He was considered a saint in
life by all who knew him.
Born
early 15th
century Fabriano,
Marches of Ancona, Italy
c.1481 at Ascoli
Piceno, Italy of
natural causes
the local senate and
council assembled at the news of his death,
proclaimed it a “public calamity”, and voted to pay for the funeral
buried at
the Dominican church
of Saint Peter Martyr in Ascoli
Piceno
some relics swiped
by a fellow Domincan and
taken to Frabriano, Italy
1821 by Pope Pius
VII (cultus
confirmed)
God of justice and truth,
you made Blessed Constantius
renowned for his unceasing prayer and
his zeal for peace. By the help of his prayers may we walk in the path of
justice and reach everlasting peace and glory. We ask this through our Lord
Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. – General Calendar of the Order of
Preachers
Additional
Information
Saints
and Saintly Dominicans, by Blessed Hyacinthe-Marie
Cormier, O.P.
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
Stars
in Saint Dominic’s Crown, by Father Thomas
Austin Dyson
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
images
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
MLA
Citation
“Blessed Constantius of
Fabriano“. CatholicSaints.Info. 25 June 2022. Web. 14 February 2023.
<https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-constantius-of-fabriano/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-constantius-of-fabriano/
Blessed Constantius,
C.O.P.
Memorial
day: February 25th
Profile
Constantius Bernocchi is
as close to a 'sad saint' as it's possible for a Dominican to get; he is said
to have had the gift of tears. However, that is not his only claim to fame.
Constantius had an remarkable childhood, not only for the usual signs of precocious
piety, but also for a miracle that he worked when he was a little boy.
Constantius had a sister who had been bedridden most of her nine years of life.
One day, the little boy brought his parents in to her bedside and made them
pray with him. The little girl rose up, cured, and she remained well for a long
and happy life. Naturally, the parents were amazed, and they were quite sure it
had not been their prayers that effected the cure, but those of their little
son.
Constantius entered the
Dominicans at age 15, and had as his masters Blessed Conradin and Saint
Antoninus. He did well in his studies and wrote a commentary on Aristotle. His
special forte was Scripture, and he studied it avidly. After his ordination, he
was sent to teach in various schools in Italy, arriving eventually at the
convent of San Marco in Florence, which had been erected as a house of strict
observance. Constantius was eventually appointed prior of this friary that was
a leading light in the reform movement. This was a work dear to his heart, and
he himself became closely identified with the movement.
Several miracles and
prophecies are related about Constantius during his stay in Florence. He one
day told a student not to go swimming, because he would surely drown if he did.
The student, of course, dismissed the warning and drowned. One day, Constantius
came upon a man lying in the middle of the road. The man had been thrown by his
horse and was badly injured; he had a broken leg and a broken arm. All he asked
was to be taken to some place where care could be given him, but Constantius
did better than that--he cured the man and left him, healed and astonished.
Constantius was made
prior of Perugia, where he lived a strictly penitential life. Perhaps the
things that he saw in visions were responsible for his perpetual sadness, for
he foresaw many of the terrible things that would befall Italy in the next few
years. He predicted the sack of Fabriano, which occurred in 1517. At the death
of Saint Antoninus, he saw the saint going up to heaven, a vision which was
recounted in the canonization process.
Blessed Constantius is
said to have recited the Office of the Dead every day, and often the whole 150
Psalms, which he knew by heart, and used for examples on every occasion. He
also said that he had never been refused any favor for which he had recited the
whole psalter. He wrote a number of books; these, for the most part, were
sermon material, and some were the lives of the blesseds of the order.
On the day of
Constantius's death, little children of the town ran through the streets crying
out, "The holy prior is dead! The holy prior is dead!" On hearing of
his death, the city council met and stated that it was a public calamity.
The relics of Blessed Constantius
have suffered from war and invasion. After the Dominicans were driven from the
convent where he was buried, his tomb was all but forgotten for a long time.
Then one of the fathers put the relics in the keeping of Camaldolese monks in a
nearby monastery, where they still remain (Benedictines, Dorcy, Encyclopedia).
Born: Born in the
early part of the 15th century in Fabriano, Marches of Ancona, Italy
Died: 1481 of
natural causes; the local senate and council assembled at the news of his
death, proclaimed it a "public calamity", and voted to pay for the
funeral
Beatified: 1821
(cultus confirmed) by Pope Pius VII
First Vespers:
Ant. Strengthen by holy
intercession, O Constantius, confessor of the Lord, those here present, have we
who are burdened with the weight of our offenses may be relieved by the glory
of thy blessedness, and may by thy guidance attain eternal rewards.
V. Pray for us, Blessed
Constantius.
R. That we may be made
worthy of the promises of Christ.
Lauds:
Ant. Well done, good and
faithful servant, because Thou has been faithful in a few things, I will set
thee over many, sayeth the Lord.
V. The just man shall
blossom like the lily.
R. And shall flourish
forever before the Lord.
Second Vespers:
Ant. I will liken him
unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock..
V. Pray for us. Blessed
Constantius.
R. That we may be made
worthy of the promises of Christ.
Prayer:
Let us Pray: O God,
who didst make Blessed Constantius, Thy Confessor, glorious by his continual
exercise of prayer and his zeal in the promotion of peace among the people,
grant through his intercession, that, walking always in the paths of justice,
we may attain to everlasting peace and glory. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
SOURCE : http://www.willingshepherds.org/Dominican%20Saint%20February.html#Constantius
Saints
and Saintly Dominicans – 25 February or 26 in a Leap-Year
Blessed Constantius Fabriano, O.P.
Blessed Constantius used
to say the Office of the Dead every day and the whole Psalter often, and he
declared that when he had recited it for any special intention he had never
failed to obtain what he desired. When asked to say it for the defeat of the
Turks in Greece, he began several times, but could never finish it; the measure
of mercy was full, God willed to punish the guilty Christians by their means.
After Matins, Constantius often remained in the choir, and his prayer under
cover of the darkness and silence became so fervent that his cries and sobs
could be heard at a distance. He belonged to the school of Saint Catherine of
Sienna, whose disciples, meditating on the sorrows of the Church, acquired the
gift of tears and thus offered reparation to God. During his missions, Blessed
Constantius several times miraculously increased the supply of bread to provide
for those around him. But above all, he had the precious gift of reconciling
those at variance. His special work in the religious life was to foster the
spirit of regular observance in his Convent of Saint Lucy in Fabriano, as was
done in other countries by Blessed Eberhard of Nuremburg, Francis Retza, Conrad
of Prussia, etc. He had the consolation of seeing the soul of Saint Antoninus
ascend to Heaven; he had been his pupil in the novitiate (1481).
Prayer
Blessed Constantius,
give me fervor in the recitation of the Psalms, especially the 118th Psalm, of
which the recommendations regarding the law of God apply so well to religious
observance.
Practice
Be an angel of peace by
your example and your words.
– taken from the
book Saints
and Saintly Dominicans, by Blessed Hyacinthe-Marie
Cormier, O.P.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saints-and-saintly-dominicans-25-february-or-26-in-a-leap-year/
Stars
in Saint Dominic’s Crown – Blessed Constantius of Fabriano
Article
To write the life of a
saint, to sketch in words what has passed in the heart, to give an account not
so much of the man or his actions, as of his motives, to propose his sanctity
for imitation, is a task in which indeed it is easy to fail. But when little is
known of his life, it is well-nigh impossible to do justice to so high a theme.
Such is the case with him
who sets himself to write the life of Blessed Constantins, so few records and
such scanty details have been handed down to posterity.
Among the wise
ordinations made in the fifteenth century, by Raymund of Capua, Master General
of the order, for the restoration of primitive discipline, was one that recommended
that there should be in every Dominican Province at least one monastery of
strict observance of the rule. The Fathers of the monastery of Saint Lucy at
Fabriano hastened to carry out this ordination, and merited the happiness of
obtaining for Prior Blessed John Dominic, and Blessed Laurence of Ripafratta;
and it seems probable that it was from the hands of the latter that Blessed
Constantins received the habit.
At the beginning of the
fifteenth century, near the monastery of Saint Lucy in Fabriano, there dwelt
the pious family of Bernard de Servoli. Constantins, one of his sons, was noted
for his truly remarkable piety, which gained for him the name of “Friend of the
good God.” Chosen by God for the service of the altar, many signs made known
His holy will. He had a sister nine years old, who had passed seven years of
her brief life in a sickness declared by physicians to be incurable. One day,
Constantins led his parents to his sister’s bedside, and begged them to kneel
down with him to implore God to grant a cure. They did so, and as soon as their
simple prayer had risen to heaven her pains ceased, her weakness vanished,
never to return, and she was restored to health. This was regarded as a
miracle, and ascribed to the merits of his prayers and holiness, and caused him
to be regarded as a saint.
Bernard and his wife
often asked each other if, instead of a son, God had not sent them an angel to
show them the way to heaven, more especially when they happened to hear
Constantins exhorting sinners to repentance, by reminding them of the shortness
of life, the nearness of death, and the judgment of God, and earnestly begging
them to live in the fear of God, obedient to His holy laws, and in the practise
of Christian virtues. His words were so forcible that the most hardened sinners
were obliged to listen, and when they listened their hearts were changed. The
nothingness of this fleeting world, the hollowness of human pleasures, the sad
inclination to sin man finds within himself, the malice of the devil, such were
the great truths he meditated on in his youth, and by which he never failed to
lead sinners to repentance.
When Constantins arrived
at the age of fifteen he felt that God had given him a vocation to enter the
Dominican order, and in the unsullied whiteness of his baptismal innocence he
went to the monastery in Fabriano, and having humbly asked to be admitted,
received the holy habit. Of his novitiate and the years immediately following
we have only a few words of record, which tell us, that like a true Dominican,
he loved to pray, delighted to meditate on the Holy Scriptures, and that he
excelled in his studies; also that he wrote several commentaries on Aristotle.
After his ordination he
taught in the Dominican schools of philosophy and theology, in the principal
Italian cities, with unusual profit to his pupils. His style was brief, clear,
easy yet solid, and his lectures were distinguished for elevation of thought.
He seems to have been one of the first of those generous souls who began the
reform of the celebrated monastery of San Marco in Florence. While engaged in
teaching in that city he predicted the death of one of his students, and the
event proved the truth of his prophecy. Among those who attended his lectures
was a young man, a native of Genoa, One day the saint told him not to bathe,
because if he did he would be drowned. The young student neglected the warning,
went to bathe as usual, and was no sooner in the water than he lost his depth,
and sank, never again to rise.
Going one day from Florence
to Pisa he found a man in the middle of the road, who had been thrown by his
mule, and so badly hurt that he had broken one arm, and put his ankle out of
joint. He begged the father to take him to the nearest place where he could
pass the night. Blessed Constantins tenderly bade him place his confidence in
God’s power and goodness. Then having knelt a moment in earnest prayer he
blessed him, and when he arose the man was cured.
Unlike the greater number
of Dominican saints, who were remarkable for their pious gayety of heart and
joyousness of manner, Blessed Constantins was usually sad and very grave. He
was constantly in tears, and his face bore marks of Christian melancholy. Asked
one day why he seldom laughed, he answered, “Alas Brother! I do not know
whether my deeds are pleasing in the sight of God.” In the chronicle of the
monastery of Perugia, of which monastery he was Prior, he is described as “a
man of admirable penance.” To the long fast of the order, which commencing on
the 14th of February does not cease until Easter Sunday, he added a fast on
bread and water on all the Fridays of Lent; and he observed the Dominican Rule
of perpetual abstinence from flesh meat so strictly, that even in old age he
never broke it. His sleep was short, and he wore a shirt covered with iron
nails, which was religiously perserved in the monastery of Ascoli until its
suppression in 1866. His confessor testified after his death, that he kept
intact the flower of his virginity. After reciting matins at midnight in the
choir he never retired to rest, but remained near the altar in prayer until
morning. His tears bedewed the pavement, and his fervor was such that his cries
and groans often disturbed the slumbers of the other Fathers of the monastery.
God gave him prophetic light. Thus he predicted the sack of Fabriano, in 1517.
To prophecy, God joined the power of working miracles, which, as we have
already seen he enjoyed in his childhood. He cured a Brother of the order of a
sickness incurable by medicine, restored sight to a blind man, and more
wonderful still, recalled a dead man to life. This man’s parents and those who
were present, turned him into ridicule, and accused him of tempting God, when
he said to the dead man, “In the name of Jesus Christ, arise!” But when the
dead man arose, obedient to the saint’s voice, they fell at his feet in fear.
He bade them rise and said, “Never despise any of God’s servants. Call to your
mind our Blessed Saviour’s promise: ‘They who believe in me, shall do the works
I do, and much greater.'” The death of Saint Antoninus was revealed to him at
the time it took place. After the matins of the second of March, 1459, remained
according to his custom, in the choir, when just at daybreak, he saw the souls
of two Dominicans leaving this world. One descended into Purgatory, but the
other, which he recognized as that of novice master, Saint Antoninus, rose at
once to glory. Pope Clement VII. in his bull of the canonization of Saint
Antoninus mentions this vision: “The opinion which every one had of the
goodness and holiness of the Archbishop,” says the Pope, “was still more
increased by the visions with which were favored a Cistercian monk of Florence,
and Constantins of Fabriano, a professed religious of the Order of Friar
Preachers, no less illustrious by the holiness of his life, than by his science
and doctrine. At the same hour as the death of Blessed Antoninus, both saw the
angels carrying his soul to heaven.” Clement VII. had known Blessed Constantins
when he was appointed Governor of Fabriano by his cousin and predecessor, Leo
the Tenth.
Blessed Constantins was
accustomed to say the office of the dead every day, and very often the whole of
the psalms of David. This seems to have been a favorite devotion among the
Dominican Saints of olden times. Until late years the constitutions required
the novices to learn the whole of the psalms by heart, not only that they might
the more easily recite the divine office without books in the choir, but also
that the words of the royal psalmist might ever be on their lips. Blessed
Constantins, faithful to the spirit of his order, knew the psalms by heart, and
loved to season his words with extracts from them. And we are told that when he
desired any great favor from God, he said the Psalter for that intention, and
to invite his fellow Dominicans to love and practise the same devotion, he told
them one day, that he never completed the recitation of the Psalter without
obtaining what he prayed for. In 1473 the Turks attacked Greece; some one asked
him to say the Psalter that they might repulse their enemy. Several times he
commenced to say it for that intention, and as many times was hindered from
completing it, when he told his brothers that God had given him a sign that he
wished to punish the Greeks for their sins.
He was several times
Prior of Fabriano and Perugia, and always proved a prudent superior. His great
attraction to prayer and recollection did not hinder him from taking a
prominent share in public events. He reconciled factions, and appeased popular
tumults. He rebuilt the monastery of Ascoli. It still remains and is a model of
a religious house, humble in its style and severe in its architecture. The city
council several times aided him with means to continue the building when funds
were wanting, to show their esteem and veneration for the holy Prior. He
assisted in 1474 at the Provincial chapter at Mantua of the Dominican
congregation of Lombardy. His reputation and tlie fame of the miracles he had
wrought had preceded him, and the veneration in which he was held broke out in
a popular demonstration on his arrival. To see him or speak to him, to touch
him or his habit seemed an inestimable favor all were anxious to enjoy, and
large pieces of his habit were cut off which were carefully preserved as
relics.
The following year the
inhabitants of Fabriano made endeavors to persuade his superiors to send him to
spend the remaining years of his life in his native town, but he obtained
permission to remain in Ascoli, and thus escape so much honor and veneration.
On the Sunday before Sexagesima, 1481, February 24, every one was surprised to
see a number of little children running through the streets of Ascoli, and to
hear them crying out, “The holy Prior is dead, the holy Prior is dead.” The
Blessed Father was indeed dead. He slept in the Lord on that day. The Senate
and town council assembled on the news of his death, and “considering” as the
words of the records of its deliberations have it, “that his death was a public
calamity,” resolved to assist at his funeral, and to defray part of the cost of
the ceremony. God also wished to honor his faithful servant, and the staff
which the Blessed Father had used in his old age became a miracle worker. Many
miracles were the divinely given reward of prayers in honor of Blessed
Constantins, more especially in Ascoli, Fabriano and Perugia.
Although miracles through
his intercession have continued without ceasing, and the voice of a grateful
people has continually proclaimed him a saint, it was only recently, in 1811,
that the church formally sanctioned his cultus. After that time miracles
multiplied at his tomb in Ascoli, until 1866 when the cruel revolution drove
the Fathers away from the monastery. Since then his venerable relics cry to God
in the solitude of the silent shrine. His head was taken to Fabriano in 1529 by
a Dominican Father, and confided to the care of the Carmaldolese monks of the
monastery of Saint Sebastian. It still remains there, the object of popular
veneration.
Blessed Constantins wrote
“The Life of Blessed Conrad of Brescia,” his novice master; also lives of some
other Blessed of the order, and “Sermons ‘De Tempore’ and ‘De Sanctis.'”
Prayer
Ant. This saint shall
dwell, O Lord, within Thy tabernacle: he hath wrought justice, he shall rest
upon Thy holy mountain.
V. Pray for us, O Blessed
Constantius.
R. That we may be made
worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray.
O God, who didst make
Blessed Constantius, Thy confessor, glorious amongst the people for his
continual exercise of prayer and his zeal in the promotion of peace, grant at
his intercession, that always walking in the paths of justice, we may attain to
everlasting peace and glory, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
MLA
Citation
Father Thomas Austin
Dyson, O.P. “Blessed
Constantius of Fabriano”. Stars
in Saint Dominic’s Crown, 1897. CatholicSaints.Info.
25 June 2022. Web. 14 February 2023.
<https://catholicsaints.info/stars-in-saint-dominics-crown-blessed-constantius-of-fabriano/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/stars-in-saint-dominics-crown-blessed-constantius-of-fabriano/
Beato Costanzo Servoli da
Fabriano Domenicano
Fabriano ? - Ascoli, 1481
Fu un religioso tutto
dedito alla preghiera: oltre all'Ufficio divino era solito celebrare ogni
giorno l'intero Ufficio dei defunti. Uomo di vita austera e zelante nel
promuovere la pace, fu tra coloro che con maggior successo riformarono la vita
regolare nell'Ordine. Morì il 24 febbraio ad Ascoli Piceno, dove il suo corpo è
ancora venerato nella chiesa di s. Pietro martire; mentre il suo capo si trova
nella cattedrale di Fabriano.
Martirologio Romano: Ad
Ascoli Piceno, beato Costanzo Sérvoli da Fabriano, sacerdote dell’Ordine dei
Predicatori, che si distinse per austerità di vita e impegno nel promuovere la
pace.
Gli antichi storici
dell’Ordine Domenicano chiamano Costanzo da Fabriano “illustre e lucidissima
stella del cielo domenicano". Nato a Fabriano agli inizi del XV° secolo,
da Bernardo Servoli, uomo di modeste condizioni sociali, entrò nell’Ordine a
quindici anni, dove ebbe come maestri Sant’Antonino e in seguito Corradino da
Brescia. Sotto si abili guide divenne un compito modello di Frate Predicatore.
Grande fu la sua azione, sia nell’Ordine, lavorando efficacemente a propagare e
a stabilire nei vari conventi quella rinnovata vita domenicana instaurata da
quei generosi figli di S. Domenico accesi dalla nobile brama di far rivivere
nella sua integrità l’ideale del Fondatore, sia tra il popolo fedele,
riconducendo con la potente parola le anime a Dio, e ricomponendo gli atroci
odi di parte. Nel 1440 e 1467 fu Priore a Fabriano, nel 1445 a Perugia, e
nel 1459 e 1470 ad Ascoli. Nella città di Ascoli, vicina a distruggersi
per le discordie civili, egli riportò il sereno e la pace. Restaurò dalle
fondamenta il convento di S. Domenico, dove fece rifiorire gli studi e la
disciplina regolare e dove chiuse la sua carriera. Anima di preghiera, diceva
che nessuna grazia il Signore non gli aveva mai negata alla recita dell’intero
Salterio, e quando volle dirlo per ottenere che i Turchi desistessero
dall’infliggere alla Grecia l’estrema rovina, non gli riuscì mai di finirlo,
comprendendo egli con questo che nessuna preghiera non poteva mai placare l’ira
divina, provocata da tanta ostinazione. Morì ad Ascoli Piceno il 24 febbraio
1481 e il suo corpo riposa nella chiesa di San Pietro Martire. Fabriano, sua
città natale, e dove con grande venerazione, in cattedrale, si conservano il
suo capo, lo ha eletto suo Patrono. Papa Pio VII il 22 settembre 1821 ha
concesso la Messa e l’ufficio propri.
Autore: Franco
Mariani
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/90760
Beato Costanzo Servoli da
Fabriano: “illustre e lucidissima stella del cielo domenicano”
da Luigi Luzi
9 Ottobre 2020
Beato Costanzo Servoli da Fabriano, Sacerdote
Domenicano, nasce a Fabriano inizi XV secolo, muore ad Ascoli Piceno il 24
febbraio 1481.
Vita
Proviene da una famiglia
di modeste condizioni. All’età di quindici anni entra nell’Ordine
domenicano nel convento di Santa Lucia di Fabriano. Completa gli studi
teologici a Bologna. E’ considerato uno dei più validi esponenti della riforma
dell’Ordine Domenicano molto sentita in quel tempo.
Gli storici del suo
Ordine che lo definiscono: “illustre e lucidissima stella del cielo domenicano“.
Insegna con grande chiarezza teologia in vari conventi italiani. Partecipa alla
riforma del convento di San Marco di Firenze nel periodo che il beato
Angelico lo ha appena affrescato.
Il capitolo generale
dell’Ordine lo incarica insieme ad altri due frati, a riformare il
convento di Camerino. E’ priore a Fabriano, a Perugia e ad Ascoli. Riesce
a portare la pace tra gli ascolani divisi da violente discordie.
Avvenimenti e aneddoti
Si dice che avesse goduto
di una infanzia e di una giovinezza eccezionalmente sante.
Ha un temperamento
tendente agli scrupoli che lo porta spesso a dubitare se la sua opera sia
gradita realmente al Signore.
Nonostante le suppliche
dei fabrianesi che sperano in un suo ritorno nella città natale, passa gli ultimi
anni della sua vita ad Ascoli.
Spiritualità
Dimostra un grande
amore per la preghiera che pratica quasi in modo ininterrotto. Oltre
all’Ufficio divino recita anche quotidianamente l’intero ufficio dei defunti.
Esercita con grande efficacia la predicazione caratterizzata da uno spirito di
pacificazione. La sua fama di santità lo accompagna per tutta la vita.
Morte
Muore ad Ascoli
Piceno, nel convento di San Domenico che restaura dalle fondamenta e
dove fa rifiorire lo studio e lo spirito di disciplina e di preghiera. I
funerali vengono celebrati a spese del consiglio cittadino di Ascoli che
considera la sua morte una vera e proprio calamità pubblica. Il suo corpo
riposa sempre ad Ascoli nella chiesa di San Pietro Martire. Il capo è
venerato nella cattedrale di Fabriano. Viene beatificato da Pio VII nel 1821.
Tratto dal libro “I santi
ci insegnano a vivere e a morire” di Luigi Luzi
SOURCE : https://www.interris.it/spiritualita/costanzo-servoli-fabriano-stella-cielo-domenicano/
COSTANZO da Fabriano,
beato
di Roberto Rusconi - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 30 (1984)
Secondo la tradizione
nacque a Fabriano intorno al 1410; nei documenti viene costantemente indicato
come C. figlio di Meo (Bartolomeo) di Servolo.
Esponente della riforma
osservante dello Ordine dei frati predicatori, la storiografia domenicana tra
la fine dell'800 e gli inizi del '900 ha cercato di colmare le lacune della sua
biografia ipotizzando sia contatti con i maggiori esponenti di quel movimento
sia la sua presenza in varie località per propagare nei diversi conventi tale
riforma: peraltro senza supporto di base documentaria.
Entrato con ogni
probabilità nell'Ordine domenicano nel convento osservante di S. Lucia di
Fabriano, è indicato come "Costantinus de Fabriano" in un atto rogato
il 9 sett. 1427 presso il convento di S. Domenico in Bologna, il cui priore era
in quel momento Corradino Bornati da Brescia, uno dei maggiori esponenti della
riforma osservante: di lui C., a cinquant'anni di distanza, traccerà un ampio
profilo in un'Epistola. A partire dal quarto decennio del sec. XV si
infittiscono le notizie relative all'attività e agli spostamenti di C., che
appare una figura di primo piano nell'assicurare l'affermazione nelle Marche
del movimento di riforma che faceva capo alla congregazione lombarda
dell'Ordine dei frati predicatori.
Il 29 dic. 1440 C.
compare come testimone in un testamento rogato a Fabriano e del locale convento
domenicano risulta priore in carica in una transazione del 26 apr. 1442. Eletto
priore del convento di S. Domenico in Perugia nell'agosto del 1446, sotto il
suo priorato venne redatto il secondo inventario della biblioteca conventuale,
nel corso della visita canonica eseguita dal vicario provinciale Giacomo
Lanfranchi. Ricompare nel convento di S. Lucia di Fabriano, il 21 marzo 1449,
quando viene designato come fidecommissario in un testamento e l'anno
successivo, in qualità di priore conventuale, partecipa presso il convento
fiorentino di S. Marco ad una decisione arbitrale, alla presenza del vicario
generale dell'Ordine, Guy Flamochet.
Il periodo più fattivo e
più documentato dell'attività religiosa e sociale di C. coincide con il suo
soggiorno ad Ascoli Piceno, dove C. promosse il restauro e l'ingrandimento del
locale convento di S. Domenico. Il 21 sett. 1449 - probabilmente in qualità di
priore - si rivolse per una prima volta al Comune per ottenere un contributo
finanziario e, dopo aver iniziato i lavori nel 1465, l'8 genn. 1471 in qualità
di priore inoltrò una seconda supplica chiedendo ed ottenendo un rilevante
sussidio per far fronte alle spese; il successivo 10 aprile il Comune deliberò
poi l'esproprio a sue spese del terreno necessario per costruire una nuova
strada di accesso al convento. Particolarmente documentata è la sua azione
politico-sociale, che lo inserisce in un filone caratteristico dei religiosi
osservanti della seconda metà del '400. Quando, in seguito alla predicazione
del francescano osservante Domenico da Leonessa, venne istituito un Monte di
pietà a carattere elemosiniero, il 15 genn. 1458 il Consiglio generale del
Comune ascolano deliberò che a formularne il regolamento provvedessero gli
Anziani della città, insieme con frate Domenico, col guardiano del convento dei
minori osservanti e con il C.: essi a loro volta, avrebbero designato i dodici
ufficiali deputati a dispensare le elemosine ai poveri. Nel 1470 i reggitori
ascolani si rivolsero a C. per ottenere un parere teologico su una materia
assai scottante, e in quel periodo molto discussa, vale a dire la liceità dei
capitoli relativi ai banchi feneratizi giudaici: C. sentenziò che tali capitoli
non costituivano peccato mortale e che pertanto il Comune li poteva prorogare.
Ed a C. si ricorse di nuovo quando, prorogati questi capitoli, venne minacciata
la sanzione canonica della scomunica. Sempre nel 1470, in seguito alle prediche
del francescano osservante Giacomo della Marca a favore della pacificazione
delle fazioni cittadine, il 14 ottobre lo stesso Giacomo, il priore di S.
Angelo e C. vennero incaricati di intervenire direttamente per sanare le
discordie cittadine.
A questo proposito si è
supposto che una particolare sensibilità alla tematica della pacificazione
cittadina derivasse a C. dall'essere fratello di quel Gaspare di Meo di Servolo
coinvolto nell'eccidio di Chiavelli del 1435 (cfr. R. Sassi, Un'antica
narrazione inedita dell'eccidio di Chiavelli, in Studia Picena,
VIII[1932], p. 233).
Numerose ma frammentarie
sono altre notizie relative al soggiorno ascolano del C.: il 14 ag. 1462 è
testimone al testamento del domenicano Paolo Silvestri, il 16nov. 1467 ed il24
ag. 1471 è indicato a ricoprire la carica di vicario conventuale, ancora nel
1478 agisce per conto dei convento di S. Domenico, forse in qualità di priore.
Nel decennio 1465-1475 C.
appare una figura di particolare rilievo all'interno dell'Ordine domenicano. Il
20 maggio 1465 partecipò al consiglio conventuale di S. Domenico in Bologna che
designò il candidato al ruolo di inquisitore nella città. Nel 1468 il capitolo
generale dello Ordine, celebrato a Roma, incaricò Dionigi da Cingoli e C.,
allora priore di S. Domenico in Ascoli, di riformare in senso osservante il
convento domenicano di Camerino. C. non partecipò direttamente al capitolo
generale della congregazione domenicana di Lombardia, tenuto il 16maggio 1470 a
Vicenza, ma il "socius" che lo sostituiva, Ambrogio da Milano, si
schierò decisamente per la conferma del vicario Tommaso da Lecco, a difesa
della riforma osservante. Nel 1474 partecipò al Capitolo della congregazione
lombarda riunito a Mantova, dove venne fatto oggetto di particolare
venerazione. Nel 1745 il maestro generale Leonardo Mansueti gli affidò a più
riprese (25 febbraio, 27 maggio e 29 maggio) incarichi di fiducia relativi al
convento di S. Pietro Martire in Ascoli. Ormai vecchio, dietro istanza dei
signori di Fabriano il 20 marzo 1476 fu assegnato dal maestro generale al
locale convento.
C. morì ad Ascoli il 24
febbr. 1481, nel convento di S. Domenico, nella cui chiesa venne sepolto.
Dopo varie vicissitudini,
le sue reliquie sono ora conservate nella chiesa ascolana di S. Pietro Martire
(cfr. Della traslazione del corpo del b. C. da F., in Il
Rosario - Memorie domenicane, XXV[1908], pp. 408-13).
Già nel 1482 una cronaca
ascolana inedita segnala numerosi miracoli di C., e la sua fama di taumaturgo è
diffusa da cronisti e storiografi domenicani che tra '400e '500 ne tracciano
uno stereotipo profilo di riformatore religioso macerato dall'ascesi (cfr.
Bologna, Bibl. univ., cod. 1999: Gerolamo Albertucci de' Borselli, Chronica
magistrorum generalium O. P., f. 242v, da cui dipendono L. Alberti,, De
viris illustribus O. P., Bononiae 1517, p. 254rv, e G. M. Piò, Delle
vite degli huomini illustri di S. Domenico, I, Bologna 1607, coll.
156-59). Per questa sua fama di taumaturgo il 12 febbr. 1520 il Consiglio dei
duecento del Comune di Fabriano decise di far dipingere tra altre immagini di
un gonfalone anche la sua, in adempimento di un voto formulato per ottenere la
liberazione dalla peste.
L'iconografia di C.
rimane fondamentalmente incerta (cfr. in particolare R. Elia, S. Domenico
nel Piceno [appunti storico-iconografici], in Studia Picena, X[1934],
pp. 148 s., 157).
Il culto venne confermato
da Pio VII nel 1821 (per la Bibl. sanct. il 22 sett. 1811).
L'unico scritto pervenuto
di C. è una Epistola de virtutibus Conradini Bornati Brixiani O. P.
(in Acta sanctorum Novembris, I, Parisiis 1887, pp. 409 s.), scritta nel
1478 al domenicani Onorio da Brescia, vicepriore del convento bresciano, e
Cristoforo da Alzano, e fondata su ricordi personali. Manifestamente infondata
è l'indicazione secondo cui avrebbe scritto una vita del Bornati (Roma, Arch.
gen. dell'Ordine dei predicatori, cod. XIV, 52, A. Taegio, Chronica maior,
II, f. 90v). Quanto ad altre opere che sono state attribuite a C. sulla scorta
degli antichi repertori eruditi domenicani, Vitae aliorum ordinis
beatorum e Sermones de tempore et de sanctis (J.Quétif-J.
Echard, Scriptores Ordinis praedicatorum, I, Lutetiae Parisiorum 1719, pp.
858 s.), la loro ricerca è stata sino ad ora senza esito.
Fonti e Bibl.: In
occasione del quarto centenario della morte di C. un profilo biografico venne
tracciato da un erudito e poligrafo del tempo, con errori e contraddizioni che
si ripercossero sulle successive voci di repertori: T. Granello, Alcune
memorie del b. C. da F., Ferrara 1881; cfr. I. Taurisano, Catalogus
hagiogr. Ordinis praedicatorum, Romae 1919, p. 44; Dict. d'Hist. et
de Geog. Eccl., XIII, col. 856; Lex. theol. d. Kirche,
III, col. 48; Bibl. sanct., IV, coll. 266 ss.; New Cath. Enc.,
IV, p. 245. Si vedano inoltre: Roma, Archivio generale dell'Ordine dei
predicatori, cod. IV, 3: Reg. Mag. gen. Leonardi de
Mansuetis, ff. 47v, 49rv, 163r; Ibid.: Liber CC, ff. 567v-68v; Acta
Capitulorum gener. Ordinis praedicatorum, III, a cura di B. M. Reichert,
Romae 1900, p. 312, e IX, ibid. 1904, p. 385; P. T. Masetti, Monumenta et
antiquitates veteris disciplinae O. P. ab anno 1216 ad 1348
praesertim in Romana Provincia, II, Romae 1864, p. 179; D. A. Mortier, Histoire
des Maîtres généraux de l'Ordre des frères prêcheurs, IV, 1400-1486, Paris
1909, p. 160; V. Paoletti, Mem. domenicane in Ascoli Piceno, in Il
Rosario - Memorie domenicane, XXVI (1909), pp. 328 s., 443-51;
R. Sassi, Un particolare ignorato nella vita del b. C. da F.,
in Studia Picena, VI (1930), pp. 166 ss.; Id., Le pergamene dello
arch. domenicano di S. Lucia in Fabriano, Ancona 1939, pp. 47 n. 179,
49 n. 187, 54 n. 204, 82 n. 14a; G. Fabiani, Gli ebrei e il Monte di Pietà
in Ascoli, Ascoli Piceno 1942, pp. 30, 47, 49 (ma cfr. G. Pagnani, Una
questione di priorità: Ascoli o Perugia?, in Picenum seraphicum, IX
[1972], pp. 268 s.); A. M. D'Amato, Vicende dell'Osservanza regolare nella
congreg. domenicana di Lombardia negli anni 1469-1472, in Arch. fratr. praed.,
XV (1945), pp. 60, 95; G. Fabiani, Azione politico-sociale dei religiosi
in Ascoli nel sec. XV, in Studi franc., XLIV(1947), pp. 169-71; S.
Orlandi, Il b. Lorenzo da Ripafratta, Firenze 1956, p. 28 n. 11; R.
Creytens, Sante Schiattesi O. P., disciple de S. Antonin de
Fiorence, in Arch. fratr. praed., XXVII (1957), p. 283;
Id., Les cas de conscience soumis d S. Antonin de Florence par
Dominique de Catalogne O. P., ibid., XXVIII(1958), p. 157; T.
Kaeppeli, Inventari di libri di San Domenico di Perugia (1430-1480),
Roma 1962, pp. 16, 52, 91; Id., Antiche biblioteche domenicane in Italia,
in Arch. fratr. praed., XXXVI(1966), p. 13; C. Piana, Nuove
ricerche su le Università di Bologna e di Parma, Quaracchi 1966, p. 316 n. 4;
V. J. Koudelka, Il fondo "Libri" dell'Archivio
generale dell'Ordine domenicano, in Arch. fratr. praed.,
XXXIX(1969), pp. 175, 186, 212; T. Kaeppeli, Scriptores Ordinis
Praedicatorum Medii Aevi, I, Romae 1970, p. 294.
SOURCE : https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/costanzo-da-fabriano-beato_%28Dizionario-Biografico%29/
Voir aussi : http://acta-sanctorum.blogspot.ca/2010/02/blessed-constantius-of-fabriano.html
