Saint Thomas de Cori
Franciscain italien (✝ 1729)
Confesseur.
Il naquit dans le Latium, en Italie, près de Rome, d'une pauvre famille de
paysans. Confié par ses parents à un chanoine de Cori qui éduquait des élèves,
il découvrit la joie de servir le Christ et fut admis chez les franciscains. Sa
bonté et sa fermeté, ainsi que son sens pédagogique, en firent un maître des
novices puis l'animateur d'un couvent destiné aux retraites et récollections
spirituelles. Après plusieurs années de ce ministère, ses supérieurs lui demandèrent
de devenir prédicateur. Attaché à la maison de Civitella, il y vécut vingt
années de prédication et de solitude, de gardien du couvent et de frère dévoué
aux plus humbles tâches. Ses dernières années le clouèrent dans la souffrance.
De la croix, il passa à la joie de la résurrection.
À Bellegra dans le Latium, en 1729, saint Thomas de
Cori, prêtre de l'Ordre des Mineurs, admirable par son austérité et sa
prédication et remarquable fondateur de retraites.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/5942/Saint-Thomas-de-Cori.html
Saint Thomas de Cori PLACIDI
Nom: PLACIDI
Prénom: François
Nom de religion: Thomas de Cori (Tommaso da Cori)
Pays: Italie
Naissance: 04.06.1655 à Cori (Latina)
Mort: 11.01.1729 à Bellegra
Etat: Prêtre – Franciscain
Note: Prêtre en 1683. Organise les 'Retraites' des
Couvents de Palombara et de Bellegra (appelé à l'époque Civitella)
Béatification: 1785 à Rome par Pie VI
Canonisation: 21.11.1999 à Rome par Saint
Jean Paul II
Fête: 11 janvier
Réf. dans l’Osservatore Romano: 1999 n.47 p.1-4 - n.48
p.4
Réf. dans la Documentation Catholique: 1999 n.22
p.1071-1073
Notice
Tomaso da Cori naît en 1655 à Cori dans la Province de
Latina (Région du Latium). Orphelin de mère puis de père à l'âge de 14 ans, il
s'occupe de ses frères et sœurs; après quoi il songe à réaliser son secret
dessein de Vie Religieuse.
Il entre chez les Frères Mineurs de Cori, sa ville
natale. Il fait son noviciat à Orvieto. C'est là qu'il est ordonné Prêtre en
1683 et on le nomme immédiatement vice-maître des novices.
Entendant parler des 'Retraites' (ou Ermitages) qui
commencent à fleurir dans l'Ordre, il demande d'aller à Civitella (aujourd'hui
Bellegra, près de Subiaco) où l'on projette d'en établir une.
En 1684, il frappe à la porte du Couvent en disant:
"Je suis Frère Tomaso da Cori et je viens pour devenir Saint".
C'est là qu'il demeure jusqu'à sa mort en 1729, avec
une interruption de 6 ans pour fonder une Retraite au Couvent de Palombara, où
il est Frère Tourier.
Pour ces deux Ermitages il écrit une Règle et il est
le premier à la suivre scrupuleusement. Il a bien compris en effet que chaque véritable
réforme commence par soi-même et c'est pour cela que, dans son humilité, il
compte parmi les grands réformateurs de l'Ordre des Frères Mineurs.
Sa vie est toute consacrée à la prière, à
l'évangélisation et à la charité.
Suivant l'idéal franciscain, il veut suivre l'Évangile
à la lettre, dans la pauvreté et le don de soi à Dieu et au prochain.
De l'intensité de sa relation avec Dieu, en
particulier de sa profonde dévotion à l'Eucharistie, jaillit la fécondité de
son action pastorale qui lui mérite le titre 'd'apôtre de Subiaco'.
Il brille surtout par sa capacité à réconcilier les
personnes en désaccord.
"Toute sa vie apparaît ainsi comme un signe de
l'Évangile, un témoignage de l'Amour du Père Céleste, révélé dans Le Christ et
agissant dans L'Esprit-Saint, pour le Salut de l'homme." (Jean Paul II)
Thomas of Cori
(1655-1729)
Priest, O.F.M.
Born in Cori (Latina) on
June 4, 1655, Thomas knew a childhood marked by the premature loss first of his
mother and then of his father, thus being left alone at the age of 14 to look
after his younger sister. Shepherding sheep, he learned wisdom from the simplest
things. Once his sister was married, the youth was free to follow the
inspiration that for some years he had kept in the silence of his heart: to
belong completely to God in the Religious Life of a Franciscan. He had been
able to get to know the Friars Minor in his own village at St. Francis convent.
Once his two sisters were settled in good marriages and he was rendered free of
all other preoccupations, he was received into the Order and sent to Orvieto
(PG) to fulfill his novitiate year. After professing his vows according to the
Rule of St. Francis and completing his theological studies, he was ordained to
the priesthood in 1683. He was immediately nominated vice master of novices at
Holy Trinity convent in Orvieto, since his superior recognized at once his
gifts.
After a short time, Fr.
Thomas heard of the hermitages that were beginning to bloom in the Order and
the intention of the superiors of the Roman Province to inaugurate one at the
convent at Civitella (today Bellegra). His request was accepted, and the young
friar thus knocked at the door of the poor convent in 1684, saying, "I am
Fr. Thomas of Cori, and I come here to become holy!" In speech perhaps
distant from ours, he expressed his anxiousness to live the Gospel radically, after
the spirit of Saint Francis.
From then, Fr. Thomas lived
at Bellegra until death, with the exception of six years in which he was
Guardian at the convent of Palombara, where he initiated the Hermitage modeled
after the one at Bellegra. He wrote the Rule first for one and then for the
other, observing it scrupulously aid consolidating by word and example the new
institution of the two Hermitages.
The long years spent at
Saint Francis of Bellegra can be summed up in three points:
Prayer
St. Thomas of Cori was
surely - as is said of St. Francis - not so much a man who prayed as a man who
became prayer. This dimension animated the entire life of the founder of the
Hermitage. The most evident aspect of his spiritual life was undoubtedly the
centrality of the Eucharist, as attested by St. Thomas in his celebration of
the Eucharist, which was intense and attentive, and in the silent prayer of
adoration during the long nights at the Hermitage after the Divine Office,
celebrated at midnight. His life of prayer was marked by a persistent aridity
of spirit. The total absence of sensible consolation in prayer and in his life
of union with God was protracted for a good 40 years, finding him always serene
and total in living the primacy of God. Truly, his prayer was configured as a
remembrance of God that made concretely possible a unity of life,
notwithstanding his manifold activities.
Evangelization
St. Thomas did not close
himself up in the Hermitage, forgetting the good of his brothers and sisters,
and the heart of the Franciscan vocation, which is apostolic. He was called
with good reason the Apostle of Sublacense (the Subiaco region), having crossed
the territory and its villages with the indefatigable proclamation of the
Gospel, in the administration of the sacraments and the flowering of miracles
at his passage, a sign of the presence and nearness of the Kingdom. His
preaching was clear and simple, convincing and strong. He did not climb the
most illustrious pulpits of his time; his personality was able to give its best
in an ambit restricted to our territory, living his Franciscan vocation in
littleness and in the concrete choice of the poorest.
Exquisite charity
St. Thomas of Cori was to
his brothers a very gentle father. In face of the resistance of some brothers
before his will to reform and his radicality in living the Franciscan ideal,
the Saint knew how to respond with patience and humility, even finding himself
alone to mind the convent. He had understood well that every true reform
initiates itself.
The considerable correspondence
that is here annexed demonstrates St. Thomas' attention to the smallest
expectations and needs of his Friars, and of numerous friends, penitents and
Friars who turned to him for his counsel. In the convent, he demonstrated his
spirit of charity in his availability for every necessity, even the most
humble.
Rich
in merits, he fell asleep in the Lord on January 11, 1729. St. Thomas of Cori
shines among us and in Rome, of which he is the co-patron, above all in his
thirst for a Christian and Franciscan ideal that is pure and lived in its
essentials. A provocation for all of us not to take lightly the Gospel and its
all-encompassing exigencies.
Also known as
- Francesco
Antonio Placidi
- Tommaso
da Cori
- Thomas
of Cori
-
Profile
Born
Reading
“I’ll take care of
myself and my flock I’ll take care of” (Ez 34, 11). Tommaso da Cori, a priest
of the Order of Friars Minor, was the living image of the Good Shepherd. As a
guide full of love, he has led the brothers entrusted to his care to the pastures
of faith, always animated by the Franciscan ideal. In his monastery, he
revealed his spirit of charity, showing available to all requirements even the
most humble. He lived in the kingdom of love and service, according to the
logic of Christ, as sung today’s Liturgy, “sacrificed himself, immaculate
victim of peace on the altar of the cross, completing the mystery of human
redemption” (Preface of Christ the King). Authentic disciple in the Poverello
of Assisi, Saint Thomas of Cori was obedient to Christ, King of the Universe.
He meditated and embodied in his life requirement evangelical poverty and the
gift of self to God and neighbor. All his life appears as a sign of the Gospel,
a testament to the love of the heavenly Father revealed in Christ and acting in
the Holy Spirit, for the salvation of man. – Pope John Paul II in the canonization homily of Saint Tommaso
MLA Citation
- “Saint Tommaso da
Cori“. CatholicSaints.Info. 29 April 2020. Web. 11 January
2021. <http://catholicsaints.info/saint-tommaso-da-cori/>
Saint
Thomas of Cori
January
11
Saint Thomas
of Cori was born at Cori near Valletri in the Roman Campagna in the year 1655,
and in baptism received the name of Francis Anthony. His parents were poor
shepherds, but very pious Christians, who by their virtuous teaching and good
example reared their children in the fear of God.
It seemed
that little Francis Anthony had in a very special manner inherited the gift of
piety from them. Saint Thomas of Cori's innocent demeanor and fervent devotion
so distinguished him among his companions that he was quite generally called
“the little saint.”
Saint Thomas
of Cori pursued his higher studies with great diligence and success in a school
conducted by a devout canon of his native town. However, the poverty of his
parents soon compelled him to discontinue his studies and to return to his
father’s flocks. But even in the quiet pastures amid the cliffs and the woods,
he never desisted from prayer and study.
When both of
his parents had died, Thomas sold the flocks which he had inherited from them,
presented the proceeds to his two sisters for their dowry, and then asked to be
admitted to the convent of the Friars Minor at Cori.
Saint Thomas
was received in February, 1677, and was sent to the novitiate at Orvieto, where
he was invested under the name of Thomas. With redoubled fervor he progressed
“from virtue to virtue.” At Viterbo and Velletri he studied philosophy and
theology with marked success, and finally, when he was twenty-eight years old,
he celebrated his first holy Mass amid tears of devotion and joy in the convent
at Velletri.
After he had
spent some time at Orvieto filling the office of novice master with much zeal
and success, he begged his superiors to allow him to retire to the
exceptionally strict convent of Civitella near Subiaco, situated in a wild
mountainous solitude, in order to sacrifice his life to God in strict penance,
ceaseless prayer and work. Later on, when he was appointed superior of this
house, he instilled into his brethren such love for religious discipline that
Civitella soon became the model convent of the province.
On one
occasion while here, Saint Thomas was distributing Holy Communion when he went
into ecstasy and flew to the roof of the church so rapidly that it was feared
he must have struck his head. A short time later he returned to the ground
unharmed.
Saint Thomas
developed his companions into a band of zealous and courageous men, who
traveled as missionaries to India and to China. One of them received the crown
of martyrdom. His ardent wish to go with them was never fulfilled. Instead, the
provincial superiors assigned him the Roman Campagna and the desert mountain
region of Subiaco as his permanent field of labor. Here Thomas labored with the
fiery zeal of a Paul for the space of twenty years, so that he was generally
called the apostle of Subiaco.
When there
was question of gaining souls, no journey was too distant or wearisome. Snow
and rain, heat and cold, fatigue and vigils, hunger, thirst, and the painful
wounds which the sharp stones made in his bare feet, were borne by him with
holy joy. As a reward for all this hardship, he saw great bands of sinners
approach in order to be reconciled with God through him, who was at the same
time gifted in reading hearts. He was often compelled to spend whole days and
even nights without interruption in the holy tribunal of penance.
Here it was
also that, as a seventy-four-year-old man, Thomas was attacked by a severe
hemorrhage, which brought him to his deathbed. With heavenly patience and amid
continuous prayer, he continued to suffer severe pain for several days, until,
with the Crucifix in one hand and an image of the Blessed Virgin in the other,
he went to his eternal reward while pronouncing the holy names of Jesus and
Mary. It was on the day at the hour he had himself foretold, January 11, 1729.
His body
reposes before the high altar in the convent church of Civitella. Pius VI
beatified him on August 18, 1786, and he was made a saint by Pope John Paul II
in 1999.
*from: The
Franciscan Book of Saints, ed. by Marion Habig, ofm
Statua di San Tommaso da Cori situata nel suo paese d'origine, davanti
alla sua casa natale, oggi divenuta chiesa in suo onore
San Tommaso da Cori (Francesco
Antonio Placidi) Sacerdote dei Frati Minori
Cori, Latina, 4 giugno 1655 -
Bellegra, Roma, 11 gennaio 1729
Nacque
a Cori (Lt) il 4 giugno 1655 e venne battezzato con il nome di Francesco
Antonio Placidi. A 14 anni restò orfano, facendosi così carico dell'intera
famiglia. A 22 anni entrò nell'ordine dei Frati minori francescani, nel
convento della Santissima Trinità in Orvieto, assumendo il nome di frà Tommaso.
Per 5 anni fu allievo del celebre Lorenzo Cozza e nel 1683 a Velletri fu
consacrato sacerdote diventando anche predicatore. Esercitò l'apostolato nella
diocesi di Subiaco e in quelle confinanti con tale successo da essere indicato
fin da subito come «l'apostolo del Sublacense». Le sue predicazioni furono
raccolte in un volume manoscritto. Nel suo apostolato si distinse per la
pratica esemplare delle virtù cristiane. Più volte durante la Messa ebbe
diversse apparizioni. Compì anche alcuni miracoli. Ma il suo nome è legato
soprattutto alla grande opera dei «Ritiri» dell'Ordine francescano. Seguendo
l'esempio del beato Bonaventura da Barcellona, fondò i «ritiri» di San
Francesco a Civitella (ora Bellegra) e a Palombara Sabina. Tommaso morì a 74
anni, nel 1729. (Avvenire)
Etimologia: Tommaso
= gemello, dall'ebraico
Martirologio
Romano: A Bellegra nel Lazio, san Tommaso (Francesco Antonio) Placidi da
Cori, sacerdote dell’Ordine dei Frati Minori, insigne per l’austerità di vita e
per la predicazione e illustre fondatore di eremi.
Nacque a Cori (Latina) il
4 giugno 1655 e al battesimo fu chiamato Francesco Antonio Placidi; già a 14
anni era orfano di entrambi i genitori, e così ancora ragazzo dovette mandare
avanti da solo la famiglia. A 22 anni, sistemate in modo decoroso le due sorelle,
entrò nell’Ordine dei Frati Minori Francescani, nel convento della SS. Trinità
in Orvieto il 7 febbraio 1677, cambiando il suo nome di Francesco Antonio in
quello di frà Tommaso.
Per 5 anni fu allievo del celebre Lorenzo Cozza e nel 1683 a Velletri fu consacrato
sacerdote ricevendo nel contempo la patente di predicatore. Esercitò
l’apostolato nella Diocesi di Subiaco e in quelle confinanti con tale successo
e profitto per quelle popolazioni, da essere classificato come "l’apostolo
del Sublacense".
Grande maestro di santità, espertissimo direttore spirituale, fu veduto più
volte stare nel confessionale, "dalla mattina fino a sera"
digiuno.
Le sue efficaci predicazioni furono raccolte in un volume manoscritto; era
molto richiesto per l’assistenza spirituale al letto degli infermi. Aveva il
dono di riportare la pace serafica fra persone in contrasto, operò per
riformare i pubblici costumi.
Sin da novizio divenne esempio di perfezione cristiana e religiosa e come tale,
specchio per i suoi confratelli, compreso quelli più anziani. Ancora in lui si
condensarono tante altre virtù così come viene riportato dal "Sommario dei
processi" istruiti per la causa di beatificazione: la povertà. Non volle
mai accettare offerte per la celebrazione della s. Messa; l’umiltà, giunse
perfino a farsi calpestare dai confratelli all’ingresso del refettorio; una
grande pazienza nel sopportare continue tentazioni nello spirito e per una
piaga in una gamba che lo tormentò per quarant’anni.
Pregava così profondamente assorto da sembrare fuori di sé e immobile come una
statua. Gesù Bambino gli apparve più volte durante la celebrazione della Messa.
Ebbe il dono dei miracoli, come la moltiplicazione di cibi, guarigioni, ecc.,
frequenti estasi, apparizioni di Gesù, della Vergine, di s. Francesco.
Ma il suo nome è legato soprattutto alla grande opera dei "Ritiri"
dell’Ordine Francescano. Seguendo l’esempio del beato Bonaventura da
Barcellona, fondò i ‘ritiri’ di S. Francesco in Civitella (ora Bellegra) e di
S. Francesco in Palombara Sabina.
Scrisse le Costituzioni del Ritiro che si conservano ancora autografe a
Bellegra, regole rigide di meditazione e vita religiosa; il Capitolo Generale
di Murcia del 1756 le estese a tutti i ritiri dell’Ordine Francescano.
Molti venerabili confratelli compreso s. Teofilo da Corte passarono per il
ritiro di Bellegra, che divenne così una fucina di aspiranti in santità.
Tommaso morì a 74 anni, l’11 gennaio 1729.
La causa di beatificazione fu introdotta il 15 luglio 1737, auspici le Diocesi
di Subiaco, Velletri e Sabina.
Beatificato da papa Pio VI il 3 settembre 1786.
Canonizzato da papa Giovanni Paolo II il 21 novembre 1999.
Autore: Antonio Borrelli
fu detto dalla gente: l'apostolo del Sublacense11 Gen
BEATO TOMMASO DA CORI
Nacque a Cori (Latina) il 4 giugno 1655 e al battesimo
fu chiamato Francesco Antonio Placidi; già a 14 anni era orfano di entrambi i
genitori, e così ancora ragazzo dovette mandare avanti da solo la famiglia. A
22 anni, sistemate in modo decoroso le due sorelle, entrò nell’Ordine dei Frati
Minori Francescani, nel convento della SS. Trinità in Orvieto il 7 febbraio
1677, cambiando il suo nome di Francesco Antonio in quello di frà Tommaso. Per
5 anni fu allievo del celebre Lorenzo Cozza e nel 1683 a Velletri fu consacrato
sacerdote ricevendo nel contempo la patente di predicatore. Esercitò
l’apostolato nella Diocesi di Subiaco e in quelle confinanti con tale successo
e profitto per quelle popolazioni, da essere classificato come "l’apostolo
del Sublacense".
Grande maestro di santità, espertissimo direttore
spirituale, fu veduto più volte stare nel confessionale, "dalla mattina
fino a sera" digiuno. Le sue efficaci predicazioni furono raccolte in un
volume manoscritto; era molto richiesto per l’assistenza spirituale al letto
degli infermi. Aveva il dono di riportare la pace serafica fra persone in
contrasto, operò per riformare i pubblici costumi. Sin da novizio divenne
esempio di perfezione cristiana e religiosa e come tale, specchio per i suoi
confratelli, compreso quelli più anziani. Ancora in lui si condensarono tante
altre virtù così come viene riportato dal "Sommario dei processi"
istruiti per la causa di beatificazione: la povertà.
Non volle mai accettare offerte per la celebrazione
della s. Messa; l’umiltà, giunse perfino a farsi calpestare dai confratelli
all’ingresso del refettorio; una grande pazienza nel sopportare continue
tentazioni nello spirito e per una piaga in una gamba che lo tormentò per
quarant’anni.
Pregava così profondamente assorto da sembrare fuori
di sé e immobile come una statua. Gesù Bambino gli apparve più volte durante la
celebrazione della Messa. Ebbe il dono dei miracoli, come la moltiplicazione di
cibi, guarigioni, ecc., frequenti estasi, apparizioni di Gesù, della Vergine,
di s. Francesco.
Ma il suo nome è legato soprattutto alla grande opera
dei "Ritiri" dell’Ordine Francescano. Seguendo l’esempio del beato
Bonaventura da Barcellona, fondò i ‘ritiri’ di S. Francesco in Civitella (ora
Bellegra) e di S. Francesco in Palombara Sabina. Scrisse le Costituzioni del
Ritiro che si conservano ancora autografe a Bellegra, regole rigide di
meditazione e vita religiosa; il Capitolo Generale di Murcia del 1756 le estese
a tutti i ritiri dell’Ordine Francescano. Molti venerabili confratelli compreso
s. Teofilo da Corte passarono per il ritiro di Bellegra, che divenne così una
fucina di aspiranti in santità.
Tommaso morì a 74 anni, l’11 gennaio 1729.
La causa di beatificazione fu introdotta il 15 luglio
1737, auspici le Diocesi di Subiaco, Velletri e Sabina. Beatificato da
papa Pio VI il 3 settembre 1786. Canonizzato da papa Giovanni Paolo II il
21 novembre 1999.
SOURCE : https://www.assisiofm.it/beato-tommaso-da-cori-1603-1.html
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