1410 Saint Sava of Moscow succeeded St Andronicus as the igumen of the monastery of the Savior, dedicated to the Icon of Christ Not-Made-By Hands (August 16) in 1395. He died in 1410. Saint James acquired the gift of discernment, learned the straight and narrow path of God, and became a great wonderworker
1420 Blessed Elisabeth the Good, OFM Tert.  mystical experiences including the stigmata V (AC)    
1423  Bl. Juliana of Norwich Benedictine English mystic anchorite 1373 experienced 16 revelations. Book, Revelations
         of Divine Love - work on the love of God, Incarnation, redemption, divine consolation greateest English mystic
1433 St. Lydwine heroically accepted plight as will of God offered sufferings for humanity's sins Jesus Christ confided
        in her mystical gifts, supernatural visions of heaven, hell, purgatory, apparitions of Christ, stigmata.
1444 Saint Macarius of Zheltovod and Unzha; At 12 he left his parents and accepted monastic tonsure at the Nizhni-Novgorod Caves monastery under St Dionysius; extreme strict fast, precise fulfillment of monastic rule; at Yellow Lake organized a monastery for them in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, there preached Christianity to surrounding Cheremis and Chuvash peoples, baptizing both Mohammedans and pagans in the lake; on the shores of Lake Unzha he founded a new monastery; granted gift healing, more than 50 people received healing from his relics
1444 Bd Felicia of Milan; life of chastity; direct service of God'; Poor Clare convent of St Ursula at Milan 25 years; her
     sister and brother followed example; remarkable for faultless observance of the rule; perseverance in prayer and
   penance in spite of diabolical influences active against her; overcame these fierce trials; many miracles.
1445 BD PETER OF TIFERNO; Dominican;  the friary of Cortona, where he spent the greater part of his life
1447 St. Colette distributed her inheritance to poor holiness spiritual wisdom Superior of all Poor Clare convents;
        sanctity, ecstacies visions of the Passion, prophesied
1447 BD THOMAS OF FLORENCE; a Franciscan lay brother; the gift of miracles; Many urged that Bd Thomas should be canonized with St Bernardino of Siena, whose cause was then in process. To prevent the delay that would have resulted, St John of Capistrano, it is said, went to Thomas’s tomb at Rieti and commanded him in the name of holy obedience to cease his miracles until the canonization of Bernardino should be achieved. They stopped for three years, but Bd Thomas has never been canonized. His cultus was approved in 1771.
15th Oct 20 Catholic, July 15 Orthodox v. Saint Matrona; she founded a small monastery for women. Soon other nuns joined her in her ascetical struggles; worked many miracles both during her life and after her death, and was revered throughout Chios for her virtuous life and holiness. She showed charity to the poor, and was able to heal the sick.
1456 St. Peter Regulatus noble family Franciscan reformer severe asceticism levitate ecstasies
1456 Oct 23 St. John of Capistrano “Initiative, Organization, Activity.”
Apud Villáckum, in Pannónia, natális sancti Joánnis de Capistráno, Sacerdótis ex Ordine Minórum et Confessóris, vitæ sanctitáte ac fídei cathólicæ propagándæ zelo illústris; qui Taurunénsem arcem, validíssimo Turcárum exércitu profligáto, suis précibus et miráculis ab obsidióne liberávit.  Ejus tamen festívitas quinto Kaléndas Aprílis recólitur.
    At Vilak in Hungary, the birthday of St. John Capistran, priest and confessor of the Order of Friars Minor, illustrious for the sanctity of his life and his zeal for the propagation of the Catholic faith.  By his prayers and miracles, he routed a powerful army of Turks, and forced them to quit the siege of Tornau.  His feastday, however, is celebrated on the 28th of March.
1459 Antoninus of Florence great soul in a frail body, and of the triumph of virtue over vast and organized wickedness miracles after death body was found uncorrupted in 1559 OP B (RM)
Sancti Antoníni, ex Ordine Prædicatórum, Epíscopi Florentíni et Confessóris, cujus dies natális sexto Nonas mensis hujus recensétur.
 St. Antoninus of the Order of Preachers, confessor and archbishop of Florence, whose birthday is the 2nd of May.
1459 Bl. Anthony della Chiesa Dominican superior companion of St. Bernardino of Siena; one of the leaders opposing the last of the antipopes, Felix V; known miracle worker with an ability to read the consciences of men and women;  he conversed with Saint Mary, in ecstasy, several times
1460 Bd Archangelo Of Calatafimi; july 30 from childhood a religious retiring disposition; withdrew to a cave, to live in solitude; many people invaded his retreat to seek advice and conversation, when miracles take place, great numbers came; moved to Alcamo to revive /organize decayed hospice for poor; once more returned to solitary life; Pope Martin V ordered all hermits in Sicily, to return to the world or religious order; Obedient, he received the habit of the Friars Minor of the Observance from Bd Matthew of Girgenti
1463 1479 St. John of Sahagun Benedictine monk of Fagondez monastery;  miracles, gift of reading men's  souls
1464 BD MARGARET OF SAVOY, WIDOW; took the habit of the third order of St Dominic and with other ladies formed a community at Alba. This retired life of prayer, study and charitable works lasted for some twenty-five years; Pope Eugenius IV gave permission for the tertiary sisters to become nuns, in the same place and under the rule of Bd Margaret. During the last sixteen years of her life ecstasies and miracles are alleged in abundance, among them a vision of our Lord offering her three arrows, labelled respectively Sickness, Slander and Persecution
1473 Oct 20 St John Of Kanti; he persevered for some years, and by the time he was recalled to Cracow had so far won his people’s hearts that they accompanied him on part of the road with such grief that he said to them, “This sadness does not please God. If I have done any good for you in all these years, sing a song of joy.” “Fight all false opinions, but let your weapons be patience, sweetness and love. Roughness is bad for your own soul and spoils the best cause.” Miracles attributed
Sancti Joánnis Cántii, Presbyteri et Confessóris, qui nono Kaléndas Januárii obdormívit in Dómino.
    St. John Cantius, priest and confessor, who fell asleep in the Lord on the 24th of December.
Lived:  1403 - 1473 Canonized:  1767 Memorial:  October 20
1480 Ss Moines Marc, Jona et Vassa qui ont fondé le monastère de Pskovo-Pechersk réaparaissait miraculeusement.
1481 Bl. Constantius a boy of extraordinary goodness gift of prophecy or second sight miracles
1482 Blessed Antony Bonfadini  sent to the mission in the Holy Land miracles were reported at his tomb  OFM (AC)
1482 Bd Simon Of Lipnicza born at Lipnicza, in Poland, not far from Cracow; Friars Minor; fostering devotion to the holy name of Jesus, at the end of every sermon asking the people to pronounce it three times aloud.  That which he preached in public he practised in private, and his virtues were recognized by his superiors and brethren, who made him in turn novicemaster, guardian and provincial; Miracles were multiplied at his tomb
1483 Saint Macarius of Kalyazin repeatedly healed the paralyzed and the demon-possessed; incorrupt relics
1484 Blessed Damian dei Fulcheri Hundreds of sinners repented by force of preaching: miracles worked at his tomb
1484  Bd Christopher Of Milan the apostle of Liguria great success in evangelizing that part of Italy, Dominican
         endowed with the gift of prophecy
1485 Blessed James of Bitetto heroic humility levitate during prayer accurately predict the future incorrupted body
        remains many miracles  OFM (AC)
1485 Blessed Michael Gedroye famous for prophecy/miracles:  cell adjoining church of the Augustinian canons Cracow

1409 Venerable Sava the Abbot of Zvenigorod model of simplicity and humility e miraculous curative power issuing from the grave numerous appearances  Disciple of the Venerable Sergius of Radonezh
1490 Sava appeared to Dionysius (4th igumen of St Sava monastery and said to him: "Dionysius! Wake up and paint my icon."

St Sava loved solitude, and avoided conversing with people. He lived in constant toil, lamenting the poverty of his soul, and trembling before the judgment of God. He was a model of simplicity and humility, and he attained to such a depth of spiritual wisdom that "in the monastery of St Sergius he was a spiritual confessor to all the brethren, a venerable and exceedingly learned Elder."
When Great Prince Demetrius of the Don built the monastery of the Dormition of the Mother of God at the River Dubenka, in gratitude for the victory over Mamai, Sava became its Igumen, with the blessing of St Sergius. Preserving the simple manner of his ascetic lifestyle, he ate plants, wore coarse clothing and slept on the ground.

In 1392 the brethren of the Sergiev Lavra, with the departure of its Igumen Nikon into the wilderness, asked St Sava to be the igumen of the monastery. Here he "shepherded well the flock entrusted to him to the best of his ability, helped by the prayers of his spiritual Father, St Sergius." According to Tradition, the great well outside the Lavra walls was built when he was igumen.
Prince Yuri Dimitrievich Zvenigorodsky, a godson of St Sergius, regarded St Sava with great love and esteem. He chose St Sava as his spiritual Father and begged him to come and bestow his blessing upon all his household. The saint had hoped to return to his monastery, but the prince begged him to remain and establish a new monastery, "in his fatherland, near Zvenigorod, at a place called Storozhi."
St Sava accepted the request of Prince Yuri Dimitrievich, and praying with tears before an icon of the Mother of God, he entreated Her protection for the wilderness place. On Storozhi Hill, he built a small wooden church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, and a small cell for himself nearby. Here in the year 1399 the monk established a monastery, lovingly accepting all who came seeking a life of silence and seclusion.
St Sava toiled much at the building up of his monastery. He dug a well at the foot of the hill, from which he carried water on his own shoulders; he encircled the monastery with a wooden palisade, and in a hollow above it, he dug out a cell where he could dwell in solitude.
In 1399 St Sava blessed his spiritual son, Prince Yuri, to go on a military campaign, and he predicted victory over the enemy. Through the prayers of the holy Elder, the forces of the prince won a speedy victory. Through the efforts of St Sava, a stone church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos was also built to replace the wooden one.
St Sava died at an advanced age on December 3, 1406. He appointed his disciple, also named Sava, to succeed him.
Veneration of the God-pleaser by the local people began immediately after his death. The miraculous curative power issuing from the grave of the monk, and his numerous appearances, convinced everyone that Igumen Sava "is truly an unsetting sun of divine light, illumining all with its miraculous rays." In a letter of 1539 St Sava is called a wonderworker. Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich had a special veneration for him, repeatedly going to the monastery of St Sava on foot. Tradition has preserved for us a remarkable account of how St Sava once saved him from a ferocious bear.
The Life of St Sava, compiled in the sixteenth century, relates how at the end of the fifteenth century (1480-1490), the saint appeared to Dionysius, the fourth igumen of the St Sava monastery and said to him: "Dionysius! Wake up and paint my icon." When Dionysius asked who he was, he replied, "I am Sava, the founder of this place."
Now Dionysius had not known the saint personally, so he summoned Elder Habakkuk, who had known St Sava in his youth, hoping to convince himself of the truth of the dream. He described the outward appearance of the saint, and Habakkuk assured him that the saint looked exactly as the igumen had seen him in his dream. Then Dionysius fulfilled the command and painted the icon of St Sava.

The feastday of St Sava was established at the Moscow Council of 1547. The incorrupt relics of the saint were uncovered on January 19, 1652.

1410 Saint Sava of Moscow succeeded St Andronicus as the igumen of the monastery of the Savior, dedicated to the Icon of Christ Not-Made-By Hands (August 16) in 1395. He died in 1410.

Saint James acquired the gift of discernment, learned the straight and narrow path of God, and became a great wonderworker
had such love for Christ, and so little regard for the things of this world, that he liquidated his entire estate and gave the proceeds to the poor without spending any of the money on himself. Later, he fell into a demonic temptation and became very proud. He would say, "Who knows better than I do, concerning my own salvation?" Following his own self will and personal preferences, he lived in solitude and undertook difficult struggles without first seeking the advice of wise and experienced ascetics.

Once a demon appeared to him in the guise of an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). He told James that Christ was very pleased by his labors, and would come that night to reward him. "Clean your cell," he said, "and make ready by lighting the lamps and burning incense."  The foolish James, in his delusion, accepted all of this without question. When the Antichrist came at midnight, James opened his door and fell down in worship before him. The devil struck him on the head, then vanished.

James awoke at dawn and went to visit a certain Elder to tell him what had happened. Before James could speak a single word, the Elder said, "You must leave this place, for you have been deceived by Satan."  James was heartbroken and wept bitter tears. The Elder also advised him to go to a cenobitic monastery, which he did. There he fulfilled his obedience in the trapeza with great humility. Then for seven years he sat in his cell working at some handicraft, and fulfilling his Rule of prayer.
St James acquired the gift of discernment, learned the straight and narrow path of God, and became a great wonderworker. He completed the course of his life in peace.

1423  Bl. Juliana of Norwich Benedictine English mystic anchorite In 1373 experienced sixteen revelations. Her book, Revelations of Divine Love - a work on the love of God, the Incarnation, redemption, and divine consolation Among English mystics none is greater
sometimes called Julian. She was a recluse of Norwich, living outside the walls of Saint Julian’s Church., she is one of the most important writers of England. She wrote on sin, penance, and other aspects of the spiritual life, attracting people from all across Europe. She is called Blessed, although she was never formally beatified.
Blessed Juliana of Norwich, OSB Hermit (PC) Born c. 1342; died in Norwich, England, c. 1423; she has never actually been beatified.
Among the English mystics none is greater than the Lady Julian, who lived near Norwich, England, in a three-roomed hermitage in the churchyard of Conisford. Absolutely nothing is known of her life before becoming an anchorite. In fact, we do not even know her name; she has been given the name of the church where she had her cell. An old English historian writes: "In 1393, Lady Julian, the anchoress here was a strict recluse, and had two servants to attend her in her old age. This woman was in these days esteemed one of the greatest holiness."
She lived in an age of startling and confusing contrasts. It was the time of the Black Death, the Peasants' Revolt, Piers Plowman and Wat Tyler, when the old social patterns were breaking down. But none of this is reflected in her quiet and retired life or in the pages of her spiritual autobiography, Revelations of Divine Love, which is the most sublime of all expositions of its kind in English. Her masterpiece encompasses the love of God, the Incarnation, redemption, sin, penance, and divine consolation.
"These revelations," she writes, "were shown to a simple creature unlettered, the year of our Lord 1373, the eighth day of May." She desired above all to know the suffering of our Lord--what she called "the mind of His Passion"--and that nothing might stand between herself and God. She tells us that when at the age of 30 she was at the point of death and the curate was sent for to administer the last rites, "he set the Cross before my face and said: 'I have brought you the Image of thy Maker and Savior: Look thereupon and comfort yourself with it.'"
She spent the next 20 years meditating upon the 16 revelations that followed in a state of ecstasy, of Christ's Passion and the Trinity. She saw the red blood flow from under the Crown of Thorns; she saw the Virgin, a young and simple maid; she saw our Lord a 'homely loving.' Then God showed her a little thing--a hazel nut in the palm of her hand. She thought: what may this be? and was answered: "It is all that is made. God shaped it. God gave it life. God maintains it."

Thus, she learned the goodness of God, in which is our highest prayer and which "comes down to our lowest need." And still regarding the Crucifix, she saw the stream of God's mercy falling like showers of rain, and looked upon the tokens of His Passion. She saw our Lord dying and underwent the torments and agony of His suffering. "And thus I saw Him, and sought Him; I had Him and I wanted Him." It seemed, she said, as if He were seven nights dying, so outdrawn was His anguish, suffering the last pain, seven nights dead, continually dying, in a cold dry wind. "Thus was I taught to choose Jesus for my Heaven, whom I saw only in pain at that time . . . to choose only Jesus in good times and bad. . . He shall make all well that is not well. . . . Prayer unites the soul to God."
In this way, this remarkable book pursues its course, full of deep insight and feeling: "In Christ our two natures are united." "Our soul can never have rest in things that are beneath itself." "God can do all that we need." "I knew well that while I beheld in the Cross I was surely safe." And its last word is: "Love was our Lord's meaning." At the time of her death she had a far-spread reputation for sanctity, which attracted visitors from all over England to her cell (Benedictines, Delaney, Gill).

1433 St. Lydwine heroically accepted plight as will of God offered her sufferings for humanity's sins Jesus Christ confided in her She experienced mystical gifts, including supernatural visions of heaven, hell, purgatory, apparitions of Christ, and the stigmata.  Patron of sickness & skaters
St. Lydwine is the patroness of sickness Lydwine of Schiedam was born at Schiedam, Holland, one of nine children of a working man. After an injury in her youth, she became bedridden and suffered the rest of her life from various illnesses and diseases. She experienced mystical gifts, including supernatural visions of heaven, hell, purgatory, apparitions of Christ, and the stigmata. Thomas a Kempis wrote a biography of her. She was canonized Pope Leo XIII in 1890. Lydwine suffered a fall while ice skating in 1396, when a friend collided with her and caused her to break a rib on the right side. From this injury, she never recovered. An abscess formed inside her body which later burst and caused Lydwine extreme suffering. Eventually, she was to suffer a series of mysterious illnesses which in retrospect seemed to be from the hands of God. Lydwine heroically accepted her plight as the will of God and offered up her sufferings for the sins of humanity. Some of the illnesses which affected Lydwine were headaches, vomiting, fever, thirst, bedsores, toothaches, spasms of the muscles, blindness, neuritis and the stigmata.
Blessed Lidwina of Schiedam V (AC) (also known as Lydwina, Lydwid, Lidwyna) Born in Schiedam, the Netherlands, in 1380; cultus approved in 1890. Lidwina, one of nine children of a laborer, developed a devotion to the Blessed Virgin in her childhood. When her mother would send her on any errand, Lidwina would visit the church to greet her Lady with a Hail Mary. At the age of 12, she pledged her virginity to Christ.
She was injured in 1396 while ice skating and became a life-long invalid. She was cruelly wed to agonizing bodily pains, ulcers, the Black Plague and other maladies, without counting the familial and spiritual complications. Lidwina bore the pain patiently as reparation for the sins of others.
For 30 years she received no explanation of incredible sufferings except through Jesus Christ who confided in her and promised the consolation of a heavenly life. Upon the advice of her confessor, Jan Pot, Lidwina meditated night and day on our Lord's passion, which she divided into seven parts, to correspond to the seven canonical hours of prayer. Through this practice Lidwina soon found all her bitterness and affliction converted into sweetness and consolation, and her soul so much changed, that she prayed to God to increase her pains and patience. Beginning in 1407, Lidwina began to experience supernatural gifts--ecstasies and visions in which she participated in the Passion of Christ, saw purgatory and heaven and visited with saints.
Though her family was poor, Lidwina gave away the major portion of the alms given to her by others. Upon the death of her parents, she bequeathed to the poor all the goods that they left to her.
The last 19 years of her life she partook of no food except the Holy Eucharist, slept little if at all during the last seven years of her life, and became almost completely blind and was unable to move any part of her body except her head and left arm.
Her extraordinary sufferings attracted widespread attention. When a new parish priest accused her of hypocrisy, the people of the town threatened to drive him away. An ecclesiastical commission appointed to investigate declared her experiences to be valid.
She died on Easter Tuesday in 1433. Thomas a Kempis, author of Imitation of Christ and an eyewitness of some of her miracles, wrote her biography. The chapel in which her body lay in a marble tomb was renamed for her the following year, and her father's house was converted into a monastery of Gray Sisters of the third order of St. Francis.

Calvinists demolished the chapel and changed the monastery into a hospital for orphans.
Her relics were translated to Brussels, and enshrined in the collegiate church of St. Gudula. Isabella obtained a portion of her relics and enshrined them in the church of the Carmelite convent which she founded.
Lidwina was never formally beatified; however, a Mass was sung in her chapel at Schiedham on her festival, with a panegyric on the holy virgin. Her vita was compiled by John Gerlac, her cousin, and John Walter, her confessor: and by John Brugman, provincial of the Franciscans, who were all personally acquainted with her (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).
Lidwina is portrayed in art as a cripple holding a crucifix and receiving a branch of roses from an angel. Sometimes she may be shown (1) receiving a lily from the angel; (2) with a cross and rosary; (3) as a girl falling on ice while skating; or (4) working on embroidery (Roeder). She is the patron of skaters.

1444 Saint Macarius of Zheltovod and Unzha; At 12 he left his parents and accepted monastic tonsure at the Nizhni-Novgorod Caves monastery under St Dionysius; extreme strict fast, precise fulfillment of monastic rule; at Yellow Lake organized a monastery for them in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, there preached Christianity to surrounding Cheremis and Chuvash peoples, baptizing both Mohammedans and pagans in the lake; on the shores of Lake Unzha he founded a new monastery; granted gift healing, more than 50 people received healing from his relics
Born in the year 1349 at Nizhni-Novgorod into a pious family. At twelve he secretly left his parents and accepted monastic tonsure at the Nizhni-Novgorod Caves monastery under St Dionysius (June 26). With all the intensity of his youthful soul he gave himself over to the work of salvation. He stood out among among the brethren for his extremely strict fasting and precise fulfillment of the monastic rule.
The parents of St Macarius only learned three years later where he had gone. His father went to him and tearfully besought his son merely that he would come forth and show himself. St Macarius spoke with his father through a wall, saying that he would see him in the future life. "Extend your hand, at least," implored the father. The son fulfilled this small request and the father, having kissed his son's hand, returned home.
Burdened by fame, the humble Macarius set off for the shores of the River Volga, and here he pursued asceticism near the waters of Yellow Lake. Here by firm determination and patience he overcame the abuse of the Enemy of salvation. Lovers of solitude gathered to St Macarius, and in 1435 he organized a monastery for them in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity.  Here also he began to preach Christianity to the surrounding Cheremis and Chuvash peoples, and he baptized both Mohammedans and pagans in the lake, which received its name from the saint. When the Kazan Tatars destroyed the monastery in 1439, they took St Macarius captive.

St Macarius reverently buried those killed at his monastery, and he went 200 versts to the Galich border. During the time of this resettlement all those on the way were fed in miraculous manner through the prayers of the saint. Having arrived at the city of Unzha, St Macarius set up a cross 15 versts from the city, and built a cell on the shores of Lake Unzha. Here he founded a new monastery. During the fifth year of his life at Lake Unzha, St Macarius took sick and reposed at age 95.
While yet alive, St Macarius was granted a gift: he healed a blind and demon-afflicted girl. After the death of the monk, many received healing from his relics. The monks built a temple over his grave, and established a cenobitic rule at the monastery.
In 1522, Tatars fell upon Unzha and wanted to destroy the silver reliquary in the Makariev monastery, but they fell blind. In a panic, they took to flight. Many of them drowned in the Unzha. In 1532, through the prayers of St Macarius, the city of Soligalich was saved from the Tatars. In gratitude, the inhabitants built a chapel in the cathedral church in honor of the saint. More than 50 people received healing from grievous infirmities through the prayers of St Macarius. This was certified by a commission sent by Patriarch Philaret in 1619.

VERY few particulars of the life of this confessor have been preserved, in part no doubt owing to the destruction by fire of the archives of the friary of Cortona, where he spent the greater part of his life. He belonged to the family of the Cappucci and was born at Tiferno (Citta di Castello) in 1390. When he was fifteen he received the Dominican habit and was sent to Cortona, where he was trained under the direction of Bd Laurence of Ripafratta and in company of many other famous friars, including St Antoninus and Fra Angelico.
   Bd Laurence recommended him to devote himself to contemplation rather than to activity, but the lessons of his office note that he was as ready to minister to those who required his services outside his monastery as within it. Several miracles are remembered of Bd Peter. He once met a young man of bad character in the street, stopped him, and said, “What wickedness are you up to now? How much longer are you going on adding sin to sin ? You have just twenty-four hours to live, and at this time tomorrow you’ll have to give God an account of yourself.” The man was frightened but took not more notice, till that night he had a bad accident; Peter was sent for, and he received the sinner’s humble penitence before he died. The cultus of Bd Peter, who used to hold a skull in his hands while preaching, was confirmed by Pope Pius VII.

Apud Gandávum, in Flándria, sanctæ Colétæ Vírginis, quæ, primum tértii Ordinis Franciscális régulam proféssa, deínde, divíno Spíritu affláta, quamplúra Moniálium secúndi ejúsdem Ordinis monastéria primævæ restítuit disciplínæ; atque, divínis exornáta virtútibus et innúmeris clara miráculis, a Pio Séptimo, Pontífice Máximo, in albo Sanctórum adscrípta est.
At Ghent in Flanders, St. Collette, virgin, who at first professed the rule of the Third Order of St. Francis, and afterwards, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, restored the pristine discipline to a great number of monasteries of Nuns of the Second Order.   Because she was graced with heavenly virtues, and performed innumerable miracles, she was inscribed on the roll of saints by Pope Pius VII.
Colette was the daughter of a carpenter named DeBoilet at Corby Abbey in Picardy, France. She was born on January 13, christened Nicolette, and called Colette. Orphaned at seventeen, she distributed her inheritance to the poor. She became a Franciscan tertiary, and lived at Corby as a solitary. She soon became well known for her holiness and spiritual wisdom, but left her cell in 1406 in response to a dream directing her to reform the Poor Clares. She received the Poor Clares habit from Peter de Luna, whom the French recognized as Pope under the name of Benedict XIII, with orders to reform the Order and appointing her Superior of all convents she reformed. Despite great opposition, she persisted in her efforts. She founded seventeen convents with the reformed rule and reformed several older convents. She was reknowned for her sanctity, ecstacies, and visions of the Passion, and prophesied her own death in her convent at Ghent, Belgium. A branch of the Poor Clares is still known as the Collettines. She was canonized in 1807.
Colette (Coleta, Niolette), Poor Clare V (RM) Born at Calcye, Picardy, France, on January 13, 1381; died in Ghent, Flanders, 1447; canonized in 1807.
Born to De Boilet (or Boylet), a carpenter at Corbie Abbey in Picardy, her parents named her Nicolette in honor of Saint Nicholas of Myra. They died when she was 17, leaving her in the care of the abbot.
Colette was said to be petite and very beautiful. She tried her religious vocation with the Beguines and Benedictines but failed. She distributed her possessions to the poor and entered the third order of Saint Francis.
When she was 21, the abbot gave Colette a small hermitage beside the church of Corbie, where she lived a life of such austerity that her fame spread and people came seeking her advice. Colette had dreams and visions in which Saint Francis appeared and charged her to restore the first rule of Saint Clare in its original severity. She hesitated to act upon this but was struck blind for three days and dumb for three more, which she saw as a sign.
Encouraged by her spiritual director, Father Henry de Baume, she left her hermitage in 1406. After trying to explain her mission to two convents, she realized that she must have better authority to accomplish her mission. She set out for Nice, barefoot and clothed in a habit of patches, to meet with Peter de Luna, acknowledged by the French during the great schism as pope under the name Benedict XIII.
He welcomed her and professed her as a Poor Clare. He was so impressed with her that he made her superioress of all the convents of Minoresses that she might reform or found and a missioner to the friars and tertiaries of Saint Francis.
She travelled from convent to convent through Picardy and Savoy. At first she was met with rude opposition and treated as a fanatic, and even accused of sorcery. She met rebuffs and curses patiently, however, and eventually began to make inroads, especially in Savoy, where her reform gained sympathizers and recruits. This reform passed to Burgundy, France, Flanders, and Spain.

With the support of Henry de Baume, the first house of Poor Clares to receive the reformed rule did so in 1410. She aided Saint Vincent Ferrer in the work of healing the papal schism. Colette also founded 17 new convents, in addition to reforming many, including several houses of Franciscan friars. Her most famous convent is Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire), which has sustained an unbroken continuity, even through the French Revolution.
Saint Colette was untrained and unprepared for the work for which she had been commissioned; she achieved it by the power of faith and holiness, and a determination that no opposition could discourage. Impressed by her simple goodness, many people of high rank were greatly influenced by her, including James of Bourbon and Philip the Good of Burgundy.
Like Saint Francis, Colette had a deep devotion to Christ's Passion with an appreciation and care for animals. She fasted on Fridays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., meditating on the Passion. Almost always after receiving Holy Communion she would fall into an hours-long ecstasy.
It is said that Colette met Saint Joan of Arc on her way with an army to besiege La Charite-sur-Loire in 1429, but there is no evidence.
In Flanders, where she had established several houses, Colette was seized with a last illness. She foretold her own death, received the last rites, and died in her convent in Ghent at age 67. Her body was removed by Poor Clares when Emperor Joseph II was suppressing religious houses in Flanders; it was taken to her convent at Poligny, 32 miles from Besancon. A branch of Poor Clares is still known as the Colettines (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Gill, Perrin, White).

When in 1414 Friar John of Stroncone went to spread the reform in the kingdom of Naples he took Bd Thomas with him. He laboured there for some six years, strengthened with the gift of miracles, and then, authorized by Pope Martin V, he undertook, in company with Bd Antony of Stron­cone, to oppose the heretical Fraticelli in Tuscany. While engaged in this cam­paign he made a number of new foundations, over which St Bernardino gave him authority, his own headquarters being at the friary of Scarlino. Here he established a custom of going in procession after the night office to a neighbouring wood, where each friar had a little shelter of boughs and shrubs wherein they remained for a time in prayer.

1456 St. John of Capistrano “Initiative, Organization, Activity.”
Apud Villáckum, in Pannónia, natális sancti Joánnis de Capistráno, Sacerdótis ex Ordine Minórum et Confessóris, vitæ sanctitáte ac fídei cathólicæ propagándæ zelo illústris; qui Taurunénsem arcem, validíssimo Turcárum exércitu profligáto, suis précibus et miráculis ab obsidióne liberávit.  Ejus tamen festívitas quinto Kaléndas Aprílis recólitur.
    At Vilak in Hungary, the birthday of St. John Capistran, priest and confessor of the Order of Friars Minor, illustrious for the sanctity of his life and his zeal for the propagation of the Catholic faith.  By his prayers and miracles, he routed a powerful army of Turks, and forced them to quit the siege of Tornau.  His feastday, however, is celebrated on the 28th of March.
  Sancti Joánnis de Capistráno, Sacerdótis ex Ordine Minórum et Confessóris, cujus memória recólitur décimo Kaléndas Novémbris.
    St. John Capistrano, confessor, a priest of the Order of Friars Minor, who is mentioned on the 23rd of October, formerly March 28.

ST JOHN OF CAPISTRANO
CAPISTRANO is a little town in the Abruzzi, which of old formed part of the kingdom of Naples.

Here in the fourteenth century a certain free-lance —whether he was of French or of German origin is disputed—had settled down after military service under Louis I and had married an Italian wife. A son, named John, was born to him in 1386 who was destined to become famous as one of the great lights of the Franciscan Order.

From early youth the boy’s talents made him conspicuous. He studied law at Perugia with such success that in 1412 he was appointed governor of that city and married the daughter of one of the principal inhabitants. During hostilities between Perugia and the Malatestas he — was imprisoned, and this was the occasion of his resolution to change his way of life and become a religious.

How he got over the difficulty of his marriage is not altogether clear. But it is said that he rode through Perugia on a donkey with his face to the tail and with a huge paper hat on his head upon which all his worst sins were plainly written. He was pelted by the children and covered with filth, and in this guise presented himself to ask admission into the noviceship of the Friars Minor. At that date, 1416, he was thirty years old, and his novice-master seems to have thought that for a man of such strength of will who had been accustomed to have his own way, a very severe training was necessary to test the genuineness of his vocation. (He had not yet even made his first communion.) The trials to which he was subjected were most humiliating and were apparently sometimes attended with supernatural manifestations. But Brother John persevered, and in after years often expressed his gratitude to the relentless instructor who had made it clear to him that self-conquest was the only sure road to perfection.

In 1420 John was raised to the priesthood. Meanwhile he made extraordinary progress in his theological studies, leading at the same time a life of extreme austerity, in which he tramped the roads barefoot without sandals, gave only three or four hours to sleep and wore a hair-shirt continually.

In his studies he had St James of the Marches as a fellow learner, and for a master St Bernardino of Siena, for whom he conceived the deepest veneration and affection.

Very soon John’s exceptional gifts of oratory made themselves perceptible. The whole of Italy at that period was passing through a terrible crisis of political unrest and relaxation of morals, troubles which were largely caused, and in any case accentuated, by the fact that there were three rival claimants for the papacy and that the bitter antagonisms between Guelfs and Ghibellines had not yet been healed.

Still, in preaching throughout the length and breadth of the peninsula St John met with wonderful response. There is undoubtedly a note of exaggeration in the terms in which Fathers Christopher of Varese and Nicholas of Fara describe the effect produced by his discourses. They speak of a hundred thousand or even a hundred and fifty thousand auditors being present at a single sermon. That was certainly not possible in a country depopulated by wars, pestilence and famine, and in view of the limited means of locomotion then available. But there was good evidence to justify the enthusiasm of the latter writer when he tells us: “No one was more anxious than John Capistran for the conversion of heretics, schismatics and Jews. No one was more anxious that religion should flourish, or had more power in working wonders; no one was so ardently desirous of martyrdom, no one was more famous for his holiness. And so he was welcomed with honour in all the provinces of Italy. The throng of people at his sermons was so great that it might be thought that the apostolic times were revived. On his arrival in a pro­vince, the towns and villages were in commotion and flocked in crowds to hear him. The towns invited him to visit them, either by pressing letters, or by deputations, or by an appeal to the Sovereign Pontiff through the medium of influential persons.”

But the work of preaching and the conversion of souls by no means absorbed all the saint’s attention. There is no occasion to make reference here in any detail to the domestic embarrassments which had beset the Order of St Francis since the death Of their Seraphic Founder. It is sufficient to say that the party known as the “Spirituals” held by no means the same views of religious observance as were entertained by those whom they termed the “Relaxed”.

The Observant reform which had been initiated in the middle of the fourteenth century still found itself hampered in many ways by the administration of superiors general who held a different standard of perfection, and on the other hand there had also been exaggerations in the direction of much greater austerity culminating eventually in the heretical teachings of the Fraticelli. All these difficulties required adjustment, and Capistran, working in harmony with St Bernardino of Siena, was called upon to bear a large share in this burden. After the general chapter held at Assisi in 1430, St John was appointed to draft the conclusions at which the assembly arrived, and these “Martinian statutes”, as they were called, in virtue of their confirmation by Pope Martin V, are among the most important in the history of the order.

So again John was on several occasions entrusted with inquisitorial powers by the Holy See, as for example to take proceedings against the Fraticelli and to inquire into the grave allegations which had been made against the Order of Gesuats founded by Bd John Colombini. Further, he was keenly interested in that reform of the Franciscan nuns which owed its chief inspiration to St Colette, and in the tertiaries of the order. In the Council of Ferrara, later removed to Florence, he was heard with attention, but between the early and the final sessions he had been compelled to visit Jerusalem as apostolic commissary, and incidentally had done much to help on the inclusion of the Armenians with the Greeks in the accommodation, unfor­tunately only short-lived, which was arrived at in Florence.

When the Emperor Frederick III, finding that the religious faith of the countries under his suzerainty was suffering grievously from the activities of the Hussites and other heretical sectariès, appealed to Pope Nicholas V for help, St John Capistran was sent as commissary and inquisitor general, and he set out for Vienna in 1451 with twelve of his Franciscan brethren to assist him. It is beyond doubt that his coming produced a great sensation. Aeneas Sylvius (the future Pope Pius II) tells us how, when he entered Austrian territory, “priests and people came out to meet him, carrying the sacred relics. They received him as a legate of the Apostolic See, as a preacher of truth, as some great prophet sent by God. They came down from the mountains to greet John, as though Peter or Paul or one of the other apostles were journeying there. They eagerly kissed the hem of his garment, brought their sick and afflicted to his feet, and it is reported that very many were cured...The elders of the city met him and conducted him to Vienna. No square in the city could contain the crowds. They looked on him as an angel of God.”

John’s work as inquisitor and his dealings with the Hussites and other Bohemian heretics have been severely criticized, but this is not the place to attempt any justification. His zeal was of the kind that sears and consumes, though he was merciful to the submissive and repentant, and he was before his time in his attitude to witchcraft and the use of torture. The miracles which attended his progress wherever he went, and which he attributed to the relics of St Bernardino of Siena, were sedulously recorded by his companions, and a certain prejudice was afterwards created against the saint by the accounts which were published of these marvels. He went from place to place, preaching in Bavaria, Saxony and Poland, and his efforts were everywhere accompanied by a great revival of faith and devotion.

It has been said the Christian saints are the world’s greatest optimists. Not blind to the existence and consequences of evil, they base their confidence on the power of Christ’s redemption. The power of conversion through Christ extends not only to sinful people but also to calamitous events.
Imagine being born in the fourteenth century. One-third of the population and nearly 40 percent of the clergy were wiped out by the bubonic plague. The Western Schism split the Church with two or three claimants to the Holy See at one time. England and France were at war. The city-states of Italy were constantly in conflict. No wonder that gloom dominated the spirit of the culture and the times.
John Capistrano was born in 1386. His education was thorough. His talents and success were great. When he was 26 he was made governor of Perugia. Imprisoned after a battle against the Malatestas, he resolved to change his way of life completely. At the age of 30 he entered the Franciscan novitiate and was ordained a priest four years later.
His preaching attracted great throngs at a time of religious apathy and confusion. He and 12 Franciscan brethren were received in the countries of central Europe as angels of God. They were instrumental in reviving a dying faith and devotion.
The Franciscan Order itself was in turmoil over the interpretation and observance of the Rule of St. Francis. Through John’s tireless efforts and his expertise in law, the heretical Fraticelli were suppressed and the “Spirituals” were freed from interference in their stricter observance.
He helped bring about a reunion with the Greek and Armenian Churches, unfortunately only a brief arrangement. When the Turks captured Constantinople in 1453, he was commissioned to preach a crusade for the defense of Europe. Gaining little response in Bavaria and Austria, he decided to concentrate his efforts in Hungary. He led the army to Belgrade. Under the great General John Junyadi, they gained an overwhelming victory, and the siege of Belgrade was lifted. Worn out by his superhuman efforts, Capistrano was an easy prey to the infection bred by the refuse of battle. He died October 23, 1456.

St. John of Capistrano, priest At Ilok in Hungary
of the Order of Friars Minor. He was illustrious for holiness Of life and zeal in extending the Catholic faith. By his prayers and miracles, he delivered from a siege the fortress of Zemun, a suburb of Belgrade, when it was beleaguered by a powerful Turkish army.

He helped bring about a reunion with the Greek and Armenian Churches, unfortunately only a brief arrangement.

Comment: Peter was an effective leader of the friars because he did not become ensnared in anger over the sins of others. Peter helped sinning friars rearrange the priorities in their lives and dedicate themselves to living the gospel of Jesus Christ as they had vowed. This patient correction is an act of charity available to all Franciscans, not just to superiors.
Quote: "And let all the brothers, both the ministers and servants as well as the others, take care not to be disturbed or angered at the sin or the evil of another, because the devil wishes to destroy many through the fault of one; but they should spiritually help [the brother] who has sinned as best they can, because it is not the healthy who are in need of the physician, but those who are sick (cf. Mt 9:12; Mk 2:17)" (Rule of 1221, Chapter 5).

1459 Bl. Anthony della Chiesa Dominican superior companion of St. Bernardino of Siena; one of the leaders opposing the last of the antipopes, Felix V; known miracle worker with an ability to read the consciences of men and women;  he conversed with Saint Mary, in ecstasy, several times
Anthony was born in 1394, the son of the Marquis della Chiesa, in San Germano, Italy. At twenty, despite his family's objections, Anthony became a Dominican, gaining recognition as a preacher and confessor. He accompanied St. Bernardine on missions and served in various capacities in the Dominican monasteries. Anthony was also one of the leaders opposing the last of the antipopes, Felix V While journeying from Savona to Genoa, Italy, Anthony was captured by pirates but was released unharmed. He was a known miracle worker with an ability to read the consciences of men and women.
Blessed Antony della Chiesa, OP (AC)  Born in San Germano, near Vercelli, the Piedmont, Italy, in 1395; died Como, Italy, January 22, 1459; beatified 1819. Antony was born into the nobility, the family of the Marquis della Chiesa, and a collateral ancestor of Pope Benedict XV. He was well educated. Showing a taste early in life for he things of God, he grew up with the hope of becoming a religious. His father, who was a man of some importance, opposed this wish. Not until Antony was 22 was he able to make the break with his family and enter the monastery at Vercelli.
Here he distinguished himself for both sanctity and learning. Being a good preacher, he was for some years the companion of Saint Bernardine of Siena, in his missionary journeys through Italy. Antony was prior at the friaries of Como, Savona, Florence, and Bologna.   Antony gives us a picture of one who followed the Dominican life perfectly, managing, most of the time, to escape public notice. There is in his life very little of the glamorous or the unusual. He kept the rule, was a good superior, and a just administrator. Shunning applause, he was always serene.

The legends mention that he was particularly devoted to Our Lady, which is something one takes for granted in a Dominican, and that he conversed with her, in ecstasy, several times. He had the gift of reading hearts and was a sought-after director of souls. He also healed many sick people with his blessing. However, if any miracles are ordinary ones, these may be so described; they could be given as typical of most of early Dominicans.  At one time, Antony was on a ship that was captured by pirates, but at his prayer, the pirates spared the passengers and brought them safely to land.

One of the very few things of unusual nature that in Antony's life is a legend told of him when he was prior of Savona. It makes a lovely ghost story, and it also provides food for thought.  According to the story, Antony was praying one night in the church. Disturbed by the sound of horses hooves clattering on the flagstones outside, he went to see who could possibly be there at such a late hour. There were several horsemen, all mounted on black horses. He addressed them, but received no answer. Thinking that they might be foreigners, he tried several languages, and still there was no response .

Aware, then, that something was wrong, he commanded them in the name of the Lord to tell him who they were and where they were going. They said that they were devils, and that they were on their way to meet the soul of a dying sinner, a usurer, and escort him to hell. "I will pray for him," said Antony. The demons laughed and told him he was too late. "Then at least come back and tell me whether you succeed or not," said the prior.  A short while later, the group returned, and they had succeeded. They held the unhappy usurer captive, and, while the prior watched in horror, they bore him off. The man was screaming. The next day, the usurer's relatives came to arrange an elaborate funeral. "You would do much better to have Masses said for yourselves and other poor sinners," he said.

Antony died at Como and was buried there in the Dominican church Miracles at his tomb led to his beatification (Benedictines, Dorcy).
1459 Bl. Anthony della Chiesa Dominican born 1395 at San Germano, near Vercelli, of the noble family of della Chiesa di Roddi, which was afterwards to give to the Church Pope Benedict XV (Giacomo della Chiesa).  His religious vocation was opposed by his parents, and he was already twenty-two when he took the habit of the Friars Preachers at Vercelli.  He was a very successful preacher and director of souls, and for some years accompanied the Franciscan St Bernardino of Siena on his missions.  While prior at Como he completely reformed the life and morals of that town, and was sent successively to govern The friaries at Savona, Florence and Bologna, where he insisted on a rigorous observance of their rule.  Each time he relinquished office with joy and had soon to take it again, saying sadly that he who could not even manage an oar was entrusted with the tiller.    From 1440 to 1449 the Church was troubled by an antipope, Amadeus of Savoy, calling himself Felix V, who had a large following in Savoy and Switzerland. Bd Antony stoutly opposed himself to this man and succeeded in winning over a number of his adherents to lawful authority.  He also preached with great energy against usury, using as a terrible warning the story of a usurer who at his death had lost not only his soul but even his body, which had been carried off by a troop of diabolic horsemen, so that his relatives had to bury an empty coffin.  Stories of this sort, some entertaining, some touching, some to our ideas merely silly, were part of the stock-in-trade of every medieval preacher.  While going by sea from Savona to Genoa with a fellow friar, the ship in which they were was captured by corsairs ; they had no reason to look for anything but death or slavery, but the pirates were so impressed by the demeanour of the two religious that they set them free without ransom.  Bd Antony received the gift of miracles and of discernment of spirits, and predicted the day of his own death, which was at Como on January 28, 1459.  His cultus was approved in 1819, his feast being kept on July 28, the date of the translation of his relics to his birthplace in 1810.

  An account of Bd Antony is furnished in Procter, Lives of the Dominican Saints, pp. 210-213.  See further V. Pellazza, Elogio storico del B. Antonio (1863) Taurisano, Catalogus Hagiographicus O.P., p. 40; and L. Ferretti, Vita del B. Antonio (1919).

The story of Antonino Pierozzi is that of a great soul in a frail body, and of the triumph of virtue over vast and organized wickedness. His father, Niccolo Pierozzi, had been a noted lawyer, notary to the Republic of Florence. He and his wife Thomassina had their only child baptized as Antonio, but because the saint was both small and gentle people called him by the affectionate diminutive 'Antonino' all his life.
The world in which he lived was engrossed in the Renaissance; it was a time of violent political upheaval, of plague, wars, and injustice. The effects of the Great Schism of the West, over which Saint Catherine (Born in Siena, Italy, March 25, 1347, in Florence, Italy; died there on April 29, 1380; canonized in 1461; declared a Doctor of the Church in 1970) had wept and prayed a generation before, were still tearing Christendom apart when Antoninus was born--in the same year as Cosimo de'Medici. The fortunes of Florence were largely to rest in the hands of these two men.
There are only a few known details about the early life of Antoninus, but they are revealing ones. He was a delicate and lovable child. His stepmother, worried over his frailty, often gave him extra meat at table. The little boy, determined to harden himself for the religious life, would slip the meat under the table to the cats. Kids!
From the cradle his inclination was to piety. His only pleasure was to read the lives of saints and other good books, converse with pious persons, or employ himself in prayer. Accordingly, if he was not at home or at school, he was always to be found at Saint Michael's Church before a crucifix or in our Lady's chapel there. He had a passion for learning, but an even greater ardor to perfect himself in the science of salvation. In prayer, he begged nothing of God but His grace to avoid sin, and to do His holy will in all things.
Antoninus hitched his wagon to the star of great austerity and, at 14, discovered the answer to all his questions in the preaching of Blessed John Dominici (Born in Florence, Italy, 1376 (or 1350?); died in Hungary 1419), who was then the prior of Santa Maria Novella and later became cardinal-archbishop of Ragusa and papal legate. Antoninus went to speak with the preacher and begged to be admitted to the order.

At the time, Blessed John was reforming the Dominican priories of the area according to the wishes of Blessed Raymond of Capua(Born 1330 at Capua, Italy as Raymond delle Vigne Died 5 Oct 1399 at Nuremberg Germany of natural causes). John planned to build a new and reformed house at Fiesole (near Florence), which he hoped to start again with young and fervent subjects who would revivify the order. It declined under the plague and effects of the schism. As yet, he had no building in which to house the new recruits.
Even were the monastery completed, it was to be a house of rigorous observance, and Antoninus looked far too small and frail for such an austere community. John Dominici, not wishing to quench the wick of youthful eagerness, had not the heart to explain all this. He told Antoninus to go home and memorize the large and forbidding book called Decretum Gratiani, supposing that its very bulk would discourage the lad.
{It was about 1150 that the Camaldolese monk, Gratian, professor of theology at the University of Bologna, to obviate the difficulties which beset the study of practical, external theology (theologia practica externa), i. e. canon law, composed the work entitled by himself "Concordia discordantium canonum", but called by others "Nova collectio", "Decreta", "Corpus juris canonici", also "Decretum Gratiani", the latter being now the commonly accepted name.
In spite of its great reputation the "Decretum" has never been recognized by the Church as an official collection. It is divided into three parts (ministeria, negotia, sacramenta).
The first part is divided into 101 distinctions (distinctiones), the first 20 of which form an introduction to the general principles of canon Law (tractatus decretalium); the remainder constitutes a tractatus ordinandorum, relative to ecclesiastical persons and function.
The second part contains 36 causes (causœ), divided into questions (quœstiones), and treat of ecclesiastical administration and marriage; the third question of the 33rd causa treats of the Sacrament of Penance and is divided into 7 distinctions.
The third part, entitled "De consecratione", treats of the sacraments and other sacred things and contains 5 distinctions. Each distinction or question contains dicta Gratiani, or maxims of Gratian, and canones. Gratian himself raises questions and brings forward difficulties, which he answers by quoting auctoritates, i. e. canons of councils, decretals of the popes, texts of the Scripture or of the Fathers. These are the canones; the entire remaining portion, even the summaries of the canons and the chronological indications, are called the maxims or dicta Gratiani. It is to be noted that many auctoritates have been inserted in the "Decretum" by authors of a later date. These are the Paleœ, so called from Paucapalea, the name of the principal commentator on the "Decretum". The Roman revisers of the sixteenth century (1566-82) corrected the text of the "Decree" and added many critical notes designated by the words Correctores Romani.}

Antoninus, however, was possessed of an iron will. He went home and began to read the book straight through. By the end of the year, he had finished the nearly impossible task set before him, and returned to Blessed John to recite it as requested. There was now no further way to delay his reception into the order, so he was received into the Dominican Order "for the future priory of Fiesole" in 1405 by Blessed John.
Due to the unsettled state of the Church, the order, and Italian politics, the training of the young aspirants was conducted at several different locations, including Cortona, and, for a time, the regular course of studies could not be pursued. Antoninus, nothing daunted, studied by himself. He was happily associated during these years with several future Dominican saints and beati, including Lawrence of Ripafratta, the novice master; Blessed Constantius of Fabriano(Born in Fabriano, Marches of Ancona, Italy, 1410; died at Ascoli, Italy, 1481;); Peter Capucci(Born at Città di Castello (the ancient Tifernum), in 1390; died 1445;) and his great friend, the artist, Saint Fra Angelico (Born in Mugello near Florence, Italy, in 1386 or 1387; died in Rome, Italy, in 1455).
Ordained and set to preaching, Antoninus soon won his place in the hearts of the Florentines. Each time he said Mass, he was moved to tears by the mercy of God, and his own devotion moved other hearts. He was given consecutively several positions in the order. While still very young, he was made prior of the Minerva in Rome (1430). He served the friars in various priories in Italy (including Cortona, Fiesole (1418-28), Naples, Gaeta, Siena, and Florence). As superior of the reformed Tuscan and Neapolitan congregations, and also as prior provincial of the whole Roman province, Antoninus zealously enforced the reforms initiated by John Dominici with a view to restoring the primitive rule. Antoninus became a distinguished master of canon law and assisted popes at their councils. There is evidence that at some point he served as a judge on the Rota. Pope Eugenius IV summoned him to attend the general Council of Florence (1439), and he assisted at all its sessions.
In 1436, he founded the famous priory of San Marco in Florence with the financial aid of Cosimo de'Medici in buildings abandoned by the Silvestrines. Under his guidance and encouragement, the San Marco's monastery became the center of Christian art. He called upon his old companion, Saint Fra Angelico, and on the miniaturist, Fra Benedetto (Angelico's natural brother), to do the frescoes and the choir books which are still preserved there. He also ensured that an outstanding library was collected.

Antoninus is still remembered today in the exquisite 'Cloister of Saint Antoninus' with its wide arches and beautiful ionic capitals, designed in the saint's lifetime by Michelozzo for San Marco. In the lunettes of the cloister Bernardino Poccetti and others painted scenes from Antoninus's life. (When Giambologna restored and altered the church of San Marco in 1588, he built for the saint's body a superb chapel.)
To his horror, Antoninus's wisdom and pastoral zeal made him a natural choice by Pope Eugenius IV for archbishop of Florence in 1446. Although Tabor reports that the pope had first chosen Fra Angelico, whose purity and wisdom had become known when he was painting in Rome. The artist entreated the holy father to choose Fra Antoninus instead, who had done great service by his unworldliness and gentle but irresistible power.
Antoninus's appointment as bishop was a genuine heartbreak to a scholar who could never find enough time to study; in fact, he had been in Naples for two years reforming the houses of the province when he received word of the nomination and confirmation by the Florentines. For a time he tried to escape accepting the dignity by hiding himself on the island of Sardinia. That did not work. So he tried begging the holy father to excuse him because of his weak physical constitution. The pope would accept no excuses; he commanded Antoninus to proceed immediately to Fiesole under the pain of excommunication for disobedience.
While he obeyed with trepidation, it was a blessing for the people of Florence that he was consecrated bishop in March 1446; they were not slow in demonstrating their appreciation of their good fortune. He was the 'people's prelate' and the 'protector of the poor' for he discharged his office with inflexible justice and overflowing charity. His love extended to the rich, too. The next year, the dying Pope Eugenius summoned Antoninus to Rome in order to receive the last sacraments from the holy bishop before dying in his arms on February 23, 1447.
For the remainder of his life, Antoninus combined an amazing amount of active work with constant prayer. He allowed himself very little sleep. In addition to the church office, he recited daily the office of our Lady, and the seven penitential psalms; the office of the dead twice a week; and the whole psalter on every festival. His prayer life allowed him to exhibit an exterior of serenity regardless of the situation.

Francis Castillo, his secretary, once said to him, bishops were to be pitied if they were to be eternally besieged with hurry as he was. The saint made him this answer, which the author of his vita wished to see written in letters of gold:
"To enjoy interior peace, we must always reserve in our hearts amidst all affairs, as it were, a secret closet, where we are to keep retired within ourselves, and where no business of the world can over enter."
Because of his reputation for wisdom and ability, Antoninus was often called upon to help in public affairs civil & ecclesiastical. Pope Nicholas V sought his advice on matters of church and state, forbade any appeal to be made to Rome from the archbishop's judgements, and declared that Antonino in his lifetime was as worthy of canonization as the dead Bernardino of Siena(Born in Massa Marittima (near Siena), Tuscany, Italy, on September 8, 1380; died in Aquila, Italy, May 20, 1444;), whom he was about to raise to the altars.
Pius II nominated him to a commission charged with reforming the Roman court. The Florentine government gave him important embassies on behalf of the republic and would have sent him as their representative to the emperor if illness had not prevented him from leaving Florence. Yet he also busied himself with the beauty of the chant, and personally attended the Divine Office at his cathedral.
A distinguished writer on international law and moral theology, his best known work is Summa moralis, which is generally thought to have laid the groundwork for modern moral theology. He was conscious of the new problems presented by social and economic development, and taught that the state had a duty to intervene in mercantile affairs for the common good, and to give help to the unfortunate and needy. He was among the first Christian moralists to teach that money invested in commerce and industry was true capital; therefore, it was lawful and not usury to claim interest on it (combine this information with the fact that he was a staunch opponent of usury). All his many books were of a practical nature, including guidance for confessors (Summa confessionis) and a chronicle of the history of the world.
His first concern, however, was always for the people of his diocese, to whom he set an example of simple living and inflexible integrity. He preached regularly, made a yearly visitation of all the parishes in the diocese on foot, put down gambling, opposed both usury and magic, reformed abuses of all kinds, and served as the example of Christian charity. Each day he held an audience for anyone who wished to speak with him. No one appealed for his help, material or spiritual, in vain.

When the plague again came to Florence in 1448, it was the saintly archbishop who took the lead in almsgiving and care of the sick. Many Dominicans died of the plague as they went about their priestly duties in the stricken city; sad but undaunted, Antoninus continued to go about on foot among the people, giving both material and spiritual aid. During the earthquakes of 1453-1455, he was similarly self-giving. The example of his own charity led many rich persons to likewise provide for the afflicted.

Antoninus's was a role model in other ways, too. When he learned that two blind beggars had amassed a fortune, he took the money from them and distributed it to others in dire necessity. Was this an injustice? No, he provided for all the needs of the two for the rest of their lives. The bishop tried to hide his virtue from others and himself, until he would see reflections of them in his flock. By accident he discovered one such flame that he had sparked in a poor, obscure handicraftsman who continually practiced penance. The man spent Sundays and holidays in the churches, secretly distributed to the poor all he earned beyond that needed for subsistence, and kept a poor leper in his home, joyfully serving the ungrateful beggar and dressing his ulcers with his own hands. The leper, increasingly morose and imperious, carried complaints against his benefactor to the archbishop, who, discovering this hidden treasure of sanctity in the handicraftsman, secretly honored it, while he punished the insolence of the leper.

Cosimo de'Medici, who did not always have compliments for Dominicans, admitted frankly, "Our city has experienced all sorts of misfortunes: fire, earthquake, drought, plague, seditions, plots. I believe it would today be nothing but a mass of ruins without the prayers of our holy archbishop."
After 13 years as bishop, Antoninus died surrounded by his religious brothers from San Marco and mourned by the whole city. His whole life was mirrored in his last words, "to serve God is to reign." Pope Pius II assisted at his funeral, when he was buried in San Marco's church. Pius eulogized Antoninus as one who "conquered avarice and pride, was outstandingly temperate in every way, was a brilliant theologian, and popular preacher."
His hairshirt and other relics were the vehicle for many miracles. It is significant that the canonization of Saint Antoninus was decreed by the short-lived Pope Adrian VI (August 31, 1522, to September 14, 1523), whose ideas for church reform were radical and drastic. His body was found uncorrupted in 1559, when it was translated with pomp and solemnity into a chapel richly adorned by the two brothers Salviati (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Dominicans, Dorcy, Farmer, Husenbeth, Jarrett, Tabor, Walsh).
Antonius of Florence is generally portrayed in art as a Dominican bishop with scales. He might be shown (1) weighing false merchandise against the word of God; (2) as a Dominican with a pallium; (3) as a young man giving alms; (4) drifting down a river in a boat; or (5) holding a book in a bag (Roeder). The likeness of the archbishop was recorded by contemporary artists, as in the bust at Santa Maria Novella and a statue at the nearby Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Antonio del Pollaiuolo's painting of him at the foot of the Cross survives at San Marco, as does a series of scenes from his life in its cloister of San Antonino (Farmer) and a portrait by Fra Bartolomeo (Tabor).

1479 St John of Sahagun; granted to behold with bodily eyes the human form of our Lord at the moment of consecration; was glorified by many miracles, both before and after his death.
There was an early Spanish martyr named Facundus, and he seems to have been adopted as patron by the abbey of Sahagun or San Fagondez in the kingdom of Leon. This locality was the birthplace of this John, and from it he derives his distinctive surname. His early education he received from the monks in the Benedictine monastery just mentioned. While he was yet a boy, his father, Don Juan Gonzalez de Castrillo, procured for him a small benefice, and when he was twenty the bishop of Burgos gave him a canonry in his cathedral, although the abbot of San Fagondez had already presented him with three other livings. Pluralism was one of the chief abuses of the age, but was leniently regarded in many quarters as being a necessary evil in view of the alleged meagreness of many stipends. John from his early youth led a moral, upright life—exemplary in the eyes of ordinary Christians—but as he grew older he was led by divine grace to see much that was imperfect in his conduct and to set himself seriously to amend.

He had received the priesthood in 1445, and his conscience reproached him for disobeying the Church’s ordinances against pluralities. He accordingly resigned all his benefices except the chapel of St Agatha in Burgos. There he daily cele­brated Mass, frequently catechized the ignorant, and preached, leading the while a very mortified life in evangelical poverty. Realizing the necessity for a sounder knowledge of theology, he then obtained the bishop’s permission to go to Salamanca University, where he studied for four years.

His course completed, he soon won a great reputation as a preacher and director of souls in the parish of St Sebastian, Salamanca, which he seems to have worked while holding one of the chaplaincies in the College of St Bartholomew. Nine years were thus spent, and then St John, faced with the ordeal of a severe operation, vowed that if his life were spared he would receive the religious habit. The operation having proved successful, he made his application to the superior of the local com­munity of Augustinian friars, who admitted him with alacrity, for his merits were known to all. A year later, on August 28, 1464, he was professed. He had already so fully acquired the spirit of his rule that no one in the convent was more mortified, more obedient, more humble or more detached than he. He spoke with such eloquence and fervour that his sermons, coupled with his private exhortations, produced a com­plete reformation of manners in Salamanca. He had a wonderful gift for healing dissensions and succeeded in ending many of the feuds which were the bane of society, especially amongst the young nobles. Not only did he induce his penitents to for­give injuries and to forego revenge, but he led many of them to return good for evil.

Soon after his profession St John was appointed novice-master, an office he discharged with great wisdom. Seven times in succession he was definitor and he also became prior of Salamanca. It was a house which was famous for its discipline, and that discipline St John maintained far more by his example than by severity, for the high opinion everyone had of his sanctity lent the greatest weight to his advice and admonitions. He was, moreover, endowed with a judicious discernment and with a remarkable gift for reading the thoughts of his penitents. He heard the confessions of all who presented themselves, but was rigid in refusing, or at least deferring, absolution in the case of habitual sinners, or of ecclesiastics who did not live in accordance with the spirit of their profession. His fervour in offering the divine sacrifice edified all present, although his superior sometimes reproved him for the length of time he took in celebrating Mass. We are also told that he was one of those to whom it has been granted to behold with bodily eyes the human form of our Lord at the moment of consecration. The graces he received in his prayers and communions also gave him courage and eloquence in the pulpit. Without respect of persons he reproved vice in high places with a vigour which sometimes drew upon him persecution and even physical violence.

A sermon at Alba, in the course of which he sternly denounced rich landlords who oppressed their poor tenants, so enraged the Duke of Alba that he sent two assassins to kill the bold preacher. In the presence of their intended victim, however, the men were struck with remorse, confessed their errand and humbly implored his forgiveness. On another occasion certain women of the city whose loose life he had reproved attempted to stone him, and were only prevented from causing him grievous injury by the appearance of a patrol of archers. A prominent personage whose unblushing association with a woman not his wife was causing grave scandal in Salamanca was induced by St John to sever the connection entirely. The woman vowed vengeance on the holy man and it was generally believed that the disorder of which he died was occasioned by poison administered at her instiga­tion. He passed away on June 11, 1479. He was glorified by many miracles, both before and after his death, and was canonized in 1690.

John Gonzales de Castrillo was born at Sahagun, Leon Spain. He was educated by the Benedictine monks of Fagondez monastery there and when twenty, received a canonry from the bishop of Burgos, though he already had several benefices. He was ordained in 1445; concerned about the evil of pluralism, he resigned all his benefices except that of St. Agatha in Burgos. He spent the next four years studying at the University of Salamanca and then began to preach. In the next decade he achieved a great reputation as a preacher and spiritual director, but after recovering after a serious operation, became an Augustinian friar in 1463 and was professed the following year. He served as master of novices, definitor, prior at Salamanca, experienced visions, was famous for his miracles, and had the gift of reading men's souls. He denounced evil in high places and several attempts were made on his life. He died at Sahagun on June 11, reportedly poisoned by the mistress of a man he had convinced to leave her. He was canonized in 1690 as St. John of Sahagun.
John of Sahagun, OSA (RM) (also known as John of Saint Facundo) Born at Sahagun, León, Spain, c. 1430 (?); died in Salamanca, June 11, 1479; beatified in 1601; canonized in 1690.
Saint John was educated by the Benedictines at the great abbey of his native Sahagun (from Sant'Facun). While he was still a boy, his father, Don Juan Gonzalez de Castrillo, procured for him a small benefice. The bishop of Burgos and the abbot of Sahagun gave him four other benefices by the time he was 20, because his family was influential and these leaders recognized a promise of greatest in John. Thus, when John was ordained in 1453, he held five benefices in Burgos at the same time without holding residence in any of them--two acts of disobedience to Church ordinances. Instead he was majordomo in the household of the bishop.
Repenting of such pluralism upon the bishop's death, he gave up all but the one assigned to the chapel of Saint Agnes in Burgos, where he celebrated the Eucharist daily, catechized the ignorant, and preached. He had converted his life to one of evangelical poverty. With this benefice John financed his theological studies at the University of Salamanca. The education he received there gave him the confidence he need to minister more effectively in the nearby parish of Saint Sebastian, while holding a chaplaincy in the College of Saint Bartholomew.
At that time Salamanca was deeply divided and crime-ridden, which gave John ample opportunity to preach reconciliation and conversion. He followed up his preaching with individual counselling in the confessional. John had a remarkable gift for reading souls, which drew still more to his confessional. He was rigid in refusing or deferring absolution to habitual sinners and ecclesiastics who did not live in accordance with the spirit of their profession. John's fervor in offering the Mass edified all who assisted. In fact, it is related that he was privileged to see the bodily form of Jesus at the moment of consecration. The grace God poured into his soul during his prayers and communions overflowed into his preaching--especially against vice in high places.
After a grave illness in 1463, he requested entry into the Augustinian friary in the same city and was professed on August 28, 1464. Soon after he undertook the office of novice-master, while continuing his public preaching. His work for reconciliation bore fruit: a pact of peace was signed by hostile parties in 1476. About that time he was elected prior by his community.
In 1479, John predicted his own death, which occurred the same year. At Alba de Tormes his life was threatened by two thugs hired by the duke because of his public denunciation of oppressive landlords. In John's presence, however, the would-be assassins were struck with remorse, confessed their errand, and begged his forgiveness. But John's preaching brought further rancor. It is said that John's death was hastened by poisoning, brought about by a woman in Salamanca whose paramour he had reformed.

Four or five lives of Bd Margaret seem to have been published in the seventeenth century, that by G. Baresiano appearing in 1638. In more modern times we have an Italian biography by F. G. Allaria (1877), another without the author’s name (Torino, 1883), and a shorter notice included in M. C. de Ganay’s book, Les Bienheureuses Dominicaines (1914), pp. 251—277. See also Procter, Lives of Dominican Saints, pp. 334—337.

The Bollandists in the Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. viii, were unable to discover any satisfactory medieval account of St John Cantius, and they reproduced a biography published in 1628 by Adam of Opatow. This writer claims to have had access to materials preserved at Cracow, and in particular to have used notes compiled by a contemporary, Matthias of Miechow, who certainly drew up a record of miracles attributed to St John after his death. The latter document is also printed by the Bollandists. A note upon the place and date of birth of St John will be found in the Analecta Bollandiana, vol. viii (1889), pp. 382—388. A French life by E. Benoit was published in 1862. Lives in Polish are numerous.

1480 Saints moines Marc, Jona et Vassa qui ont fondé le monastère de Pskovo-Pechersk réaparaissait miraculeusement.
Les moines Marc, Jonas et Vassa sont vénérés comme étant parmi les Pères qui ont fondé le monastère de Pskovo-Pechersk.
On ne sait pas avec précision quand les premiers ermites se sont installés près des ruisseaux de Kamenets dans les cavernes naturelles de la colline, que les habitants locaux ont appelé "la colline sainte." La chronique du monastère présente un compte-rendu d'un témoin oculaire, le chasseur-trappeur de Izborsk surnommé Selishi: "Un jour par hasard, nous avons abouti avec notre père sur la colline extérieure, où se trouve maintenant l'église de la Mère de Dieu, et a entendu ce qui ressemblait à des chants d'église; ils chantaient harmonieusement et respectueusement, mais on n'arrivait pas à voir ceux qui chantaient, et l'air était rempli d'un parfum d'encens."
Des premiers Anciens du monastère de Pskovo-Pechersk, seul Marc est connu par son nom. De lui il témoigne: "Au début, un premier Ancien habitait près de la crue du Kamenets dans la caverne, certains pêcheurs l'ont aperçu aux trois rochers, se couchant par-dessus la caverne de l'église de la Très-Sainte Mère de Dieu; mais nous n'avons pas pu découvrir quoique ce soit à son égard -- qui était-il et son origine familliale, ni comment et d'où il était venu à cet endroit, ni combien de temps il était demeuré ici, ni comment il était mort."
Le deuxième higoumène du monastère de Pechersk portait le nom de Starets [Ancien] Marc dans le Synodikon du monastère. Le moine Kornilii (commémoré 20 février), comme higoumène a douté de la véracité de cette inscription et il a ordonné que le nom soit effacé du Synodikon. Soudain il est tombé gravement malade et a reçu une révélation, comme quoi ceci était une punition pour son ordre de rayer le nom du moine Marc du diptyque du monastère. Implorant le pardon avec larmes et prières sur la tombe du staretz Marc, l'higoumène Kornilii réinscrit le nom du saint. Quand l'église souterraine de l'Uspenie [Dormition] de la Très-Sainte Mère de Dieu a été réinstallée à l'air libre et les tombes excavées, l'higoumène Dorophei a trouvé la tombe du moine Marc en délabrement, mais ses reliques et vêtements intacts.
En 1472, le paysan Ivan Dement'ev a abattu la forêt sur la colline escarpée. Un des arbres abattus a roulé en bas, déracinant par ses racines un autre arbre. La chute a mis à nu l'entrée d'une caverne, au-dessus de laquelle il était écrit: "Une caverne construite par Dieu." Il existe une tradition à cet égard qui rapporte qu'un certain moine Fol-en-Christ Varlaam, à chaque fois qu'il venait à la caverne, il effaçait cette inscription, mais qu'à chaque fois elle réaparaissait miraculeusement.

En ce saint lieu de prière fréquenté par les premiers ascètes, est venu d'ailleurs le prêtre Jean, surnommé "Shestnik." Il était natif de Moscovie et avait servi comm prêtre à Iur'ev (maintenant Tartu) dans "une église de vrais croyants, établie par les gens de Pskov" et dédiée à saint Nicolas et au saint mégalomartyr George, et ensemble avec le prêtre Isidor, ils avaient nourri spirituellement les Russes habitant là-bas. En 1470 le Père Jean a été obligé de fuir avec sa famille à Pskov, à cause de la persécution des Allemand-Catholiques [note jmd : il s'agit des "Chevaliers Teutoniques", cfr saint Alexandre Nevski]. Ayant appris que son ami avait péri en martyr (on commémore le prêtre et martyr Isidor le 8 janvier), Jean a décidé de se retirer dans cette récemment-apparue "caverne construite par Dieu," afin que là-bas, sur la frontière même avec les Livoniens, il puisse trouver un un monastère comme un poste avancé de l'Orthodoxie.
Peu après sa femme tomba malade et, ayant prononcé ses voeux monastiques sous le nom de Vassa, elle mourrut. Sa vertu éclata immédiatement après sa mort. Son mari et son père spirituel ont enterré le religieuse Vassa dans le mur de "la caverne construite par Dieu," mais de nuit son cercueil "s'enleva du sol par le pouvoir invisible de Dieu." Le Père Jean et le prêtre-confesseur de la religieuse Vassa, perturbés, pensaient que cela venait du fait qu'ils auraient oublié de chanter une partie de l'office de défunts, alors ils ont recélébré l'office funèbre, puis réenterré le corps, mais au matin il était à nouveau "au dessus du sol." Alors tout s'éclairci : c'était un signe de Dieu. Ils ont bâtit une tombe pour la religieuse Vassa dans la caverne, sur le côté gauche. Bouleversés par le miracle, Jean a prononcé ses voeux monastiques sous le nom de Jonas et commencé à devenir un fervent ascète.
Ayant mis à l'air libre, à la main, l'église de caverne et deux cellules, placées sur des piliers, il a commencé à adresser des requêtes au clergé de la cathédrale de la Trinité de Pskovsk pour le consacrer, mais ils n'ont pas voulu le faire directement "à cause de l'emplacement insolite." Alors le Moine Jonas sollicita la bénédiction de l'archévêque Theophile de Novgorod.
Et le 15 août 1473, l'église de caverne a été consacrée en l'honneur de l'Uspenie [Dormition] de la Très-Sainte Mère de Dieu. Pendant la consécration, un miracle a eu lieu, venant d'une icône d'Uspenie de la Très-Sainte Mère de Dieu,  "envoyé par le Dieu clément qui commence Ses grands dons à Sa Toute-Pure Mère" -- une aveugle a recouvert la vue. (Cette icône, qu'ils appellent "l'ancienne" -- pour faire la distinction avec une autre icône miraculeuse de la Dormtion de la Très-Sainte Mère de Dieu bordée de scènes de Sa vie -- a été écrite en 1421 par l'iconographe Aleksei de Pskov, et est conservée à présent dans l'autel du temple d'Uspensk, dans le batiment sur la colline. L'icône a bordé avec la vie -- est la client-icône de temple de l'église de caverne.)
La date de consécration de l'église de caverne est reprise comme date officielle de la fondation du monastère de Pskovo-Pechersk. Le Moine Jonas vécut en ascète au monastère de caverne jusqu'en 1480 et s'endormit paisiblement dans le Seigneur. A sa mort, on découvrit sur son corps une cotte de mailles en fer, qui a été accrochée ai-dessus de  sa tombe en témoignage des actes ascétiques secrets du moine, mais elle fut volée durant une incursion des Allemands.

Les reliques du moine Jonas reposent dans les cavernes à côté de celles de l'Ancien Marc et de la religieuse Vassa. Une fois durant une invasion du monastère par les chevaliers de Livonian, se moquant des saintes reliques, ont voulu ouvrir d'un coup d'épée le cercueil de la religieuse Vassa, mais une flamme jailli du cercueil de la sainte ascète. Les traces de ce feu punitif sont visibles de nos jours sur le cercueil de la religieuse Vassa.
Saints monks Marc, Jona and Vassa (1480) The monks Marc, Jonas and Vassa are venerated as being among the Fathers who founded the monastery of Pskovo-Pechersk.
One does not know with precision when the first hermits settled close to the brooks of Kamenets in the natural caves of the hill, that the local inhabitants called “the holy hill.” The chronicle of the monastery presents a report of an eyewitness, the hunter-trapper of Izborsk called Selishi: “One day by chance, we ended with our father on the external hill, where now the church of the Mother of God is, and heard what resembled hymns; they sang harmoniously and respectfully, but one did not manage to see those who sang, and the air was filled with an incense perfume.”
The first Old ones of the monastery of Pskovo-Pechersk, only Marc is known by his name. To him it testifies: “At the beginning, first Old lived close to raw to Kamenets in the cave, certain fishermen saw it with the three rocks, lying down over the cave of the church of the Very-Holy Mother of God; but we could not discover though it is in its connection -- who was it and his origin familliale, neither how and from where it had come to this place, neither how long it was remained here, nor how it had died.”

The second higoumene of the monastery of Pechersk bore the name of Starets [Old] Marc in Synodikon of the monastery. The Kornilii monk (commemorated February 20), like higoumene doubted the veracity of this inscription and it ordered that the name is unobtrusive of Synodikon. Suddenly it fell seriously sick and received a revelation, as what this was a punishment for its order to stripe the name of the Marc monk of the diptych of the monastery. Beseeching forgiveness with tears and prayers on the tomb of the staretz Marc, the higoumene Kornilii re-registers the name of the saint. When the underground church of Uspenie [Dormition] of the Very-Holy Mother of God was reinstalled with the free air and the excavated tombs, the higoumene Dorophei found fall it from the Marc monk in dilapidation, but its relics and clothing intact.
In 1472, the peasant Ivan Dement' ev cut down the forest on the escarpée hill. One of the cut down trees rolled in bottom, uprooting by its roots another tree. The fall exposed the entry of a cave, above which he was written: “A cave built by God.” There is a tradition in this respect which reports that a certain monk Varlaam Fol-in-Christ, to each time he came to the cave, he erased this inscription, but that each time it réaparaissait miraculeusement.
In this holy place of prayer attended by the first ascetics, came besides the Jean priest, called “Shestnik.” He was native of Moscovie and had been used comm priest for Iur' ev (now Tartu) in “a church of truths believing, established by people of Pskov” and dedicated to Nicolas saint and to the saint mégalomartyr George, and together with the Isidor priest, they had nourished the Russians spiritually living over there. In 1470 the Jean Father was obliged to flee with his family with Pskov, because of the persecution of the German-Catholics [note jmd: they are the “Knights Teutoniques”, cfr holy Alexandre Nevski]. Having learned that his/her friend had perished as a martyr (one commemorates the priest and martyr Isidor on January 8), Jean decided to withdraw oneself in this recently-appeared “cave built by God,” so that over there, on the border even with Livoniens, it can find a monastery like a advanced station of Orthodoxy.
Shortly after his wife fell sick and, having pronounced her monastic vows under the name of Vassa, it mourrut. Its virtue burst immediately after its death. Her husband and his spiritual father buried to it religious Vassa in the wall of “the cave built by God,” but from night its coffin “was removed ground by the invisible capacity of God.” The Jean Father and the priest-confessor of the Vassa chocolate éclair, disturbed, thought that that came owing to the fact that they would have forgotten to sing part of the office the late ones, then they recélébré the funeral office, then réenterré the body, but in the morning it was again “with the top of the ground.” Then very cleared up: it was a sign of God. They have builds a tomb for the Vassa chocolate éclair in the cave, on the left side. Upset by the miracle, Jean pronounced his monastic vows under the name of Jonas and started to become an enthusiastic ascetic.
Having put at the free air, with the hand, the church of cave and two cells, having placed on pillars, it started to address requests to the clergy of the cathedral of the Trinity of Pskovsk to devote it, but they did not want to directly do it “because of the strange site.” Then the Jonas Monk requested the blessing of archévêque Theophilus de Novgorod.

And on August 15, 1473, the church of cave was devoted in the honor of Uspenie [Dormition] of the Very-Holy Mother of God. During the dedication, a miracle took place, coming from an icon of Uspenie of the Very-Holy Mother of God, “sent by lenient God who begins His great gifts with His All-Pure Mother” -- a blind man covered the sight. (This icon, which they call “the old one” -- to make the distinction with another miraculous icon of Dormtion of the Very-Holy Mother of God bordered of scenes of His life -- was written in 1421 by the iconographe Aleksei de Pskov, and is preserved now in the furnace bridge of the temple of Uspensk, in the building on the hill. The icon bordered with the life -- is the customer-icon of temple of the church of cave.)
The date of dedication of the church of cave is taken again like dates official from the foundation of the monastery of Pskovo-Pechersk. The Jonas Monk lived as an ascetic with the monastery of cave until 1480 and fell asleep peacefully in the Lord. With his death, one discovered on his body a coat of mail out of iron, which was hung have-top of its tomb in testimony of the secret ascetic acts of the monk, but it was stolen during an incursion of the Germans.
The relics of the Jonas monk rest in the caves beside those of the Former Marc and the Vassa nun. Once during an invasion of the monastery by the knights of Livonian, making fun of the holy relics, wanted to open of a blow of sword the coffin of the Vassa chocolate éclair, but a flame spouted out of the coffin of the holy ascetic. The traces of this punitive fire are visible nowadays on the coffin of the Vassa chocolate éclair.

Early in the fifteenth century, there lived at Fabriano a boy of such extraordinary goodness that even his parents would sometimes wonder whether he were not rather an angel than a human child. Once, when his little sister was suffering from a disease which the doctors pronounced incurable, Constantius Bernocchi asked his father and mother to join him in prayer by her bedside that she might recover. They did so, and she was immediately cured. At the age of fifteen he was admitted to the Dominican convent of Santa Lucia and he seemed to have received the habit from the hands of Blessed Laurence of Ripafratta, at that time prior of this house of strict observance. Constantius was one of those concerned with the reform of San Marco in Florence, and it was while he was teaching in that city that it was discovered that he had the gift of prophecy or second sight.
Among other examples, the death of St. Antoninus was made known to him at the moment it took place, and this is mentioned by Pope Clement VII in his Bull for the canonization of that saint.
He was also credited with the power of working miracles, and besides the care of his office, he acted as peacemaker outside the convent and quelled popular tumults. He was esteemed so holy that it was reckoned a great favor to speak to him or even to touch his habit. Upon the news of his death, the senate and council assembled, "considering his death a public calamity", and resolved to defray the cost of a public funeral. The cultus of Blessed Constantius was confirmed in 1821.
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).

Although the continued cultus is well attested, we know little detail of the life of this holy friar. Some account is furnished by such chroniclers as Mazzara in Leggendario Francescano, vol. iii (1680), pp. 601-602. See also the Acta Ord. Fratrum Minorum, vol. xx (1901), pp. 105 seq. and DHG., vol. iii, c. 763.

There is a full account in the Acta Sanctorum, July, vol. iv, including a life by L. Strobcowicz which was printed in 1636, but the greater part of the notice devoted to him is a record of posthumous miracles from a contemporary manuscript source.  Sec also Mazzarn, Leggendario Francescano (1679), vol. ii, 122-125; and Léon, Auréole Séraphique (Eng. tran.), vol. ii, pp. 503-506.

1483 Saint Macarius of Kalyazin repeatedly healed the paralyzed and the demon-possessed incorrupt relics
(in the world Matthew) was born in 1400 in the village of Gribkovo (Kozhino), near the city of Kashin, into the family of the boyar Basil Kozha. From youth he yearned for monasticism, but he married at the insistence of his parents.
After a year his parents died, and after three more years his wife Elena also reposed. Having nothing to bind him to his former life, Matthew became a monk at the Nikolaev Klobukov monastery. Desiring solitude, he left the city monastery with the abbot's blessing, and he found a suitable place between two lakes, eighteen versts from Kashin. Here the monk raised a cross and founded a solitary wilderness monastery.
The boyar Ivan Kolyaga, to whom the nearby lands belonged, began to fear that a monastery would grow up there, and that monks would begin to cultivate the wastelands. The Enemy of our salvation planted such spite and enmity in the boyar, that he decided to kill the saint. Suddenly, he was stricken with a grievous illness. Fear of death awakened repentance in the boyar. Ivan Kolyaga was carried to the saint and told him of his evil intent, asking forgiveness.

"God forgive you", the humble ascetic replied. Wishing to expiate his sin and to help the saint, the boyar gave his lands to the growing monastery. The monks built a temple dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity.

It became necessary to choose an igumen. St Macarius was then fifty-three years of age, but he considered himself unworthy of this dignity and he asked each of the older men coming to him to become the monastery's priest and igumen. Yielding to the common will, the saint was made igumen by Bishop Moses of Tver.*

In the rank of igumen, St Macarius labored to guide the brethren. The monastery had two chalices, a diskos and two plates fashioned by St Macarius on a lathe.

Despite his noble origin and his position of igumen, the saint wore ragged, frayed and patched clothing. In his conduct and his way of life St Macarius was so simple that the haughty heretic Vassian, sneeringly called him the "peasant of Kalyazin." The saint preferred to hear himself mocked rather than praised. He went to solitary places, delighted to be alone with nature.

The spiritual stature of St Macarius was close to the spiritual stature of St Paphnutius of Borov (May 1, 1477). Not by chance did St Paphnutius' disciple, St Joseph of Volokolamsk (September 9, 1515), visit St Macarius in 1478 and write down his impressions of him:
"When I arrived at this place," said St Macarius, "seven Elders came with me from the monastery of Klobukov. They were so excellent in virtues, fasting and monastic life, that all the brethren came to them to receive instruction and benefit. They enlightened all and taught them for their benefit.

Though the humble igumen was silent about his own efforts, they were not hidden from St Joseph. Perceiving the holiness of the igumen, he accounted him blessed and spoke about the life of the monastery:

From the moment St Macarius settled in the wilderness, his did not abandon his strict Rule because of old age. Even during his lifetime the saint repeatedly healed the paralyzed and the demon-possessed.

The saint reposed on March 17, 1483. At the time of his death they found heavy chains on him, about which no one knew. The incorrupt relics of St Macarius were uncovered on May 26, 1521 when ditches were dug for a new church. A Council of 1547 established his local festal celebration.

Bd Christopher who is called the apostle of Liguria because of his great success in evangelizing that part of Italy, received the Dominican habit at Milan, early in the fifteenth century. Soon after his ordination he began to be known as a great preacher, and his fame afterwards spread far and wide. His biographers record that his sermons, which brought about conversions and improvement of morals wherever he went, were always based on the Bible, the theology of St Thomas and the writings of the fathers, and that he denounced those preachers who, in their attempts to be popular and up-to-date, aired new-fangled notions and scorned to preach on the gospel for the day. Like a true missionary he wandered fearlessly and untiringly over dangerous passes and difficult country in his labours for souls. At Taggia, where he was particularly successful, the grateful inhabitants built Father Christopher a church and a monastery of which he became prior. He was endowed with the gift of prophecy. One day, as he was watching the people of Castellano dancing in the square, he exclaimed, ."You are now dancing merrily, but your ruin is nigh and your joy will be changed into sorrow" -a forecast which was fulfilled a few years later when the plague carried off most of the inhabitants. He also foresaw the destruction of Trioria by the French, and he warned the population of Taggia that they would flee from their city though not pursued, and that their river would leave its banks and destroy their gardens-prophecies which came true in every particular. When his last illness came upon him, he was preaching the Lent at Pigna. He had himself carried to his beloved Taggia and there breathed his last. His cult was confirmed in 1875.

1485 Blessed James of Bitetto heroic humility levitate during prayer accurately predict the future incorrupted body remains many miracles  OFM (AC)

(also known as James of Sclavonia, of Illyricum, of Zara, of Dalmatia) Born in Sebenico, Dalmatia; died April 27, c. 1485; feast day within the Franciscan order is celebrated on April 20; cultus approved by Innocent XII.

James received the habit of Saint Francis at Zara, but served as a lay brother at Bitetto, near Bari in southern Italy. James possessed heroic humility and reached heights of heaven in his contemplation. During the process of beatification, a fellow friar testified that he had seen James levitate during prayer and heard him accurately predict the future.

While James was the cook of the abbey at Conversano (18 miles from Bari), he would contemplate the cooking fire and see the fires of hell or the spark of God's love that ignites hearts. Often he would be found in the kitchen, motionless, rapt in ecstatic contemplation. This happened one morning as he was fixing beans for that night's dinner. He stood with his hand in the beans, tears streaming down his face into the vessel before him. Thus he was found by the duke on whose estate the monastery was founded. King Ferdinand I's courtier watched in amazement before declaring, "Blessed are the religious brethren whose meals are seasoned with such tears." Later that day James, learning of the duke's presence, went to him and asked what he would like for his dinner. The nobleman replied that he wanted nothing but some of the beans seasoned with James' tears.

Eventually James was sent back to Bitetto where he died and where his incorrupted body remains. Many miracles attributed to James' intercession have been recorded (Benedictines, Husenbeth).

1485 Blessed Michael Gedroye famous for his gifts of prophecy and miracles: his cell adjoining church of the Augustinian canons regular at Cracow OSA (AC)
(also known as Michael Giedroyć)
Born near Vilna, Lithuania; Of noble lineage, Michael was a cripple and a dwarf. He took up his abode in a cell adjoining the church of the Augustinian canons regular at Cracow, Poland, and there he lived his entire life. He was famous for his gifts of prophecy and miracles (Attwater2, Benedictines).

1497 Blessed Veronica of Binasco (b. 1445) known as a great contemplative who also gave loving care to sick sisters in her community and ministered to the people of Milan. She had the gifts of prophecy, discernment and miracles.
 Medioláni, in cœnóbio sanctæ Marthæ, Beátæ Verónicæ de Binásco Vírginis, ex Ordine sancti Augustíni.
      At Milan, in the monastery of St. Martha, blessed Veronica of Binasco, virgin, of the Order of St. Augustine.

Although she never learned to read and write, she was known and respected by the secular and ecclesiastical leaders of her day. Several times Christ gave to St. Martha, blessed Veronica of Binasco, virgin, of the Order of St. Augustine.in prayer important messages which she carried to influential persons such as the Duke of Milan and Pope Alexander VI.
Born Giovanna Negroni in Binasco, Milan, Italy in 1445, she was raised in a peasant family. When she was 22 years old, she joined the monastery of Saint Martha in Milan. She took the religious name Veronica, reflecting her devotion to the Passion of Christ.

1497 BD VERONICA OF BINASCO, VIRGIN
ALL states of life furnish abundant means for attaining holiness, and it is only owing to our sloth and tepidity that we neglect to make use of them. Bd Veronica could boast of no worldly advantages either of birth or fortune. Her parents maintained their family by hard work in a village near Milan, and her father never sold a horse, or anything else that he dealt in, without being more careful to acquaint the purchaser with all that was faulty in it than to recommend its good qualities. His consequent poverty prevented his giving his daughter any schooling, so that she never even learned to read; but his own and his wife’s example and simple instructions filled her heart with love of God, and the holy mysteries of religion engrossed her entirely. She was, notwithstanding, a good worker, and so obedient, humble and submissive that she seemed to have no will of her own. When she was weeding, reaping or at any other labour in the fields she strove to work at a distance from her companions, to entertain herself the more freely with her heavenly thoughts. The rest admired her love of solitude, and oncoming to her, often found her countenance bathed in tears, which they sometimes perceived to flow in great abundance, though they did not know the source to be devotion, so carefully did Veronica conceal what passed between her and God.

Veronica conceived a great desire to become a nun in the poor and austere convent of St Martha, of the Order of St Augustine, in Milan. To qualify herself for this she sat up at night to learn to read and write. One day, being in great trouble about her little progress, the Mother of God bade her banish that anxiety, for it was enough if she knew three letters The first, purity of the affections, by setting her whole heart on God; the second, never to murmur or grow impatient at the sins or misbehaviour of others, but to bear them with patience, and humbly to pray for them; the third, to set apart some time every day to meditate on the passion of Christ. After three years preparation, Veronica was admitted to the religious habit in St Martha’s, where her life was no other than a living copy of her rule, which consisted in the practice of evangelical perfection reduced to certain holy exercises. Every moment of her life she studied to accomplish it in the minutest detail, and was no less exact in obeying any indication of the will of a superior.

She for three years suffered from a lingering illness, but she would never be exempted from any part of her work,  or make use of the least indulgence. Though she had leave, her answer always was, “I must work whilst I can, whilst I have time”. It was her delight to help and serve everyone and her silence was a sign of her recollection and continual prayer, of which her extraordinary gift of tears was the outward manifestation. Her biographer declares that after she had been praying long in any place the floor looked as if a jug of water had been upset there. When she was in ecstasy they sometimes held a dish beneath her face and the tears that flowed into it, so it is stated, amounted to nearly a quart (!!).

She always spoke of her own sinful life, as she called it, though, indeed, it was most innocent, with feelings of intense compunction. Veronica was favoured by God with many extraordinary visions and consolations. A detailed account is preserved of the principal incidents of our Lord’s life as they were revealed to her in her ecstasies. By her moving exhortations she softened and converted several obdurate sinners. She died at the hour which she had foretold, in the year 1497, at the age of fifty-two, and her sanctity was confirmed by miracles. Pope Leo X in 1517 permitted her to be honoured in her monastery in the same manner as if she had been beatified according to the usual forms, and the name of Bd Veronica of Binasco is inserted on this day in the Roman Martyrology, an unusual distinction in the case of a servant of God who has not been formally canonized.

Her spiritual life was intense. She was particularly devoted to the Eucharist and to the Suffering and Death of Jesus. She experienced physical mistreatment from the devil, but found strength in prayer, remaining at peace and overcoming difficulties through the power of Christ. She cheerfully helped others when help was needed. In spite of her growing reputation for holiness and wisdom, Veronica remained humble.

Veronica died January 13, 1497. So numerous were her admirers who came to pay their respects, her burial was delayed for nearly a week. It is said that many sick persons who touched her body were restored to health. Her remains are preserved at the parish church in Binasco.