Mark of Santa Maria in Gallo

CONCERNING BLESSED MARK OF SANTA MARIA IN GALLO, OF THE ORDER OF FRIARS MINOR OF THE OBSERVANCE, AT VICENZA IN ITALY.

IN THE YEAR 1496.

Mark of Santa Maria in Gallo, of the Order of Friars Minor of the Observance, at Vicenza in Italy (Blessed)

Section I. The sacred cult of Blessed Mark: an epitome of his Life and deeds from Wadding and others.

[1] Outside the walls of the city of Vicenza, the Friars Minor, surnamed from the stricter observance of the Franciscan Rule, once had a convent erected under the invocation of St. Blaise. The Convent of St. Blaise at Vicenza This convent, lest in wartime the proximity of a more elevated site should endanger the security of the city, the Most Illustrious Republic of Venice decreed in the year 1530 to be demolished to its foundations, and another to be built within the city walls at public expense. When this was done, the Friars, transferring both the title of St. Blaise and the body of Blessed Mark into the city, the body of Blessed Mark is transferred there in 1530 — him whom Gonzaga calls "of the March" by his homeland, while the citizens of Vicenza and the Friars call him "of Santa Maria in Gallo" — for which surname we can easily find no explanation, unless by supposing that the convent of Santa Maria in Valle, four miles from the town of Fabriano, was commonly called "in Gallo" in the vernacular, and that this Blessed man wished to be surnamed from it, remembering the religious formation he received in that place, so desolate amid the rocks of the Apennines in terms of human comforts, yet so rich in examples of outstanding virtues left there by the Blessed Fathers Bernardine of Siena, James of the March, and John of Capistrano — of whom the latter two were perhaps not much older than Blessed Mark, and were familiar with him, especially James, to whom Mark was an inseparable companion, as Gonzaga and others say.

[2] The synopsis of his Life was inserted by Luke Wadding at the year 1495 into his Annals, who, having joined his wife to the Poor Clares translated into Latin from Marcus of Lisbon, in these words: "In this year died Mark of Santa Maria in Gallo, of the Province of the March. He was a doctor of medicine and married, when, having conceived the desire for a better life, he resolved to bid farewell to the world. His wife, by an equal vow scorning human things, wished to join the Poor Clares at Ascoli; made a Franciscan and he joined the Observant Minorites at the hermit-like convent outside Fabriano, wholly devoted to prayer, contemplation, and fruitfully preaching the Word of God. While he served as Guardian of the convent of St. Severino, praying early in the morning, he perceived this heavenly voice: 'Friar Mark, preach charity.' Thenceforth, wholly set aflame with the ardor of charity, divinely admonished to preach charity he displayed this virtue everywhere by word and deed. Traveling through all of Italy, he ardently commended the works of mercy, both spiritual and corporal, and erected Monti di Pietà for relieving the miseries of the poor. In the city of Camerino, when a plague was raging with great slaughter of men, having compassion on the perishing people, he went there and roused the entire population to weeping and lamentation for the wiping away of sins, pledging his faith that the pestilence would cease if only they repented — and indeed it was found to have happened just as he predicted."

[3] After he had sowed the Word of God for forty years, in this year at Vicenza he stirred up the people to better gifts and the observance of the heavenly commandments. after 40 years, preaching at Vicenza During the first fifteen days of Lent he distributed the ten commandments of the Decalogue and the fifteen precepts of the Church, inculcating with the greatest fervor and fruit the keeping of the divine and ecclesiastical law. Often during his preaching he said that he would leave them something most dear to himself; and indeed, when half of Lent had passed, toward evening of one day he gathered his books and belongings into a small bundle, as if he were going to depart at dawn the next day. He foreknows his own death That night, around the eighth hour, he began to be afflicted with quinsy or inflammation of the throat; and as the swelling increased greatly, he told those standing by that he would die on the following Saturday. Having fallen ill in the city with the Conventual Fathers, he asked that as soon as he died his body should be transferred to the church of St. Blaise, belonging to his fellow Observant brethren

outside the city, and he foretells it and that he should be buried without any more solemn funeral pomp, in the manner of the other Friars.

[4] Having duly received the Sacraments, he besought his companions to stand attentively by him as he died, to repeat the name of Jesus, and to read the Passion of the Lord Christ. and he dies piously He listened most attentively to the reader, his eyes fixed on heaven, until those words: "And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit" — and immediately he expired, on the 19th day of March, a Saturday, on which fell the feast of St. Joseph. Thus far Wadding, in almost the very words of Marcus of Lisbon; what follows from that same source, unchanged, is this: The concourse of the people rushing suddenly to him was like a miracle, buried at St. Blaise's though no one knew anything of his death, all vying eagerly to touch him reverently and to pluck from his garments something to keep as a relic. Then a great dispute arose about the burial, with the citizens wanting to bury him within the city, and the Guardian resisting — who at last obtained what he was seeking, but on the condition that the body not be buried with the other Friars in the common cemetery of St. Blaise, but in a separate place and a more elevated tomb: and so it was done.

[5] On the following day, which was a Sunday, the people and all the nobility rushed to the monastery of St. Blaise, to which the body had been carried, he shines with miracles visiting his tomb with great reverence and devotion. Nor was this in vain: for God worked many miracles and conferred many graces on that people. He died in the aforesaid year, on the 19th day of March. Later, when the aforesaid convent was moved from its former location into the city, they built a stone vault for Blessed Mark in a certain chapel, he is transferred with the convent beneath which he rests today, surrounded by offerings and votive gifts which are hung there daily — tokens of the benefits obtained from heaven by those who religiously commend themselves and their needs to this Blessed one. Francis Barbarano de Mironi adds in his Ecclesiastical History of Vicenza, Book 2, Chapter 78, from a certain Vicentine Chronicle written for the memory of the present and future time, that the year of death was 1496, when he had preached during Lent in the church of the Servants of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and that Mark died in the hospital of St. Marcellus, at about the age of 60, fifteen days before Easter, on a Saturday — which time-marker matches the said year, Easter falling on April 3, but not the preceding year, in which Easter was April 19. From the same manuscript Chronicle, the same author relates that after the honorable translation of the body to the monastery of St. Blaise, a certain woman from the village of St. Felix, touching his monument, recovered the health of a hand that had been useless until then. Finally, he testifies that the occasion for transferring the body together with the monastery was given on account of the wars in the year 1523, and that it was placed in a stone chest within a chapel of the new church with this inscription: in the year 1522

"Here lies Mark the Blessed, from Monte Gallo, First founder of the Monte di Pietà in this city. Mark, by your prayers, guard us, Blessed one, from diseases, And as Protector preserve and prosper the people of Vicenza. Blessed Mark died on March 19, in the year 1496."

After this, says the same Barbarano, the chapel in which the blessed body lay — which the piety of the faithful, acknowledging the heavenly benefits obtained through Blessed Mark's intercession, had adorned with many votive offerings and tablets — was destroyed for the purpose of providing more space for the renovation of the neighboring altar, and these sacred relics were placed behind that same altar on the Epistle side, where they can also be seen and touched to this day.

[6] We ourselves also visited the aforesaid church in the year 1660, and with the Guardian of the Franciscan Friars there — whom they commonly call "of the family" — the most kind Reverend Father Friar Livio leading us, and he is now preserved behind the altar we saw, within the bases of marble columns which on either side enclose a rather elegant altarpiece of one of the lateral altars on the right side of the choir, a bronze door skillfully made; which, when drawn back, revealed the casket of the sacred body decently stored behind the altar, through which, opened only modestly and to the measure of the said door, only the sight of the head was offered to the eyes of the venerating. Nothing else was available that they could present to us in writing when we inquired about him. On the other side of the same altar, that is, on the Epistle side, there was a similar door, beside which another place is designated for Antonio Pagano for the viewing of the same vault behind the altar from that direction; which is kept for storing the body of the Venerable man of the same Order, Father Antonio Pagano of Venice — that is, when his canonization shall have been completed, for which proceedings are being conducted at the Apostolic See, as Arturus a Monasterio reports from a booklet printed at Naples in his Martyrology, meanwhile bestowing on him the title of Blessed under July 10; from which those who led us to the other side of the choir to read the sepulchral stone — inscribed with verses containing his deeds and fenced with certain wooden railings lest it be trodden by profane feet — more prudently abstained. That he was Secretary of the Order when Gonzaga served as Minister General is also stated by Arturus; from which it is clear that he did not live long before the beginning of this century.

[7] The Monte di Pietà erected at Vicenza through the efforts of Blessed Mark, 1485 As to the Monte di Pietà erected at Vicenza through the efforts of Blessed Mark, we have an illustrious testimony from the aforecited Vicentine chronicle, from which Barbarano writes that in the year 1486 Blessed Mark, preaching at Vicenza and exhorting the people to this pious foundation, so effectively persuaded his hearers that in a single day more than two thousand gold pieces were collected for that purpose; and many citizens loaned great sums of money without any interest, reserving only the right to recover the principal at will. Rightly therefore in the hall of the aforesaid Monte, which looks out on the nearby square, his image is seen hanging with this inscription: "Blessed Mark of the March, Order of Friars Minor, founder of the Monte di Pietà in this city, under Pope Innocent, in the year of the Lord 1486." following the model of the first one, founded at Perugia in 1470 By what officials and laws this pious work is administered, and how around the year 1470 the first Monte di Pietà was established at Perugia by Friar Barnabas de Terrena with the help of Friar Fortunato de Capolis — from a most celebrated Doctor of both laws who became a fervent Minorite after the death of his wife — and was defended by them and approved by the Supreme Pontiffs against the arguments of its opponents, the aforesaid Barbarano at length recounts from Wadding's Annals, chapter 79, and names James Trento and Jerome Schio, Doctors, as envoys sent by the people of Vicenza to the Most Serene Doge of Venice, with whose consent the business was completed; to which a great increase afterwards accrued when Blessed Bernardino of Feltre preached there. Although in the year 1555 this treasury of the poor was plundered, the damage was nonetheless repaired, with the permission of Pope Julius III, so that money borrowed with the obligation of paying four coins annually for every hundred could be distributed to the poor at a charge of five coins — by which means it has come about that experts estimate that more than four hundred thousand scudi have now been collected, according to the same Barbarano. Jerome Ioannino, a Dominican, in his additions to the Itinerary of Italy by Francis Scotti, counts only one hundred thousand scudi — which is itself a quite ample sum. The author of the Franciscan Martyrology, Arturus a Monasterio, therefore rightly adorned the founder of so great a work, on account of other distinctions as well, with this eulogy: "At Vicenza, Blessed Mark of Santa Maria, Confessor, an outstanding preacher, who, shining forth in erudition, virtues, and zeal for souls, was also resplendent with the gift of prophecy and wondrous signs."

[8] The hospice and Monte di Pietà at Fabriano Among the works of this Blessed man, the hospice at Fabriano and the Monte di Pietà erected in the same town for relieving the poverty of the poor would rightly deserve to be counted, about which Wadding writes at the year 1470 — were it not that Gonzaga, more careful in this matter, writes in Province of the March, Convent 35, that the Monte di Pietà was erected through the efforts of the Venerable Friar Antonio, companion of Blessed Father Mark of Santa Maria in Gallo (the same, certainly, whom Wadding mentions as a different person under the name Montanino, derived from the foundress, formerly the wife of John Fogliani of Fermo); but that the famous hospice in honor of the Most Holy Mary of Jesus was constructed at the instigation of Blessed Father James of the March in the year 1456, in the time of Calixtus III — when this Mark had hardly begun to be heard in the pulpit; indeed, he was still in his novitiate these are less correctly attributed to him if you would reckon the years of preaching which Marcus of Lisbon mentions as also being years of religious life. The title inscribed on the front portico of the Church for the perpetual memory of the matter, without any mention of Mark, does not allow one to doubt the time and author — so that Wadding seems to have confused him with Blessed James just as easily as he had previously confused him with his companion Antonio, and to have taken two very different foundations for one, namely a Monte which was called "of Santa Maria di Gesù" and for which its founder gave rules distributed in 24 chapters and approved by public authority. These and many other things we suspect were wrongly transferred by him from the hospice to the Monte — as we shall say more fully on the 28th of November, when we shall have to treat of Blessed James aforesaid.

Section II. The Acts of Blessed Mark described in verse by a contemporary author.

[9] Concluding his narrative of Blessed Mark, Wadding writes: "There circulates While Blessed Mark's wife was still living a rhythmic hymn in his praise, containing his Acts and many eulogies, with an ecclesiastical prayer appended at the end; of these Gonzaga makes mention, where, presenting the first part of that hymn, he says it is from the many poems that adorn the tomb of the Blessed one." That it was composed by a contemporary author is evident both from many other passages and especially from the fact that it introduces Blessed Mark's wife as still living. We give it here in its entirety from Bartholomew Cimarelli, Volume 2 of the Minorite Chronicle, Book 2, Chapter 36:

O star lately shining forth from the seats of paradise, A Hymn composed O bright and gleaming light, risen for all peoples, By which the wandering sinner, wretched, miserable, reprobate, At your exhortation, might reach the Lord above.

At San Severino the Virgin revealed to you What she wished to be preached to the Christian people; praising the zeal of the preacher And at the divine command your soul obeyed, And what was revealed, she taught in the streets and in the temple.

Seeking all men constantly, you unfold immense rewards; You called all equally to the joys of Paradise. You exhort us eagerly to relinquish all things That hold us in mortality and lead us to vanities. Let us faithfully store up what is in the glory above; Let us swiftly seek the great gifts of the Cross of Christ.

By which you shone, showing to all how needful is its star, O gracious herald of piety, whom you cherish with a pious heart. The Monti shine through you in the illustrious cities of Italy, Which you traversed, grieving to see them burned by Jewish usury; You establish Monti di Pietà for helping the poor.

You seem to your hearers a flaming Seraph, Setting hearts of men ablaze, pouring fire into minds; You reveal the mysteries of heaven: nothing is more vehement than you. The hearts of those who address you desired nothing more ardently. You calmed the minds of citizens, than which nothing burned more fiercely; Now each one pursues the Lord more fervently through you.

Great was your burning desire to die for Jesus, desire for Martyrdom And ardent too your longing for the salvation of souls. Your food and refreshment was frequent prayer and fasting; All food and provisions you gave to the company of the poor.

[11] O how many bands of young men you directed to the Lord, Who in the Order of Friars Minor flourish like the rose and lily. ornament of virtues O gem of chastity and of all temperance, Clear trumpet of truth, man of wondrous prudence, Father of all probity, model of justice. O mirror of humility and great innocence, New light of poverty, example of patience, Vessel of sincere purity and holy obedience, Splendor of exemplary life and of integral sanctity. From your tenderest years you desired martyrdom, And straightaway as a boy you announced to your parents That you declared yourself to be already one of Christ's dear servants, And by the greatest miracles you prophesied to the Bishops. He sets forth the prophecies made about him You began to preach the sweet Jesus almost as an infant. Who could begin to tell what wondrous things you then accomplished? James the Fervent of Gallo proclaimed you; A nun whom the Holy Spirit once inspired Adorned you with a star that bears the gift of charity; Then she pointed to heaven, showing her the company of Angels.

[12] Growing, full of understanding, you were wise beyond the elders; At Perugia and Bologna you imbibed the good arts. studies of letters in adolescence At your marvelous progress all were amazed; In wisdom and spirit none were like you, Which was done by God's will so that you might be a light to the world, That by your example and exhortation you might give light to the perishing. Become a physician of bodies, illustrious, learned, and noble, You preferred to heal all the stains of souls. After your illustrious father's death, you freed yourself from the bonds of marriage. Whence, a rare and concordant pair, you chose the religious life; his and his wife's entrance into the Order She to imitate Clare, you to imitate Francis — you agreed; Invoking the sweet Jesus, both of you took up the cross. She, a virgin and holy, leads a pure life on earth; You have flown to the court of the heavenly King with the Angels, Where you have now received the worthy crown for your merits.

And you foretold it as revealed from heaven. Often you announced to the people: "I shall leave you a dear gift"; You repeated your sermons so they might be held more firmly, And afterwards you asked all to observe them thoroughly. At the judgment you promised to be the advocate of souls; Finally you left your peace to all who were weeping. Then you returned home with your limbs still strong, last admonitions to his companions You arranged your books in the presence of your astonished companions, And you besought them to bear it more gently, And you begged them not to take the labors too hard. You declared to them the approaching end of your passing: "On Saturday you will end such great labors, my sons, And you will make a solemn feast for the Lord and for me. But remember, O dearest companions, To serve Christ with the charity of a most pure heart. Then remember me, that Jesus, the best, may always be mine, Whom I have loved from my earliest years above all things of the world."

You foresaw things to be done for you by your dear Vicenza. You forbade a grand procession and an honorable coffin; You preferred to go in poverty to enjoy the glory above. Lastly you asked your companions to read the history Of the Passion of Jesus Christ — a pious and welcome remembrance. Then, with hands stretched toward heaven, you gave signs of joy; You heard from the Angels speaking to your soul: "Come, faithful servant, come, come, hasten, With us, the citizens of heaven, with Jesus and the sweet Virgin." Whereupon, when Jesus bowed His head and gave up His spirit, You, with mouth slightly open, migrated to the Lord.

O how happy and joyful was the departure of that pious soul, When all the harmonies of heaven rang out more sweetly; This God showed more clearly to a certain holy soul. A companion cried out to you: "Make me go with you, Father, O most pious Lord, do not abandon me here." Whence immediately through the city a rumor ran, by divine inspiration, That that holy man had been released from mortal bonds; And at once all rushed to the lodging. They knocked at the door of the chamber, desiring the blessed body. To none of his companions did you yet appear dead, But joyful beyond measure you shone and appeared radiant.

[16] When your pious citizens of Vicenza reached you, Each strives to cut a piece of the blessed man's habit, The fervent eagerness of the Friars to obtain him To snatch the cords and insignia with the birettas, And to carry off other precious things of the servant of God. Some would guard the body lest the Friars carry it off; Others declare to them how gravely they would offend: All the saints would be displeased if they should now take it. Then they permitted the Friars to receive you unto themselves, Since your companions reported that you had thus bequeathed yourself to the Friars. O wondrous concourse and fervor of the Vicentines! his honorable burial When the whole people followed with lamentations. Like an Apostle of God you were kissed by all, And placed in the sacred church you shone at once with signs. Before the body was buried, great miracles occur; The sick immediately receive the proofs of your holiness. By touching the blessed body you put diseases to flight; And when the pious rite of the sacred honors was performed, The leaders of the city would not suffer you to be laid in the ground: They chose a fitting place, worthy of your presence.

Which God's providence has adorned with the greatest gifts, With the felicitous presence of so great a blessed body, Which while preaching many times he had promised while still in health. O celebrated Vicenza, beloved of God exceedingly, What you possess in your church is a priceless treasure. O heavenly preacher, reformer of hearts, Splendor of the angelic life, summit of all the saints, Outstanding splendor of virtues, greatest glory of the Minors, Last honor of the people of the March, keen remover of heresies, Whom in the kingdom of eternal life the Angels sing as glorious. By my vow, O Seraphic Martyr, pray to the Lord for us; Blessed Mark, renowned, beg for us a happy end. he piously invokes him From all evils deliver us now and hereafter, That with your help we may continually avoid the shipwreck of the world, And under the protection of the Virgin may we seek Christ, the Best. Glory be to God the Father and to the Only-begotten Son, And to the Paraclete Spirit, world without end. Amen.

[18] After this, the following Antiphon with its Prayer is given by the aforesaid Bartholomew Cimarelli, the use of which, together with that of the hymn itself, seems to have vanished through the negligence of later generations:

"The Lord sent a new star of charity, to set the peoples aflame with love for Him. V. Pray for us, Blessed Mark. R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ."

Prayer: "O God, who through Blessed Mark announced to the peoples the reward of Your charity and the observance of Your commandments, so that they might burn with love of You and of their neighbor: we beseech You that, always endowed with these virtues, we may be helped in all our needs by the prayers and merits of Your glorious servant, whom You exalt with miraculous signs. Through Christ our Lord. Amen."