ON BL. FRANCIS OF CALDAROLA, CONFESSOR, OF THE ORDER OF FRIARS MINOR, AT COLFANO IN THE DIOCESE OF CAMERINO IN ITALY,
IN THE YEAR 1507.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
Francis of Calderola, confessor of the Order of Friars Minor, at Colfano in Italy. (Bl.)
BY V. D. B.
§ I. Those who have written on Blessed Francis. His homeland and sacred ministry. The institution of a mount of piety. His death.
Francesco Gonzaga, minister general of the Friars Minor Observant, [In the convent of Colfano, which is said to have been founded by St. Francis of Assisi, Blessed Francis of Caldarola lived and rests;] explaining in the year 1587 the origin of the convents of his order, when he comes to the convent of St. Francis at Colfano in the province of the Marche, relates these things about it De origine seraphicæ religionis, part. II, prov. Marchiæ, conv. XXVII, pag. 205.: That this convent, sacred to the most blessed father Francis, which was built within the bounds of the villages of Camporotondo and Cessapalombo of the diocese of Camerino, had the seraphic father himself as its founder and author, is testified together both by the structure itself, which is lowly and plain, and by a spring near it, which is called St. Francis's and is asserted to have been dug and found by him, and also by the tradition of the elders, which fearlessly asserts this very thing. Its site is called Colfano, and it is clothed round about with a pleasant wood, which renders this place most elegant and commendable. There add also to its beauty the aforesaid little spring of the divine father Francis, situated in the middle of the wood; and the gentle river Fiastra, which washes the edge of the same wood with its gliding waters; and the body of the blessed father Francis of Caldarola, buried in its church, which among the neighbouring country folk is in the greatest veneration on account of the frequent miracles which God, Best and Greatest, deigns daily to work in their favour on account of his merits, and which gives forth a certain most sweet fragrance. In this monastery, then, although placed in a solitary and rural spot, twelve friars dwell; to whom the adjacent villages supply sufficiently liberally what is necessary for food and clothing. These same things Wadding has reduced to a compendium Annales Minorum, ad an. 1215, num. XXVII, tom. I, pag. 236, edit. 1731. under the year 1215, as if that convent had been founded at that time. In the present commentary, however, we are to treat of St. Francis of Caldarola, who is called the chief ornament and strength of that place, because he died there in the year 1507 and has rested there until now.
[2] whose cult was approved in the year 1843. Many have written of him, Further, before on the 1st of September of the year 1843 his immemorial cult was approved by the Sacred Congregation of Rites, a process was drawn up according to custom, containing five parts; of which the first is the Information on the doubt whether the cult from time immemorial is established, the second the Summary on the same doubt, the third the Annotations of the Rev. Fr. D. promoter of the faith on the same doubt, the fourth the Response to the annotations, the fifth the Additional Summary. And after a favourable decree had been obtained, it seemed right that the concession of a proper office and Mass, with an elogium in the martyrology, should be asked for, and for that reason another process was begun, consisting of four records, namely the Supplicatory Petition, the Summary, the Annotations of the promoter of the faith, and the Response to them. That each process will be the source of what is to be said I scarcely need note: for in it is contained nearly all that the writers of the seraphic order have handed down to memory about Blessed Francis. The first of all, however, who seems to have pursued his deeds has the name of Fr. Mariano of Florence, of the number of the Observants, who before the year 1537, in which he died, wrote a Bundle of chronicles of the order of Minors. That book was formerly preserved in the archive of the convent of St. Isidore of
the City; but by evil fate it perished. It still existed in the year 1618, in which Father Bartholomew Cimarelli, Minor Observant, published at Venice the history of his order, and wrote in the margin that he had taken his statements from Mariano of Florence, from Mark of Lisbon, and from Francesco Gonzaga Cfr Summarium super dubio, pag. 7 et 11.. He who is here named in the second place, Mark of Lisbon, published at Salamanca in the year 1570 the Chronicles of the order of Minors; which work before the year 1606 de Sousa rendered into Spanish, Blancone into French, and de Diola into Italian. Of Gonzaga we made mention at the beginning. Bartholomew Cimarelli, who comes next, likewise published Chronicles of the order of Minors at Venice in the year 1618. The Franciscan Martyrology of Arthur du Monstier, in which also Blessed Francis is celebrated at the 12th of September, saw the light at Paris in the year 1638; and the Lives of the saints and blesseds of Foligno of Ludovico Jacobilli in the year 1656. Hueber's Menology, in which the name of the servant of God also comes forward with praise, was published at Munich in the year 1698. The Spiritual Palm, or Universal Legend of the order of Minors, in which likewise under the 12th of September a brief praise of Blessed Francis is contained, was given to the public in Flemish by its author Benignus Fremaut at Ghent in the year 1708. Benedict Mazzara of Sulmona in the Franciscan Legendary, which he had printed at the press of Venice in the year 1722, likewise praised Blessed Francis. I omit many others; and indeed the catalogue of writers which I have just given could have been shortened, since only Mariano of Florence, Mark of Lisbon, and Francesco Gonzaga have given testimonies from their own knowledge, while all the rest have done nothing but repeat their statements. And indeed Gonzaga relates only those few things that we have given above from him; Cimarelli, who used the writings of Mariano of Florence, has nothing that is not read in Mark of Lisbon; so that this man, if you except a few things more recently discovered, is the sole witness of all that is to be said.
[3] [but they have handed down few things to memory. He was born at Caldarola, where in his lifetime a house of Conventuals was founded.] For the rest, very little is known about Blessed Francis. From the surname of Caldarola it is understood that he was born in this place. This town is indeed small, inasmuch as it contains only 1673 inhabitants Indice alfabetico di tutti i luoghi del stato pontificio, pag. 33. Romæ, 1836.; but very pleasant, being situated on the slope of a hill between the streams Fiastra and Chienti, and having behind it the Apennine mountains and before it a most fertile plain. It was formerly celebrated for its hot waters; and from them it had taken its name; but in the sixteenth century the channels were broken in the mountain Carufo, and they were not afterwards restored [P. Castellano, Specchio geografico-storico-politico di tutte le nazioni del globo, tom. VI, pag. 380 et seqq.]. In the neighbourhood, in the place where there was previously the chapel of St. Peter de Antiquis, the townsfolk in the year 1473 built for the Minor Conventuals a convent, called of Caldarola Waddingus, Annales Minorum, ad an. 1473, num. 16, tom. XIV, pag. 81.; whether this was done before or after the profession of Blessed Francis no one can say, since it is altogether unknown in what year of his age or of his religious life he died. Moreover, the blessed man could as easily put on the habit of St. Francis at Colfano as at Caldarola, since the convent of Colfano is next to the territory of Caldarola. Colfano, namely, is neither a parish nor a civil community; but only a hamlet, situated within the bounds (as Gonzaga rightly said) of Camporotondo and Cessapalombo; both of which parishes, of which the former contains 750 inhabitants Indice alfabetico, etc. pag. 37. and the other 599 Ibid., pag. 69., are subject to the council of Caldarola and are almost parts of this town, situated to the south. By what distraction of mind I do not know, Mark of Lisbon (whom many others have followed) confused the convent of Colfano with that of Cingoli, and wished that the blessed man had lived and departed from among the living in the latter. The convent of Cingoli was indeed also contained in the province of the Marche Gonzaga, de Origine, etc. p. 209.; but it is altogether different from that of Colfano and is situated in the episcopal city of Cingoli, annexed to the diocese of Osimo.
[4] [He lived and exercised the sacred ministry at Colfano, not at Cingoli, as some have wished.] Although Mark committed so grave an offence, he alone nevertheless explained to some extent the holiness of Blessed Francis. Wadding reports his words in Latin at the year 1507 Annales ad an. 1507, num. 30, tom. XV, pag. 375.; but not faithfully enough; wherefore I prefer to translate them from the Italian, since I lack the first edition. He says, then Summarium de dubio, etc. p. 8.: In the following year, namely 1507, Brother Francis of Caldarola completed the course of his life in the convent of Cingoli, or rather Colfano, in the province of the Marche. He was a preacher, notable for zeal, piety, and knowledge of letters; yet he always preached simple and pious things with the examples of holy morals; so that great fruit of souls resulted. So great was his love for God and piety that by night he recited the divine office and prayers, and by day he preached and heard penitents, helping souls. This charity was a great help to him in removing hatreds from hardened hearts and in restoring peace among many; in which matter he was endowed with a special grace. At the hour of his death there appeared to a certain man, placed in prayer, a great splendour, which lasted for a long time. When this man on the following morning went to the convent, he learned that at the same hour the servant of God had gone away to his Lord. He was buried by the people with great piety, and many who commended themselves to him obtained the graces and benefits they asked for.
[5] The mount of piety, the origin of which institution in central Italy Mark of Lisbon omitted to speak of the excellent institution which Blessed Francis promoted at Caldarola after the example of so many other Friars Minor. But the matter must be taken up a little further back. After the middle of the fifteenth century Italy had been so greatly exhausted by civil and foreign wars that the greater part of families, having struggled in vain with want, took money from Jews and other usurers, at a fixed interest of seventy or eighty per cent Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione ecclesiastica, V° Monti di pietà.. Who first brought a remedy to this evil is not altogether established, although all agree that this is the praise of the Friars Minor. Mariotti contends De' Perugini auditori di rota, p. 207. that Blessed James of the Marche, a man notable in every respect, first established a mount in the year 1458 at Ascoli, which was his homeland; that then Michael of Milan founded another at Perugia in the year 1462; and that Barnabas of Terni *, whom Wadding makes the first author of this invention Annales Minorum ad an. 1474, num. 11, tom. XIV, p. 93., only promoted the mount founded by Michael of Milan. As usually happens, says Wadding Ibid., num. 12, p. 94., this matter seemed new, and immediately had its many opponents, especially from the Order of Preachers; who, judging the contract usurious, vehemently opposed it. The matter being brought to public debate before the masters and scholars of the university of Perugia, before the priors of the city, before the clergy and the religious orders, it was sharply disputed. But at length, sentence having been given in favour of the Minors (whose chief defenders were Barnabas of Terni and Fortunatus de Capolis, who, having lost his wife, had from a most celebrated doctor of imperial law become a Minorite), immediately the citizens, after a solemn procession and a rich offering, established the work and set ministers over its operation. When a year had elapsed, expenses and the wages of the ministers being deducted, so much money remained that it had again to be discussed to what uses it ought to be converted. This at length was the opinion of a certain doctor, a most learned man, called for the excellence of his learning the truth-telling doctor, that, no agreement having been made beforehand with the ministers about wages, that year's surplus should be distributed among them. So it was done there at that time, but in other places, according to the difference of persons and the requirement of affairs, the surplus moneys are distributed otherwise.
[6] [and spread are declared, he established at Caldarola through the work of a confraternity of flagellants, to which, the title of the Annunciation being changed to Blessed Mary of the Mount,] After the pattern of this mount of Perugia others began to be salutarily established in many cities of Italy; but everywhere there was contradiction. The contradiction went so far that it had to be answered by public sermons and written books, and finally the controversy had to be decided by apostolic decrees. The mount of Orvieto was confirmed by Pius II in the year 1464; that of Perugia by Paul II in the year 1467; that of Viterbo by Sixtus IV in the year 1472; that of Savona in the year 1479; that of Mantua by Innocent VIII in the year 1486; that of Consena in the year 1488; that of Parma in the same year; that of Padua by Alexander VI in the year 1493, and finally Leo X in the tenth session of the Lateran Council, by the bull Inter multiplices, approved that institution and restrained its adversaries with ecclesiastical penalties Ibid., num. 13, p. 94 et 95.. Besides Barnabas of Terni Wadding reckons among the chief promoters Mark of Bologna, Michael of Carcano, Anthony of Vercelli, Blessed Angelo of Chivasso, and Blessed Bernardine of Feltre; but he omits Blessed James of the Marche and Blessed Francis of Caldarola, to whom this praise also is due. To speak only of the latter, when at Caldarola, in the church of Blessed Mary of the Mount, under the title of the Virgin of the Annunciation, there existed a confraternity of disciplinati or flagellants, Blessed Francis persuaded the members in the year 1491 to convert the abundant offerings which were made there to erecting a mount of piety for relieving the hardships of the poor, who were perishing from usury; whence the title of the Annunciation was changed to the surname of the Mount. These things are narrated by Pietro Castellano Specchio geografico, tom. VI, p. 381. and are confirmed by the image to be described a little below, and also by the arms with which is adorned the older reliquary casket in which the bones of the blessed man were laid up in the year 1511. For on the front part is seen a banner and two keys, arranged in the form of a cross, which device Pope Eugene IV granted to the town in the year 1434 as a token of fidelity Castellano, Specchio geografico, tom. VI, p. 683.; a cauldron set on a fire, by which Caldarola itself is more closely signified; and finally three mountains, the arms of the confraternity of St. Mary of the Mount Summarium de dubio, etc. p. 3. Cfr ibid., p. 24..
[7] a painted panel, crowned at Tolentino in the year 1814 by Pius VII, That Blessed Francis established this very confraternity, furnished it with rules, and directed it was stated in the year 1833 by twenty-nine witnesses from Caldarola or the neighbourhood; and similarly in the Lessons proposed for the approval of the Sacred Congregation of Rites it is read that Blessed Francis established that sodality: He also pursued the Virgin Mother of God, as is said there, with the tenderest devotion, whose image he gave as a gift to the sodality of the Mount, established by him: which image, notable for miracles, Pius VII, on his return from exile, at Tolentino in the basilica
of St. Nicholas adorned with a golden crown with his own hands, and enriched, as is added in the synopsis of the Life, with a number of indulgences. Castellano Specchio geografico, tom. VI, p. 381., who seems to have had excellent commentaries on Caldarola, declares that this sodality was older; and certainly most confraternities of flagellants arose before the century 1400. It is much more likely, therefore, that the blessed man used the efforts of the confraternity in establishing the mount of piety, and was their author only in so far as he made benefactors out of flagellants. But Castellano agrees that the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary was given as a gift by the blessed man to the sodality of the Mount. He declares besides that it was painted with angelic forms on panels of olive wood; that in the year 1770 it was placed in a most magnificent building, erected by the excellent architect Augustoni, and that it was crowned in the church of St. Nicholas at Tolentino by Pius VII on the 17th of May of the year 1814. And indeed it is established from elsewhere Cfr Moroni, Dizionario, V° Tolentino, p. 325. that Pius VII, returning to his dominions, came from Recanati to Tolentino on the 17th of May of the year 1814; that in the evening his return was celebrated with the greatest festivity; that the pontiff spent the night in the palace of the counts Silveri and on the next day went away to Foligno. There is therefore no doubt that Pius VII in fact crowned that image, although this is commonly passed over, perhaps because the crown was not procured from the legacy of Count Alexander Sforza Pallavicini, who, as no one is unaware, provided by his testament in the year 1636 that every year some of the more celebrated statues should be crowned from his inheritance by the chapter of St. Peter's at Rome.
[8] and in which many things are represented, he gave as a gift. But it pleases me to hear on the form of this image Emidio Pallotta, one of the experts, who on the 17th of May of the year 1842 gave a judgment on the antiquity of some things from which it seemed possible to demonstrate the immemorial cult of Blessed Francis. This image, he says Summarium super dubio, etc. p. 6 et 7., is six palms, two inches high; three palms, five inches wide… It is painted in good style, nearly in the manner of the Perugian. The head of the Most Holy Virgin, who occupies the upper and principal part of the panel, inclines to the right, surrounded by these words: Ave, maris stella, in polished gold letters. Around her bosom is seen an unrolled scroll of fiery colour, on which, likewise in polished gold letters, but difficult to read through age, is inscribed: These words are omitted. With her hands turned to the earth the Blessed Virgin herself holds a scroll, inscribed with those obscure words. On each ring finger a ring is placed as far as the first joint. The action of Mary is uncertain; so that whether she is standing on her feet does not appear. On the right is painted the little boy Jesus, not supported by the arm of the Virgin; he himself embraces his mother's neck with his left hand. In smaller form there are painted there besides some saints, namely St. Martin of Tours, the patron, St. Gregory, martyr of Spoleto; and behind them the duke of Varano, who at that time was Julius Cæsar; on the other side St. Francis of Assisi, St. Anthony of Padua, and two flagellant members. On a level with the head of the Most Holy Virgin are symmetrically arranged eight other saints, of whom only SS. Peter and Sebastian can be distinguished, with the Roman pontiff then reigning. In the middle of the panel is painted Caldarola, as it formerly was … There are also painted there many members in the dress of processioners, clothed in a sack, with their heads covered with a hood. At the bottom edge is read: Under the year of the Lord 1491 Laurentius S. Pist *. As that panel is called the Most Holy Lady of the Mount, so there are painted in it two money chests with books placed on top and many keys, and before the chests is written: Conserva, conserva, conserva. Mount of the Virgin; and on the right is seen a plate, full of gold coins, by which the mount of piety is signified.
[9] Blessed Francis died in the year 1507, but on what day is not known. On the year of the death of Blessed Francis all agree; but the day lies wrapped in darkness. That the blessed man died on the 25th of July, or the 8th before the Kalends of August, of the year 1507 is asserted in the decree of approval of cult; but in the Lessons granted the day is prudently omitted. Mark of Lisbon, Gonzaga, Cimarelli, Wadding, and others, whose books are not distributed through the individual days of the year, say nothing about the day; but those who follow the order of the calendar could not avoid assigning the natal day of the most holy man under a fixed day. Ludovico Jacobilli Summarium de dubio, etc., p. 8., therefore, in his book on the saints and blesseds of Umbria placed the name of Blessed Francis under the 25th of July, on which he openly relates that he died. On the other hand Arthur du Monstier in the Martyrology of the Minors Ibid., p. 12., Hueber in the Menology Ibid., p. 9., Benedict Mazzara in the Legendary Ibid., p. 10., and Benignus Fremaut in the Spiritual Palm Den geestelycken Palmboom, September, p. 218. celebrate the memory of Blessed Francis on the 12th of September, taking care not to say that he departed on this day to those above. In the Summary of the doubt on immemorial cult Pag. 24. there is a notice, having the form of a prayer to Blessed Francis, by which the people are invited to celebrate a triduum preceding the day of the death of the blessed citizen. The year and day are omitted; but this document is recent and pertains to the annual triduum, celebrated in the month of September and established in memory of the solemn translation of the body, carried out on the 19th of August of the year 1810 Summarium de dubio, etc. p. 17 et seqq., when, the convent being suppressed, the relics were carried to the church of Blessed Mary of the Mount: the twenty-nine witnesses of Caldarola, who on the 28th of August of the year 1833 made deposition about the cult of Blessed Francis, know no other triduum Ibid., p. 28.: so that those who promoted this institution in the year 1810 believed that the blessed man departed from this earth on the 12th of September. We shall see below that the court of Caldarola had long been accustomed to carry votive wax every year to Colfano to the tomb of Blessed Francis; but nothing can be concluded from this, since this does not take place at a fixed time, but on some day of the month of May Ibid., p. 22., or rather in spring or summer Ibid., p. 28..
Annotations* Terni
* Orvieto
* Gonfalone
* Pict.?
§ II. The cult of Blessed Francis, at first very slight, then increased to some extent, and finally approved by the Sacred Congregation of Rites.
In the year 1509 his image was painted with rays and placed in a private house; It is manifest that Blessed Francis died with a reputation for holiness; Mark of Lisbon narrates that he was buried by the people with much piety, and that those who commended themselves to his prayers obtained the graces and benefits they asked for: so that immediately after his death he seems to have been honoured, yet with a cult rather popular than ecclesiastical. But two years later greater honours began to be paid to him. For in the year 1509 Venanzio Pallotta, great-grandfather of Cardinal Evangelista Pallotta, a contemporary of Blessed Francis, since he seems to have been born in the year 1474 Ibid., p. 30., had a small image painted on canvas, in which is shown a half-length effigy of the blessed man, his right hand pressing his breast, his left extended to the ground holding a book, and his head surrounded by rays of golden colour; at whose lower edge these words are written: True effigy of Blessed Francis of Caldarola, in the year 1509 Ibid., p. 2, 6 et 30.. This matter, however, is somewhat difficult. Civalli, provincial of the Minor Conventuals, who, while Evangelista Pallotta was alive and clothed with the sacred purple, visited Caldarola and inquired to some extent into the affairs of this cardinal, composed another genealogy. For on his testimony [Visita triennale nella Marca Anconitana, ap. Colucci, Antichità Picene, tom. XXV, p. 159.], Vincent Pallotta, a very experienced physician, begot Parisius and John Anthony; Parisius begot Desiderius, and Desiderius begot the cardinal. But whether Vincent or Venanzio Pallotta was the great-grandfather of the cardinal, there is no doubt that someone of this house procured that image, since it was preserved in that family, until John Joseph Amici, councillor and doctor of both laws, who, nearly eighty years old, gave testimony on this matter in the year 1833, with the consent of Count Desiderius Pallotta, carried it from his house into the church of Blessed Mary of the Mount Summarium super dubio, etc. p. 30.. That image, then, was not originally destined for public but for private cult.
[11] [his heart seems to have been placed in a reliquary casket immediately after his death, and his body raised above the ground in the year 1511; then at an uncertain time an image was made and exposed in the church.] If you listen to the author of the Synopsis of his life Informatio, p. 3., the body of Blessed Francis would never have been buried in the ground, but immediately after his death would have been honourably laid up in the church of the convent above the altar, enclosed in the wall. But it is much more likely to me that the elevation of the body took place in the year 1511, which is inscribed on the old chest in this manner: Body of Blessed Francis of Caldarola, in the year of salvation 1511 Summarium super dubio, p. 5.. Already before this the heart had been taken out of the body and placed in an old gilded copper stylobate, made in the fourteenth or the beginning of the fifteenth century, on which images of the Saviour, the Mother of God, and some apostles are engraved, and enclosed by four crystals joined together with silver. It seems most likely that this was done immediately after his death, since later the muscle could hardly have been cut out of a dried or dissolved body Informatio, p. 7.: which excision of the heart, whether the plan was to expose it publicly, or to keep it secretly and reverently, is a manifest indication of how great a veneration Blessed Francis was held in by his brothers. Somewhat later an image was painted, which was exposed above the coffin placed on the altar. In the upper part is shown the Blessed Virgin and opposite her the Saviour, holding a cross in his hand. Before the Virgin, to the left of the viewers, is painted Blessed Francis, his head surrounded by yellow rays. He is clothed in a garment of ashen colour and of the form used by the Observants, and on bended knees seems to pray for his homeland Caldarola, which is painted below. The two experts who first examined this image in the year 1842 judged that it was painted in the first years of the sixteenth century; but the former, little consistent with himself, declared at the same time that the drawing savoured of the school of Federico Barocci Summarium super dubio, etc. p. 4., who was only born in the year 1528 Annotationes promotoris super dubio, etc. p. 4.. Afterwards, therefore, two other more skilled experts were sent, who declared that this image savoured of the manner and style of the schools that existed at the end of the sixteenth century Summarium additionale, p. 3.. No other arguments have been adduced by which it might be shown that Blessed Francis of Caldarola was publicly venerated
a hundred years before the decrees of Urban VIII, or that ecclesiastical honours were paid to him before the year 1534. And of these that the one argument is certainly valid which was drawn from the elevation of the body I scarcely need note.
[12] [At the end of the sixteenth century he was most certainly commonly called Blessed Francis. At the close of the eighteenth century his body was less cared for;] Although, then, the veneration of Blessed Francis had very slender beginnings, it nevertheless grew little by little, and at the close of the sixteenth century he was commonly called Blessed Francis at Caldarola. Of this fact I wish to adduce one witness, Horace Civalli, Minor Conventual, whom I have already designated by name elsewhere. For he, when in the year 1594 he had been created minister provincial of the Marche, and by his office had to visit all the convents of the province within three years, thus also reviewed at that time the convent of Caldarola; and since by a praiseworthy plan he noted down whatever seemed worthy of memory, he did not omit, when he was at Caldarola, to speak of Blessed Francis. First he compresses what Mark of Lisbon relates of Blessed Francis and calls him Un F. Francesco de Calderola a Brother Francis of Calderola; but immediately afterwards, speaking from what he had heard and unaware that he was dealing with the same man, he adds: At Colfano, which is a place of the Observant Fathers a little distant from Caldarola, rests the body of Blessed Francis of Caldarola Collucci, Antichità Picene, tom. XXV, p. 159.: which testimony is the more notable, the less agreement there was in that age between Conventuals and Observants. Since, then, Blessed Francis had a reputation for sanctity and the name of blessed commonly among the people of Caldarola, and his body was placed above the altar in two chests, of which the inner was composed of crystal walls, so that when on certain days the outer was opened the body itself could be seen, the piety and religion of the people could not but be stirred. But at the close of the eighteenth century the care of the Colfano Minors themselves seems to have grown cold, so that Brother Louis Anthony of Cotignola, commissary visitor, in reviewing that house, ordered about the beginning of the year 1794 that it should be clothed in a decent habit or garment proper to the habit of the Observants and better placed. Wherefore the visitor himself and John Anthony of Morrovalle, guardian of Colfano, asked the people of Caldarola to contribute money, with which expenses might be met for keeping more safely and more reverently the body and especially the heart, which was being kept negligently Summarium super dubio, etc. p. 16.. But some years later much graver fates loomed over the sacred remains.
[13] [which, the convent of Colfano being suppressed and then restored, was translated twice.] For when on the 25th of April of the year 1810 the Emperor Napoleon I had decreed that the convent of Colfano, no differently from innumerable others, was to be suppressed, the house, the church, and everything in them were adjudged to the treasury. Matters had thus come to the point that the cult of Blessed Francis would utterly perish. But the court of Caldarola asked of de Benincosa, archbishop of Camerino, that it might be permitted to transfer the body of their blessed citizen into the church of Blessed Mary of the Mount. Wherefore the prelate asked Baron Cavalier, prefect of the province (prefetto del departimento del Tronto), for the body of Blessed Francis. By a letter of the 26th of June the prefect assented. And so on the 19th of August Peter Croci, on behalf of Cosmo Cesare, administrator of the treasury possessions, handed over to Anthony Mariotti, provost of the parish church of St. Martin, and to the syndic Peter Lucarelli the holy pledge, which, by authority of the archbishop granted five days before, was translated from the old casket into a new one and closed with the archiepiscopal seal; while the heart was replaced in the old casket. Then, many presbyters accompanying, all these relics were carried into the church of St. Mary of the Mount and placed above the altar of St. Peter on the Epistle side in a cupboard closed with two keys, one to be kept by the provost, the other by the town magistrate Ibid., p. 18 et 19.. But when the Observants had been restored at Colfano, they asked that the remains of their brother be given back to them; which at length on the 10th of October of the year 1826 Nicholas of the counts Matthæi, archbishop of Camerino, ordered to be given back to them through the provost Anthony Mariotti and to be replaced under the altar, already long called that of Blessed Francis, in the church of Colfano. This was carried out with most solemn pomp, the regular and secular clergy, the court of the town, and a great multitude of people accompanying, on the 13th of July of the year 1828.
And indeed after the sacrifice of the Mass, celebrated before the exposed relics, the coffin in which the body is contained and the crystal pyx in which the heart is enclosed (the stylobate or foot being removed and carried into the sacristy) were placed under the table of the altar; and since that pyx and the coffin, no differently from the former chest, are closed with crystal, a wooden custody was put around them, secured with several keys. Care was also taken that the old empty chest should not perish; wherefore it was replaced above the altar which is called that of Blessed Francis.
[14] How the cult was confirmed and the office granted. Hence the veneration of the blessed man was greatly increased, and at length thought was given to asking for the approval of his cult. In the year 1833, therefore, on the 28th of August, there was drawn up a brief account of the public veneration in which the servant of God was held before the memory of men; to which twenty-nine witnesses subscribed Ibid., p. 28 et seqq.. Then in the years 1841 and 1842 documents were collected in authentic form, by which it might be established that that veneration had begun a hundred years before the Urbanian decrees and had thereafter never been interrupted; relying on which, Brother Aloysius of Lucca, superior of the Roman province of the Observants and postulator general of the order, asked the Sacred Congregation of Rites to be willing to declare that the case excepted by Urban VIII was established Informatio, p. 2.. The cause was pleaded in the session of the 17th of June of the year 1843 and approved with a white stone on the 1st of September. Wherefore on the 31st of October following, Cajetan, archbishop of Camerino, asked of the Holy See that it might be permitted in his diocese to celebrate every year the feast of Blessed Francis with double rite; and that the same might be permitted in the Order of the Observants on the 25th of October, which was the first day not impeded and free in the calendar of the order, was requested by Joseph of Alessandria, minister general of the Observants. These prayers also were granted; and thence in the Seraphic Martyrology, or supplement to the Roman Martyrology, the following encomium is read under the aforesaid day: At Colfano in Picenum within the bounds of the diocese of Camerino the deposition of Blessed Francis of Calderola, confessor and excellent preacher of our seraphic order, who showed himself to be admired for piety, learning, and zeal for the salvation of souls, and shone after his death with the glory of miracles. We omit the proper Lessons; we prefer to recite the decree on approving the cult, since this kind of record is not within reach of all.
DECREE
BY WHICH THE CULT OF BLESSED FRANCIS OF CALDAROLA WAS CONFIRMED BY THE AUTHORITY OF GREGORY XVI.
The holiness of Blessed Francis and his pious zeal and charity in gaining souls. Among the venerable men who in the fifteenth century, as faithful heralds of the Gospel, both made illustrious the province of Picenum a and composed the life of the faithful to holier morals by word and examples, must deservedly be reckoned Brother Francis of Calderola, born indeed in a humble place within the bounds of the diocese of Camerino, but of honest parents b, who, from his first years having obtained a good disposition, by the inspiration of divine grace, gave his name to the seraphic order among the Observants c; where he pronounced solemn vows, and made the greatest progress both in human and in sacred sciences. Distinguished with the priesthood, assiduous in prayers, he shone with singular piety: and although he was strong in extraordinary erudition, yet in his sermons, in order to gain the richest harvest of souls, he deliberately set forth humble things consonant with piety: for that reason a very great multitude flocked to hear him d, and many were converted to penitence by his efforts. And although assiduous instruction of this kind for the people, and especially the administration of the sacrament of penance, wholly claimed his time by day, yet by night he was accustomed to refresh his mind with pious prayers and meditation, and to draw nearer to God: and so, proceeding in true charity toward God himself and his neighbour, he attained a firm reputation for sanctity; and he was heaped with a particular gift of settling private suits, of reconciling the quarrels of citizens, of wholly rooting out hatreds; and so wholly was he in these things for the whole time of his life that he spared no industry, no labours at all, and, made all things to all men, simple, upright, humble, he brought forth almost innumerable sons for Christ. Having always in all things had God alone in view, worn out by maceration of the body and by works, on the eighth before the Kalends of August in the year 1507, full of merits, in the cœnobium of Colfano, which is a town near Calderola, built by the seraphic patriarch, he joyfully saw his last day and most placidly fell asleep in the Lord.
[2] [His immemorial cult approved by the Sacred Congregation of Rites in the year 1843.] His body, with a great concourse of peoples, was honourably laid up in the adjoining church above the altar, in an urn enclosed in the wall e, and to all who were present the graces which they asked for were granted by God through the merits of Blessed Francis, and they are continually, as is reported f, granted at his tomb, and frequent miracles are worked. Therefore he began to be held in the greatest veneration among all: painted panels with indications of sanctity g, lamps lit h, wax candles offered i, public processions to his tomb twice a year k with the intervention of the magistrate were established, a feast was celebrated every year l, more than once the translation of the body was carried out with the consent of the prelates of Camerino m, and the heart was separately enclosed again in an artfully worked reliquary and exposed n: hence among contemporary or later writers [o] he was decorated with the title of Blessed, and his name was listed in the menology of the order [p]. Pondering these and similar [q] things of public and ecclesiastical cult, shown from the day of the death of the Venerable Francis up to these times, the Rev. Fr. Brother Joseph of Alessandria, minister general of the whole order of Minors of St. Francis of the Observance and of the Reformed, and postulator of the cause, most humbly asked of the Congregation of Sacred Rites that that cult should be formally approved according to custom. And this Congregation, gathered in ordinary session at the Vatican on the day written below, having heard the report made by the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord Cardinal Aloysius Lambruschini, bishop of Sabina, ponent, all things being maturely and diligently weighed and attentively considered, and the replies given by the defenders to the animadversions being seen, and having heard the Rev. Fr. D. Andrew Maria Frattini, promoter of the holy faith, who disclosed his opinion in writing and by voice, judged that it should write that the case excepted from the decrees of Pope Urban VIII of holy memory is established. The 17th of June 1843. On all of which a faithful report having afterwards been made by me, the undersigned secretary, to our Most Holy Lord Pope Gregory XVI, His Holiness approved the rescript of the Sacred Congregation, and confirmed the public and immemorial cult shown to Blessed Francis of Calderola, professed priest of the order of Minors of St. Francis of the Observance. On the 1st day, in the month of September, of the same year.
C. M. bishop of Porto, Card. Pedicini, vice-chancellor of the Holy Roman Church and prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Rites. Place † of the seal. J. G. Fatati, secretary of the Sacred Congregation of Rites.
ANNOTATIONS.
Rightly is it said contemporary or later writers; for only one contemporary is found to have written about Blessed Francis, namely Mariano of Florence; but it is unknown whether he gave him the title of Blessed. The promoter of the faith proposed the following objectional Summary, which the advocates of the cause tried in vain to overturn. The promoter of the faith could have added Civalli, whom the postulator of the cause produced in the additional Summary and whom we mentioned in n. 12 of our Preliminary Commentary.
p. In the Menology of the order the servant of God is not called blessed; but Hueber, the author of the Menology, studiously abstained from this title, which Arthur with his usual liberality gave him in the Franciscan Martyrology; but he will in this place have been more severe than is just.
q. The twenty-nine witnesses of Caldarola, who in the year 1833 made deposition on immemorial cult, said that daily, according to old custom, in the church of Blessed Mary of the Mount, there are recited by the members in his honour five Paters and Aves. Other indications of cult are hidden from me.