ON BL. DAMIAN OF FINALE, ALSO CALLED FURCHERI, CONFESSOR, NOT A BISHOP, OF THE ORDER OF FRIARS PREACHERS,
AT REGGIO EMILIA IN ITALY
IN THE YEAR MCDLXXXIV
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY
Damian of Finale, also called Furcheri, confessor, not a bishop, of the Order of Friars Preachers, at Reggio Emilia. (S.)
BY V. D. B.
§ I. The homeland of Bl. Damian, his religious profession, apostolic labours, writings, virtues, the time of his life.
From the renowned family of the Preachers, to use the words of the Fathers of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, as from a most abundant mine, men illustrious for holiness have continually come forth; [Bl. Damian, whose name Pope Pius IX granted to be inscribed in the Martyrology of the Friars Preachers,] among whom in the 15th century is reckoned Fr. Damian Furcheri of Finale; of whom we must speak on this day in our Acta of the Saints, and on this account: not because he closed his life on it, but because Pope Pius IX (whom may God long preserve unharmed for His church!) in the year 1848 willed that his feast should henceforth be celebrated festively on the 26th day of October; granting to the Friars Preachers that in his honour they should perform the ecclesiastical office and the mass every year with double rite, and should recite his elogium in the Martyrology in these words: At Reggio Emilia, of blessed Damian Furcheri of Finale; who joined innocence of life with an equal chastisement of the body; inflamed with zeal for preaching, he became an excellent herald and after death was renowned for miracles. Upon which we note, as it were in advance, that he is called Furcheri because he is said to have been born of the family of the Furcheri; and of Finale, because he first saw the light in a neighbouring village; finally, that his memory is attached to Reggio Emilia, since from there he flew to heaven. No Life of him survives, nor contemporary documents; indeed his name is read in none of the Legendaries of the Friars Preachers; so that fifteen years ago he was commonly unknown to his own confrères. Nevertheless we have sufficient indications from which it may be known that he was a man pre-eminently religious and that he began to be publicly venerated immediately after his death: as in the year 1848 the Sacred Congregation of Rites decreed to be established. All of which must be set out a little more clearly.
[2] [he was born near Finale, of the noble (as they will have it) family of the Furcheri;] If from Nice, once a city of Italy, now of France, you go along the sea-shore to Genoa, midway on the journey between Albenga and Savona you come to a village which in the age of the Romans was called Ad Fines; then simply Fine, or also Finar, Finale and Finarium, now commonly Final. It is, however, divided today into three towns; of which one, because there was once a castle there, is called Final Borgo; the second, because it is nearer the sea (it sits on the road by which one goes from Nice to Genoa), Finale Marina; the third, which is of lesser importance, Final Pia. It was once contained in the March, or Marquisate, of Savona, and was part of the patrimony of the celebrated Aleramo, from whom the marquises del Carretto are descended. From the beginning of the 12th century the Marquisate of Finale is recorded in diplomas; but it was held by the marquises of Savona; and so only in the year 1268 did it have lords of its own, of whom the first was Antonio Terzo of Finale. It had fallen to him because the three sons of Giacomo del Carretto had divided the paternal inheritance among themselves: which state of things, notable for many wars and calamities, lasted until after the middle of the 16th century. Its head was Finale Borgo, at first having only thirteen villages under it; which number, because there was at one time some prosperity there, grew to nineteen, besides Finale Borgo and Marina [Casalis, Dizionario geografico degli stati del Re di Sardegra, volume VI, page 638 and following]. Among these townships or villages comes Pertum, commonly Perti, situated on a hill, a thousand paces from Finale Borgo Ibid. volume XIV, page 388 and following. There survives there the old church of St. Sebastian, which was once the abbatial title of Cardinal Domenico del Carretto, but now, and indeed for a long time, is a property of the Friars Preachers of Finale. Not far from there lies a plain whose common name is il Piano dei Fulcheri, and a house or villa called Villa Folcheri; where they will have it (since, as those Friars Preachers declared in the year 1844, such is the constant tradition of all the inhabitants of the March of Finale, with which agrees an inscription, not very ancient, which is preserved in that church of St. Sebastian) that Bl. Damian came into the light Confirmation of cult, Positio super casu excepto, pages 16 and 17; whom accordingly they have said was born at Finale in Liguria of a family of the Furcheri as noble as it was wealthy: the older writers, however, seem not to have known of his noble lineage.
[3] [marvels are related by more recent writers of his boyhood; he becomes a Friar Preacher;] Since he is related to have come to a great old age and to have died in the year 1484, it is not to be doubted that he first saw the day about the beginning of the 15th century. In that same inscription, which we regret is not older, he is said, as newly born, as they relate, to have been stolen away by a madwoman, then to have been found by the sign of a light at a beast kneeling down. They will have it that from boyhood he excelled in holiness of life, since on the reliquary of Vigevano this verse is read inscribed: He died never wounded by mortal sin; whose authority would be greater if it were of greater antiquity than it appears. By Andrea Rovetta
[Bibliotheca chronologica illustrium virorum Provinciae Lombardiae sacri ordinis Praedicatorum, Bologna, in the year 1691, page 71.] of Brescia, Bl. Damian is called a nursling of the province of Lombardy, namely of Upper Lombardy Quétif and Echard, Scriptores ordinis Praedicatorum, volume II, page 920: for only in the year 1500 were the two Lombard provinces, which had existed separately from the beginnings of the order, fused into one. But since the convent of Reggio as well as that of Finale were contained within Upper Lombardy, we cannot understand from this of which of the two he was a son; although it seems much more probable that he put on the habit of the Preachers in the convent of St. Catherine at Finale, founded in the year 1359, and built by the order and at the expense of Emmanuele, Aleramo and Arighetto, marquises of Finale Canalis, volume VI, page 642.
[4] [his labours and virtues are praised by writers nearly contemporary with him, by whom he is related to have died in the year 1484;] In an instrument which we shall give below in full, and which the Preachers of Reggio, certainly the best of witnesses, drew up in the year 1503, nineteen years after his death, he is called a man clear in his manner of life, notable in reputation, marvellous in fame, pleasing in devotion, gentle in humility, placid in obedience, sweet in kindness, compassionate in piety, constant in patience, outstanding in charity, a most zealous and most vigorous preacher and herald of the divine word, and composed with maturity in all his conduct. What could be added to these praises I do not see. Nor was this the opinion of the Friars of Reggio only; but of others too. For since in that charter it is a question of granting the arm of the blessed man to the Friars of the convent of St. Peter Martyr of Viglebanum, commonly Vigevano, it is also said that there, where as a preacher he had passed more than once while he lived among men, he was venerated with great affection. At the same time, and indeed almost from the death of Bl. Damian, Ambrogio Taegio, born at Milan and having embraced the institute of the Preachers in the same city in the recent convent of St. Mary of the Graces, was applying his mind to the knowledge of the history of the order, collecting original acts and memorials of every kind and composing from them a general chronicle of the order, divided into six manuscript parchment volumes in folio, which are customarily cited by the common title of the Monumenta of the order Quétif and Echard, volume II, page 33. As, therefore, that nearly contemporary writer is witness in part II, Bl. Damian was a man of fervent charity, of profound humility, of wonderful abstinence, of the greatest zeal for the salvation of souls, outstanding in devotion, devout in prayer, holy in life, renowned in learning, and composed with every uprightness of conduct. When, moreover, he had preached long and in many communities fruitfully and most fervently, and had converted many to the true and right rule of living, being at Reggio, with great fervour and devotion of spirit, having first received all the sacraments of the Christian religion, that most holy soul, laden with merits, loosed from the flesh, happily sought the heavens in the year of the Lord 1484. He was buried, moreover, in the church of the aforesaid convent (of Reggio Emilia); where afterwards he also shone with very many miracles.
[5] in which matter some others have erred; A few years afterwards, namely in the year 1517, Leandro Alberti, a most distinguished man of Bologna, had printed at Bologna six books on the illustrious men of the order of Preachers gathered into one (such is the title of the work), in which in the margin of folio 248 one reads Bl. Damian of Finale; but in the text itself: Damian of Finale, a man endowed with wonderful charity, and a vehement and assiduous preacher of the sacred word, died at Reggio Emilia in MCCCCL; where he is venerated with special veneration, shining with miracles. Whether the year 1450 in place of the year 1484 crept in by the error of the printer or of the author I cannot say; but it is a certain and manifest slip. For the writings of Taegio himself lit the way for Leandro, as he professes in these words De viris illustribus ordinis Praedicatorum, folio 153: Behold, while we are speaking, Ambrose of Milan comes, displaying a very lengthy Chronicle of the order of Preachers, put together by him with the greatest studies, the greatest vigils and the greatest labours, to make the order illustrious. Whose diligent labour we must praise and approve, the more so because he has supplied us with a part of his labours. He thus read there (for he abridged Taegio's statements) not the year 1450, but 1484. Nevertheless, although Antonio of Siena, also called the Lusitanian, also saw Taegio's writings Quétif and Echard, volume II, page 33, he yet followed Leandro; whose error (and no wonder, since he is called by his own confrères Ibid. page 272 a not very accurate historian) he took into the Chronicle of the order of Friars Preachers which he published at Paris in the year 1585. For reviewing the most splendid camps of the blessed: In the year, he says Chronicum etc. page 248, 1450 there died at Reggio Brother Damian of Finale, an excellent preacher, a holy man, and powerful and renowned in the virtue of miracles: which words, however changed, were clearly taken from Leandro Alberti. From Antonio of Siena the writer of the Indiculus of some blessed, martyrs and confessors, of the sacred order of Preachers, appended at the end of the Martyrology of the order of Preachers printed at Rome in the year 1604, drew his statements, where one reads Indiculus etc. page 96: Fr. Damian of Finale, a holy man and powerful in the working of miracles, exchanged temporal life for eternal at Reggio.
[6] [the blessed man is likewise praised by Michele Pio, and the elevation of his body is narrated;] Leaving aside, therefore, Leandro and his followers, let us come to others. In the year 1607 Giovanni Michele Pio, by nation a Bolognese, by profession a lector of theology among the Friars Preachers, published at Bologna in Italian in the year 1607 the first part of the illustrious men of the order of St. Dominic; where he joined together Bl. Damian of Finale and Bl. Vincent of Finale, sharers of the same homeland, professed of the same institute, probably dwellers and companions of the same house, and ornaments of the same age (for the former died in the year 1484, the latter about the year 1450), following Taegio and what he calls the Relations of Lombardy. Finale, he says Degli nomini illustri etc. book I, column 120 and following, of Brother Damian and Brother Vincent; which Fathers, while they lived, were the most brilliant lights of their order. In the former shone profound humility, fervent charity and marvellous zeal in procuring the salvation of his neighbour. His companions were prayer and fasting: by the help of the one he tamed his body; by the other he kept his mind always raised to the heavens. He was learned and a most celebrated preacher of the divine word. For a long time he travelled through Italy and by his fervent preaching led many to sincere penance. He died at Reggio in the year 1484, after he had received the sacraments with the greatest ardour of spirit. Buried in the church of his order, for some time he worked graces and many miracles. Very many years afterwards the body, taken out of its first tomb, was found whole, inviolate and incorrupt and was laid up again near the altar of St. Christopher, where this epitaph is read inscribed: Here rest the bones of the excellent herald, and of most upright life, Brother Damian of Finale, of the order of Preachers, taken from human affairs. I omit what he has about Bl. Vincent, although he enjoys a public cult, not however approved Semeria, Secoli cristiani della Liguria, volume II, page 256; since it bears on this from too far off: much more Bl. Catherine of Finale, who also is buried in the church of the Preachers of Finale and is honoured by the people Ibid., at the page cited.
[7] Bl. Damian left some writings Not only by words but also by the pen did Damian promote the glory of God, the honour of the saints and the salvation of his neighbour. For the one I have already indicated above, Andrea Rovetta of Brescia, who in the year 1691 published at Bologna the Bibliotheca chronologica of the illustrious men of the province of Lombardy of the sacred order of Preachers, attends him with these praises Bibliotheca chronologica, page 71: Brother Damian of Finale, a Ligurian, a nursling of the province of Lombardy, a man celebrated not so much for learning as for holiness of life, who is also numbered by some among the blessed. He, so that he might the more easily and fruitfully put out to heavenly interest, for the gain of his neighbours, the talent entrusted to him by the Lord, applied himself to the study of the sacred Scriptures even in the night watches, so that in a very short time, although to his own very grave discomfort, he most learnedly wrote a codex of sermons de tempore, likewise another book of sermons on the saints, and another book of pious meditations, and many other things, which are kept in the library of St. Dominic at Genoa. Of his writings Echard and Quétif knew no more, holding it enough to have recited the words of Leandro Alberti and something from Rovetta. From all of which we know almost this one thing, that he was an excellent disciple of St. Dominic, diligently discharging the office of preaching and successful in bringing souls back to the rule of Christian life, and accordingly held by his brethren as a saint and worthy of the honours of the heavenly ones.
§ II. The cult of Bl. Damian at Reggio, Vigevano, Bologna, Perti and Finale. Relics. Approval of the cult.
The cult of Bl. Damian at Reggio Emilia; Since Bl. Damian had departed from the living with so great a fame of virtues and holiness, it is no wonder that, since in that age the old decrees of the Roman pontiffs on the veneration of pious men had fallen into disuse, in Italy above all, and the new ones of Urban VIII came out only a century and a half later, he began at once after his death to be publicly venerated at Reggio, at Finale and in other towns: which indications of cult we shall now review in the order of places rather than of time. Reggio, where the blessed man ceased to live, is a town more than sufficiently known, situated between Parma and Modena, once Regium Lepidi, now called Reggio di Modena, to distinguish it from other Reggios. There is no reason for us to treat here of its fortunes, whether secular or ecclesiastical; since these may be found everywhere. The Friars Preachers, however, who in the year 1484 inhabited the convent of St. Dominic there, before they committed the body of Bl. Damian to the earth, seem to have cut off the left arm; to keep it in the place of a pious pledge, signifying how certain they were of his heavenly felicity and power with God. They therefore venerated him, and likewise the citizens of the town; so that in the year 1503, as one reads in a diploma of that age, Bl. Damian was held in much devotion by the people of Reggio. That he then shone with miracles we have understood above from several testimonies; by which at last it came about that he was numbered among the patrons of Reggio; as a citizen of Reggio, Fulvio Azzari, wrote in the year 1623 [Compendio dell' Istorie della città di Reggio, Reggio, 1623, in the Summary, page 13]. As we have heard from Michele Pio, the body of the blessed man had then long since been raised and found whole. At which time it was laid up in a special coffer near the altar of the Crucifix, where even now it is in veneration Semeria, Secoli cristiani della Liguria, volume II, page 237.
[9] likewise at Vigevano, to which in the year 1503 his left arm was translated, While Bl. Damian was living, the citizens of Vigevano had erected with incredible ardour (women and children had carried lime and stones) the church of St. Peter Martyr and an adjoining convent, where the Friars Preachers might take up residence. Which building, therefore, with the consent of Filippo, duke of Milan, and of Pope Eugene IV, in the year 1445
had been begun, the religious inhabitants occupied in the following year Canalis, Dizionario etc. volume XXV, pages 133 and 211. Since, moreover, Bl. Damian had often passed by there, scattering the evangelical seed all around, and had been held there in great veneration, the pious confrères, not content with the body of Bl. Matthew Carreri, or of Mantua, who had died there in the year 1470, asked of the Friars of Reggio in the year 1503 that they would share with them something of his remains. Their wishes were satisfied; as is established from the following diploma: To the venerable father, beloved to them in the Son of God, Brother Giovanni de Gravarona of the order of Preachers, superior of the convent of St. Dominic of Reggio, Brother Simone de Oscimiano of the aforesaid order, and prior of the aforementioned convent, the venerable fathers Bartolomeo de Martinengo, Fr. Antonio de Garlascho and Fr. Battista de Mediolano, all present members of the said convent of Reggio, greeting and the consolation of the Holy Spirit. Since it is just to spread, as far as human strength allows, the divine law that is to be observed in the whole world, and to venerate, and as far as possible to extol, the relics of those whose life stands out as a light and an example of holiness to those who were living in the darkness of this world. Since, therefore, in the aforesaid convent of Reggio, in years past, the venerable father Damian of Finale, of the aforesaid order of Preachers, a man clear in his manner of life, notable in reputation, marvellous in fame, pleasing in devotion, gentle in humility, placid in obedience, sweet in kindness, compassionate in piety, constant in patience, outstanding in charity, a most zealous and most vigorous preacher and herald of the divine word, and composed with maturity in all his conduct, closed his last day, whose soul we by no means doubt enjoys the divine vision on account of his innumerable merits, and he is wholly held in no * devotion of the people of Reggio.
[10] as is established from the diploma; And it has been set forth to us, and requested by the aforesaid father Brother Giovanni, that the left arm of the aforesaid Ven. Father Damian, cut off from the body many years ago now, and not laid up in any burial, be given and granted to him in the name of the convent of St. Peter Martyr of Vigevano, where the aforesaid Ven. Rev. Father Damian, while he lived among men, was venerated with great affection. We, therefore, the aforesaid prior and Friars, having maturely taken counsel upon this, assenting to the just petition of the aforesaid Brother Giovanni, and desiring to satisfy his wishes, by the tenor of these presents grant, bestow and give the said left arm of the aforesaid Father Damian of Finale to the said Father Brother Giovanni, to be carried to the said convent of Vigevano, exhorting all the Fathers and Friars of Vigevano to attend this venerable relic with what veneration and devotion they can. In faith and confirmation of which we have ordered the presents to be made, and have set the hand of each of us to them, and have commanded them to be fortified by the impression of the seal of the present convent of Reggio. Given at Reggio on the 1st day of May 1503. I, Brother Simone de Ociniano, of the order of Preachers, prior of the convent of St. Dominic of Reggio of the same order, confirm and testify that all the things written above are true, and with my own hand as witness. I, Brother Bartolomeo of Bergamo, confessor of the nuns of St. Raphael of the order of St. Benedict, of the aforesaid order of St. Dominic, affirm the aforesaid, and with my own hand as witness. — I, Brother Bartolomeo de Martinengo, of the order of Preachers, confirm the things written above, and have subscribed with my own hand as witness. I, Brother Antonio de Garlascho, confirm as above, with my own hand as witness. — I, Battista de Mediolano, Preacher, confirm and approve, with my own hand as witness. A copy of this diploma was found on the 18th day of March of the year 1847, when, with the assent of Pio Vincenzo Forzani, bishop of Vigevano, the reliquary case of Bl. Damian was opened and visited. Twenty-five years before, namely on the 23rd day of July of the year 1822, Carlo Volpi, parish priest of St. Christopher in the church of St. Peter Martyr (for when the convent of the Friars Preachers was suppressed on the 8th day of June of the year 1805, the parish of St. Christopher was transferred into their church), had placed it there signed with his name, testifying that he had copied it word for word from the original exemplar which he had found in the same place, when he was transferring the arm of Bl. Damian of Finale (as was inscribed) from an old case into a new one.
[11] similarly at Bologna and at Perti near Finale; Relics of Bl. Damian also came to Bologna, the capital of Emilia; but it is not known in what year. This, however, is established, that they already existed there in the year 1746, in which there came out in print a little index of the relics which were kept in the church of St. Dominic and the convent of the Friars Preachers at Bologna: among these a part of the bones of Bl. Damian, enclosed in an ostensory. On the 20th day of August of the year 1817 it was visited by the authority of Cardinal Carlo Oppizzoni, archbishop of Bologna; and it is still kept in the sacristy of the head of St. Dominic, to which there is no access without the intervention of the municipal officers. From here we must return to Perti, Bl. Damian's homeland. There is kept there, on a panel about nine Genoese palms high and five wide, a very old painted image of the blessed man; above which these verses are read carved in marble in very ancient characters:
Qui decus, ut nostras, est nostri, nosque tuetur, Sit nostri exemplar, gloria, spes et amor. He who is our glory, as he is of our own, and protects us, / May he be our example, glory, hope and love.
and below, likewise in marble, but partly covered with lime, these words:
[M]CCCCLXXXXIII. DIE XIII AVGVSTI HOC FECIT FIERI BERNARDVS BALESTRERIVS EX DEVOTIONE SVA. [M]CCCCLXXXXIII, on the 13th day of August. Bernardo Balestrieri [had this made] out of his devotion.
Under which words the following are painted with a more recent brush:
B. DAMIANVS FVLCHERI
IN SVI COGNOMENTI AVITO HINC PRÆDIO
RECENS NATVS, VT FERVNT, AB AMENTE SVRREPTVS
TVM AD PROCVMBENS IN GENVA BRVTVM
SIGNO LVCIS INVENTVS
PLENVM IN ANIMALEM APPETITVM PORTENDIT IMPERIVM
CVI CONSONVM
IN THECA EIVS BRACHII VIGLEBANI AB ANNO VSQVE 1503
IN ARA S. O. * CVLTI
LEGERE EST
MORTALI NVMQVAM CRIMINE LÆSVS OBIT.
[Bl. Damian Fulcheri, on the ancestral estate here of his surname, newly born, as they relate, stolen away by a madwoman, then found by the sign of a light at a beast kneeling down, foretold a full dominion over the animal appetite; in agreement with which, on the case of his arm at Vigevano, venerated on the altar S. O. * ever since the year 1503, one may read: He died never wounded by mortal sin.]
In that old panel, moreover, Bl. Damian is shown clothed in the Dominican habit, in appearance an old man, somewhat bald, his head encircled with rays, and blessing from a pulpit; at whose feet a lay brother and the people listen devoutly. Once there was a lamp there, now taken away, since the church is opened and mass celebrated only on the feast of St. Sebastian, the titular patron; but the iron by which it was held still remains. That old token of piety was examined by the painter Giacomo Maria Pino on the 20th day of April in the year 1834, in the presence of the delegate of Agostino de Mari, bishop of Savona; and again by the painters Agostino Opilia of Savona and Nicolò Orsolini of Genoa on the 26th day of October of the year 1846: all of whom judged that the painting and the letters were made about the year 1500. Formerly, similarly, in the parish church of St. Eusebius at Perti there was an image of Bl. Damian, before which candles and lamps were lit.
[12] and finally before the year 1523 at Finale in the church of St. Catherine. Immediately after his death the blessed man also began to be venerated in the church of St. Catherine of the Friars Preachers at Finale: for there before the year 1523 he was painted on the wall in the habit of the Preachers, with joined hands, kneeling before the Redeemer, who holds the signs of the Passion in his hands, with these words written at the side: BEATVS DAMIAnus Blessed Damian. All of which was covered over with lime and stones when an altar and chapel were erected there in honour of St. John the Evangelist; whose date is made certain by a stone placed there, with these words inscribed: CONSTRVCTA FVIT PRÆSENS CAPELLA ET PER LATINAM , RELICTAM ANDREI HANELI , QVÆ NON EX OBLIGATIONE ALIQVA, SED SPONTE ET IN HONOREM DEI AT BEATÆ MARIÆ NEC NON ET BEATI JOANNIS EVANGELISTÆ ILLAM CONSTRVI MANDAVIT ANNO MDXXIII, DIE VIII MAII [The present chapel was built, and by Latina , widow of Andrea Haneli , who not from any obligation, but of her own accord and in honour of God at Blessed Mary and also of Blessed John the Evangelist, ordered it to be built in the year MDXXIII, on the 8th day of May]; similarly the inscription which is read on the painted panel of St. John the Evangelist: HOC OPVS FIERI FECIT DOMINA CATINA SCANELA AD HONOREM DEI ET BEATI JOANNIS EVANGELISTÆ MDXXVI, DIE VIIII MENSIS IVLII [The lady Catina Scanela had this work made in honour of God and of Blessed John the Evangelist, MDXXVI, on the 9th day of the month of July]. Afterwards the Friars Preachers of Finale took care to preserve the pious memory of their confrère. Hence in the year 1844 they had in their archive a panel painted in the year 1636, in which were shown four Friars Preachers of Finale who had died long before with the repute of holiness: on the right B. VINCENTIVS DE ORCO FINARIENSIS, also called Maglio; on the left B. ANTONIVS DE ALBERTIS FINARIENSIS; in the middle B. DAMIANVS DE FVLCHERIIS FINARIENSIS, and at their feet, in the habit of the lay brothers, FR. IACOBVS FINARIENSIS; all four with their heads encircled with rays. In a corner this verse is read: Qui tutela, decus, quoque sint dilectio nostri 1636 May they who are our protection and glory be also our love, 1636. In the year 1761, moreover, they obtained a marble herm, placed in the sacristy in the year 1844, with the following inscription: B. Damianvs Fvlcheri de Finario, ordinis Prædicatorum, vita, scriptis, signisqve clarus 1761 [Bl. Damian Fulcheri of Finale, of the order of Preachers, renowned for his life, writings and signs, 1761].
[13] [From the year 1769 the Friars Preachers of Finale thought of procuring the equipollent beatification of Bl. Damian,] When, however, in the year 1769 the Friars Preachers of Finale were at work restoring the altar of St. John, there was by chance uncovered on the 17th day of April that old image of Bl. Damian, older than the year 1523. Already at that time, moreover, they were thinking of procuring the equipollent beatification of their confrère, that is, of showing that he had been publicly honoured a hundred years before the laws of Urban VIII on the veneration of the saints, and that accordingly it was lawful for the sacred congregation of rites to confirm and ratify that same cult. Wherefore Carlo Domenico Cavanna, prior of the convent, understanding that that image would not be useless for the end proposed, asked Ottavio Maria de Mari, bishop of Savona, who was staying at Finale, to examine it. The pious prelate did what was asked on the 28th day of September of the year 1770, two painters being employed, and the testimonies having been heard of the mason and of three other men who had seen it as soon as the image had been uncovered. At the urgent request of the same prior, and witnesses on oath having again been heard, the religious prelate examined another old image, painted on wood and placed among other images of saints on the altar of St. Antoninus, archbishop of Florence, with the words painted on it: B. DAMIANVS DE FINARIO DE FVRCHERIIS CLARENS MIRACVLIS Bl. Damian of Finale, of the Furcheri, renowned for miracles; in which the blessed man is shown crowned with rays, preaching the word of God and carrying a book in his left hand. This was once, with its altar, in the church of St. Catherine itself; but when in the year 1719 it seemed that a new organ-loft should be built, Enea Montecuccoli, by homeland a Modenese and prior of the convent, had willed that it be transferred together with the altar into the night choir. Meanwhile, however, another image of the same blessed man had remained in the church, painted on linen canvas. On everything, therefore, that pertained to the honour of their confrère the Preachers of Finale then kept their eyes intent; so that in the book of the councils of the convent at the year 1769 one reads: Note … that in the year 1769, about the middle of the year, images of blessed Damian de Fulcheriis, printed at Augsburg, were publicly sold at Finale by Germans, sellers of images. (Signed) F. Turcotti, O.P. To which perhaps are to be referred two images, printed by the press, which in the year 1844 were still at Finale, and in which was represented a Dominican standing, adorned with rays, having with him a companion of the same order, holding a staff in his left hand, extending his right towards the Blessed Virgin Mary, appearing in the clouds with the child Jesus, with these words written below: B. Damianus de
Finario. But these, like the images of the Germans also, seem first to have belonged to another saint, and then, the inscription having been changed, to have been referred to Bl. Damian; so that they might be sold more easily at Finale. Thus we have received from Rome an image of Bl. John de Brito, martyr of the Society of Jesus, which was no other than the one inserted in the Passion of St. Lanus, published a hundred and more years ago.
[14] above all from the year 1844. When for some years wars raged in those parts and the French occupied the territory of Genoa, that ardour with which the approval of the cult of Bl. Damian was pursued could not but be lulled. But that the matter was thought of again in the year 1834 is clear from what we related above at number 12 about the image of Perti. And indeed most of all Ignazio Buffa, a priest of the order of Preachers, spent his effort on this matter; but, says Semeria Secoli cristiani di Liguria, volume II, page 257, writing in the year 1843, by the death of this religious man and the negligence of others those efforts were made vain. Yet not for long did the confrères of Bl. Damian deserve this charge. For in the year 1844 documents and testimonies began again to be gathered everywhere; and from these we have drawn most of what we have related so far. To which you may add that, besides the writers we have already indicated, the name of Bl. Damian was made illustrious by Schiaffino in the Ecclesiastical Annals of Liguria, by Bartolomeo Montaldo in the Ligustici caeli sidera, and by Giovanni Battista Semeria, whose Secoli cristiani della Liguria we have already cited, in the Ecclesiastical History of Genoa and Liguria, brought to light in the year 1838. At last in the year 1847, at the instance of Vincenzo Ajello, master general of the order of Preachers, there was introduced in the sacred congregation of rites, with Cardinal Spinola as relator, the cause of the confirmation of the cult rendered from time immemorial to the servant of God Damian Fulcheri of the order of Preachers, called blessed. Giovanni Rosatini and Francesco Mercurelli pleaded it, with Andrea M. Frattini as promoter of the faith. It could not but have a happy end; and so in the following year the desired decree came out, which it has seemed good to subjoin here.
[15] The wishes were satisfied in the year 1848, From the renowned family of the Preachers, as from a most abundant mine, men illustrious for holiness have continually come forth, among whom in the 15th century is reckoned Fr. DAMIAN FURCHERI of Finale; and although the year of his birth and his parents are hidden, yet from a very ancient monument it may be asserted that he was born of a choice family at the beginning of that same century in the villa called that of the Furcheri, in the village of Perti of the domain of Finale, and that he saw his last day in the year MCCCCLXXXIV, after he had long discharged the office of an evangelical herald. By the witness of tradition he spent his very youth and then every age in holiness, and longing only for heavenly goods, despising the riches and allurements of the world, gave his name to the Order of Preachers; where in life he outshone his confrères in piety, learning, apostolic zeal and every virtue, and after death was also renowned for frequent miracles: so that he may deservedly be called a man of fervent charity, of profound humility, of wonderful abstinence, of the greatest zeal for the salvation of souls, outstanding in devotion, composed in prayer, holy in life, renowned in learning, and singular in every uprightness of virtues. In the kiss of the Lord at Reggio Emilia, having first received all the sacraments of the Christian religion with great fervour of spirit, he happily sought the heavens, and was committed to burial in the church of the same convent. That very century not yet ended, a public and ecclesiastical cult was rendered to Fr. DAMIAN, as is drawn from images painted with aureoles and the title of Blessed, from grants of relics, from writers: to which are added the testimonies of the people of Finale, who depose that they have always heard DAMIAN called by the title of Blessed, have seen his images set out for public veneration, not only in the churches of St. Sebastian and St. Catherine, but also in the church of St. Eusebius of the village of Perti, and have seen lamps and candles lit before the images.
[16] the ancient cult having been confirmed Weighing in his mind these and similar indications and signs of public and ecclesiastical cult rendered towards Blessed DAMIAN from his very death and thereafter, the Rev. Father Fr. Vincenzo Ajello, master general of the whole Order of Preachers and postulator of the cause, most humbly asked of the Sacred Congregation of Rites that this cult be formally approved according to custom; which, assembled in ordinary session at the Quirinal palace on the third day before the ides of September in the year 1847, on the report of the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord Cardinal Pietro Ugo Spinola, Ponent, all things having been accurately and maturely weighed, and the Rev. Father Lord Andrea Maria Frattini, Promoter of the Holy Faith, having been heard, who set out his opinion in writing and by voice, so that in so grave a business it might proceed more considerately, decided that the rescript should be: Deferred, and let the proofs be supplemented. = All the things which bear more closely on this ecclesiastical cult having therefore been elucidated and more thoroughly set out by the defenders, the cause of this confirmation of cult having been proposed again by the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord Cardinal Costantino Patrizi, vicar of the City, in place and stead of the above-named Most Eminent Lord Cardinal Relator, in another ordinary assembly of the Sacred Rites gathered in the apostolic Quirinal palace on the day subscribed, new allegations having been subjected to fresh examination, and the same Promoter of the Holy Faith having been heard again, who once more delivered his vote in writing and by voice, and all things having been maturely considered, the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Fathers decided that the rescript should be: = that the excepted case from the decrees of Pope Urban VIII of holy memory is established. On the 22nd day, in the month of July, in the year 1848. A faithful report having afterwards been made upon all these things to our Most Holy Lord POPE PIUS IX by me, the undersigned secretary, HIS HOLINESS approved the rescript of the Sacred Congregation, and by his authority confirmed the cult rendered from time immemorial to Blessed DAMIAN of the Order of Preachers, on the 4th day, in the month of August, of the same year.
Place † of the Seal
For the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord Card. Lambruschini, Prefect of the S. R. C.
D. A. Card. Bianchi.
Giuseppe Gaspare Fatati, Secretary of the S. R. C.
REVISED
Pietro Minetti, Advocate of the S. C., chosen Assessor of the S. R. C. and Sub-Promoter of the Holy Faith.
[17] and the Office having been granted. Forthwith the same Vincenzo Ajello asked, with the same relator, advocates and promoter of the faith, that a decree be made of the grant and approval of an Office and Mass, and of an elogium to be added to the Martyrology of the order, in honour of blessed Damian Furcheri of the order of Preachers; namely, that it be permitted to keep a double feast of a confessor not a bishop, with the lessons of the I Nocturn "Blessed is the man," proper ones of the II Nocturn, and for the III Nocturn the homily on the Gospel "Let your loins be girt"; then with the Mass "The mouth of the just" and three proper prayers, and the elogium which we recited at the beginning. In these there is nothing so singular that it deserves to be reported. We publish the lessons of the II Nocturn, to stand in place of a Life, since we have nothing else.
Annotata* read multa
* All Saints
* Catinam?
* Scaneli?
* ac?
LIFE OF BL. DAMIAN OF FINALE
From the lessons in the II nocturn, proposed for the approval of the S. R. C., with the principal corrections.
The pious youth of Bl. Damian. Lesson IV. Damian was born at Finale in Liguria of a family of the Furcheri as noble as it was wealthy, at the beginning of the fifteenth century a. What this boy was to be, God willed to be attested from his very infancy by a notable prodigy: for, stolen away by a madwoman, and long sought by his parents, he was at last found by a heavenly sign of brightness in a manger, gleaming with light, and near a beast of burden, which, as if about to adore, had knelt down before the boy b. Having entered upon youth, he passed it justly and holily, and so ordered the rest of his life that, with the help of God's grace, he kept the robe of innocence with which he had been adorned in baptism unstained until death c. And so that he might the more easily attain the heavenly goods for which he longed, despising the riches and allurements of the world, he gave his name to the order of Preachers d.
[2] Religious life. Lesson V. Having entered religion as e a school of perfection, he was wholly given to cultivating all virtues; hence, laying the foundations of solid holiness, he exercised himself profoundly in humility; he kept his body subject to the spirit by fasting and abstinence f: outstanding in devotion, he applied himself fervently to prayer g, and appeared singular in every uprightness of conduct: whence it is no wonder if, living in the flesh beyond the flesh, he burned with charity towards God. And so that he might put out to heavenly interest, for the gain of his neighbours, the talent entrusted to him by the Lord, he applied himself so much to the study of the sacred Scriptures even in the night watches, that he became renowned in learning, and in a very short time, although with very grave discomfort, wrote several sacred codices filled with pious unction h.
[3] Apostolic labours and holy death. Lesson VI. When, moreover, the office of evangelizing had been committed to Damian, inflamed with apostolic zeal, he proclaimed the word of God in many places fruitfully and most fervently, and converted many to the true and right form of living. At length, the course of his preaching completed, being at Reggio Emilia, having received all the sacraments of the Christian religion with great fervour of spirit and devotion, laden with merits, he happily sought the heavens in the year of the Lord one thousand four hundred and eighty-four i. Buried in the church of the convent of his order, he began to shine with miracles; wherefore, his relics having been carried into various regions k, he thereafter obtained a public ecclesiastical cult; which, propagated down to these times, Pius IX, supreme pontiff, approved on the advice of the sacred congregation of rites; and he kindly granted that his feast be celebrated with Office and Mass in the whole order of Preachers.