CAPUCHIN SAINTS AND BLESSEDS Owen O’Sullivan OFM Cap. © Owen O’Sullivan OFM Cap., 2013. Contents PREFACE.......................................................................iv Note on Canonization and Beatification ........................vi Alphabetical List of Capuchin Saints and Blesseds, including Capuchinesses.................................................ix Dates of Liturgical Celebrations of Capuchin Saints and Blesseds, including Capuchinesses..............................xii Acknowledgements......................................................xiv BLESSEDS AGATHANGELUS AND CASSIAN........1 BLESSED ANDREW HYACINTH LONGHIN............3 BLESSED ANGELUS OF ACRI....................................7 BLESSED APOLLINARIS OF POSAT.........................9 BLESSED BENEDICT OF URBINO...........................13 SAINT BERNARD OF CORLEONE...........................15 SAINT BERNARD OF OFFIDA..................................17 SAINT CONRAD OF PARZHAM...............................19 SAINT CRISPIN OF VITERBO...................................21 BLESSED DIDACUS JOSEPH OF CADIZ.................26 SAINT FELIX OF CANTALICE.................................28 SAINT FELIX OF NICOSIA........................................32 SAINT FIDELIS of SIGMARINGEN: 24 April...........34 BLESSED FLORIDA CEVOLI....................................37 i SAINT FRANCIS MARY OF CAMPOROSSO..........40 BLESSED HONORATUS OF BIALA PODLASKA...42 SAINT IGNATIUS OF LACONI.................................44 SAINT IGNATIUS OF SANTHIÀ...............................47 BLESSED INNOCENT OF BERZO............................50 BLESSED JEREMIAH OF VALAHIA........................52 BLESSED JOSÉ TOUS Y SOLER...............................56 SAINT JOSEPH OF LEONISSA..................................59 SAINT LAWRENCE OF BRINDISI............................61 BLESSED LEOPOLD OF ALPANDEIRE...................65 SAINT LEOPOLD OF HERCEG NOVI......................67 BLESSED MARCO OF AVIANO...............................79 BLESSED MARY ANGELA ASTORCH....................82 BLESSED MARY MAGDALEN MARTINENGO.....86 BLESSED NICHOLAS OF GÉSTURI.........................90 SAINT PIO OF PIETRELCINA...................................94 SAINT SERAPHIN OF MONTEGRANARO..............98 BLESSED THOMAS OF OLERA..............................101 SAINT VERONICA GIULIANI.................................105 BLESSED YAKUB OF GHAZIR...............................109 FRENCH CAPUCHIN MARTYRS OF THE REVOLUTION............................................................111 Blessed Jean-Louis Loir..........................................112 Blessed Protase of Sees...........................................112 Blessed Sebastian of Nancy....................................113 ii POLISH CAPUCHIN MARTYRS OF THE NAZI OCCUPATION............................................................115 Blessed Anicet Koplinski........................................115 Blessed Fidelis Sprusinski......................................120 Blessed Florian Stepniak .......................................123 Blessed Henry Krzysztofik.....................................126 Blessed Maria Teresa Kowalska.............................129 Blessed Symforian Ducki........................................131 SPANISH CAPUCHIN MARTYRS OF THE CIVIL WAR............................................................................134 The Martyrs of Madrid and Cataluña......................134 The Martyrs of Valencia.........................................138 Blessed Aurelio of Vinalesa....................................138 Blessed Ambrose of Benaguacil.............................140 Blessed Peter of Benisa...........................................142 Blessed Joachim of Albocácer................................144 Blessed Modestus of Albocácer..............................146 Blessed Germán of Carcagente...............................147 Blessed Bonaventure of Puzol................................149 Blessed James of Rafelbuñol..................................151 Blessed Henry of Almazora....................................153 Blessed Fidelis of Puzol..........................................155 Blessed Bernard of Lugar Nuego de Fenollet.........156 Blessed Pacificus of Valencia.................................158 Blessed Maria Felicidad Masía Farragut................160 Blessed Maria Jesús Masía Farragut.......................161 Blessed Maria Veronica Masía Farragut.................161 Blessed Isabel Calduch Rovira...............................163 Blessed Milagros Ortells Gimeno...........................165 iii PREFACE In 1981, while a missionary in Zambia, I was asked to take in hand the direction of postulants, that is, of men who wished to join the Capuchin Order or who showed some serious interest in doing so. As this worked progressed, it seemed to me that it would be helpful for them to have some knowledge of the Order’s history and traditions, especially as expressed in the lives of its saints and blesseds. So I compiled a booklet called Capuchin Saints and Blesseds, which was published in 1983. It contained short biographies of the twenty friars whom the church then recognized by those titles. Happily, today their number is much greater – it is ninety-one. This is due principally to the arrival on the canon of saints of the Capuchin martyrs of the French Revolution, the Spanish Civil War, and the Nazi occupation of Poland during World War II. In addition, I am happy to be able to include here the Capuchinesses, about whom I had access to no information when in Zambia. And there are others also. They are a mixed bag of humanity, with the strengths and weaknesses, vices and virtues, to which all people are prone. The late Capuchin Cuthbert McCann of Belfast (died 1991) wisely said, ‘The saints were not canonized because they were perfect – “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3.23) – but because they offer hope to us who are even more imperfect than they.’ Some would have been wonderful iv people to live with, some difficult. None would have described themselves as “successful” but they were faithful. In any event, their lives and deaths were the work of God’s grace without which none of us is anything. To God be the glory for ever and ever. Amen. v NOTE ON CANONIZATION AND BEATIFICATION Canonization means that a person’s name has been added to the canon (Greek: list) of the saints, while beatification means that a person is declared blessed (Latin: beatus) by the church, that is to say, that they enjoy the beatific vision, the vision of God in heaven. In that sense, the blesseds are saints no less than those who are called such. Catholics honour the saints because of the gifts of God they see at work in them. And they pray to them, seeing them as members of the one family of faith, the communion of saints. As Paul asked Christians to pray for him – see Romans 15.30; 2 Corinthians 1.11; Ephesians 6.18-19; and Colossians 4.3 – so we ask the saints to pray for us. In the early centuries of the church’s life, there was no formal process of canonization. Applied almost entirely to martyrs, canonization developed informally in local churches. The bishop, if he established that a person was truly a martyr for Christ, might send an account to neighbouring churches. If these agreed, those whose reputation was thus confirmed were known as vindicated martyrs. The veneration of confessors – that is, of those who died peacefully after a life of heroic virtue – is not as long-standing as that of the martyrs. A person acquired a reputation for holiness, for an exemplary Christian life, as one who lived by faith, hope and charity. vi It seems that the informal process fell victim to popular indiscretion and failure by some bishops to exercise due care in the matter. So it came to be placed in the hands of regional or general councils of the church. In recent centuries, especially since Popes Urban VIII (1623-1644) and Benedict XIV (1740-1758), the process has become more formal. It involves, among other things, an examination of the person’s life, writings and speeches, to see if they are in accord with Christian tradition; this is the sine qua non. The process also looks at whether there is in fact a local cult. It looks, too, to see whether alleged miracles, such as cures, said to have been wrought through the person’s intercession, are adequately attested, or are explicable by natural causes. In the case of martyrs, and (exceptionally) others, the requirement of a miracle is often dispensed with. If the cult of the holy person is prescribed for the universal church, the person is recognized as a saint, while, if it is simply permitted, or is merely local, then it is called beatification. Beatification and canonization require papal authorization, even if, occasionally, the formal announcement is delegated to someone else. Because canonization involves a declaration that a given individual now lives with God, it is seen by the church as involving the exercise of infallibility. Beatification is not seen in the same light because it is seen as a permission, not a precept. Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote, ‘Since the honour we pay the saints is in a certain sense a profession of faith, i.e., a belief in the glory of the saints, vii we must piously believe that in this matter also the judgment of the church is not liable to error.’ (Quodlib. IX, a. 16) While saying nothing about heroic virtue, canonization is generally understood as meaning that the person is in heaven. The wording of decrees of canonization supports this: