Saint John Colombini of Siena

Grace touched his heart at the same time. He was suddenly changed into another man, and, his fervor growing day by day, he began to give great alms, to frequent the churches, and to apply himself to the exercises of reading, prayer, and fasting. Then, as he desired more and more to please God, he proposed to his wife that they keep chastity and live together as brother and sister. His wife, who was continually offering very fervent prayers for the sanctification of her husband, had no difficulty in consenting to this proposal. From then on, John led a very austere life. His bed was nothing but a plank upon which he lay for only a very small part of the night, spending the rest in prayer. Moreover, he wore a hair shirt and mortified his body until it bled through very harsh disciplines. His clothing corresponded to this state of penance: he abandoned gold, silver, silk, and everything that could distinguish him among the inhabitants of Siena, using only vile and poor fabric, to make himself more conformed to the spirit of poverty of Jesus Christ.

He added to all these virtues that of hospitality. Receiving the poor, pilgrims, and the sick into his house, he would wash their feet, treat them delicately, put them to bed very comfortably, and provide them with all the relief that an industrious charity could inspire in him. One day, having spotted a leper covered in sores at the entrance of the great church, he loaded him onto his shoulders and made no difficulty of carrying him publicly himself through the main streets to his own residence. His wife was horrified; she could not bear him because of the stench, the filth of his sores, and the pus flowing from them; but our Saint, assisted by Dom Francesco-Vincent Mini, a Sienese nobleman who h dom François-Vincent Mini Sienese nobleman, companion and successor of Giovanni Colombini. ad joined him in all his acts of charity, washed him, dressed his wounds, tenderly kissed his ulcers, and laid him on a good bed, waiting for the time to give him dinner. In the meantime, he went to the church, recommending to his wife that she visit him to see if he needed anything. This woman felt a reluctance; however, as she was very virtuous, she overcame it generously and came to the room where the sick man was. But, having smelled a supremely sweet and pleasant odor at the door, she was seized with such great respect that she dared not go any further. She accused herself of lack of devotion and cowardice, and reproached herself, with many tears, for the disgust she had felt for this suffering member of Jesus Christ when her husband had brought him to her. Shortly after, John and Francis returned from divine service with some sweets that had been given to them for their patient. Blaise told them what she had felt, and they themselves breathed this odor which was above all the perfumes of the earth. Having entered the room to discover the cause, they found no one there, because the leper had disappeared.

The blessed John saw well that this was a vision from heaven: some time later, Our Lord, in an ecstasy of our Saint, declared to him that it was neither an angel nor any other creature, but He himself who had taken the form of this leper, in order to show him how pleasing his charity was to Him. This favor made him conceive higher designs of perfection. Therefore, his son having died and his daughter having consecrated herself in the monastery of Saint-Abondius, he distributed, with the consent of his wife, all his goods to the poor. Then, feeling inflamed with an extraordinary zeal for the salvation of souls, and ardently desiring to extend the reign of Jesus Christ, he applied himself with fervor to the preaching of the Gospel, traveling through towns and villages to lead sinners to penance. Several virtuous men joined him in the same design, and produced wonderful fruits through the holiness of their examples and the invincible strength of their words. Such happy successes led Saint John Colombini to institute a new religious family. When in 1367 Pope Urban V traveled from Avignon to Rome, Colombini went to meet pape Urbain V Reforming pope of French origin, 200th pope of the Catholic Church. him with his disciples as far as Corneto, to obtain the approval of his society. On the way, in Viterbo, the travelers received the name of Jesuati, because, in accordance with their habit, they sa id conti Jésuates Pious congregation founded by Giovanni Colombini, suppressed in 1668. nually: Long live Jesus! Praise be to Jesus Christ! It is said that it was the nursing infants who first cried out: Here are the Jesuati! They did not obtain papal approval until a few months later, after having fully justified themselves from the suspicion of being in connection with the fanatical sect of the Fraticelli. Pope Urban fixed their habit, consisting of a w hite cassoc Fraticelles Fanatical sect with which the Jesuati were initially confused. k and a brown cloak; he urged them no longer to travel through the regions in large masses, but to establish fixed residences in the cities or the countryside.

The Rule of Saint Benedict, as modified, became the basis of their statutes. Later they adopted the Rule of Saint Augustine. However, they did not constitute an Order in the strict sense; they formed only a pious congregation, and for this reason did not take solemn vows. The very year of their recognition by the Holy See, Colombini died during a journey to Aquapendente , on July 31 Aquapendente Place of death of Giovanni Colombini. , 1367, after having appointed his friend Francis Mini to succeed him. The Jesuati, thanks to their edifying life, spread rapidly throughout all of Italy, and beyond its borders, as far as Toulouse. At first, they were all laymen; in 1606, the Pope permitted them to receive priests into their ranks. Besides prayer and practices of mortification, the Jesuati were primarily occupied with the care of the sick and the preparation of remedies and beneficial liqueurs, which earned them the name of Fathers of the Aqua Vitae. Little by little, the congregation weakened and degenerated, and in 1668, Pope Clement IX suppr essed it, becau pape Clément IX Pope in office at the time of the saint's death. se it was no longer of great utility to the Church.

The Jesuati nuns maintained themselves for longer; they had been founded by Catherine, a cousin Catherine Cousin of Giovanni Colombini and foundress of the Jesuati nuns. of Colombini, for a purely ascetic purpose.

One could depict Saint John Colombini caring for the sick in his own palace, and trampling underfoot the riches of the earth, which he despised for the love of Jesus Christ.

His life is found written among those of the Saints of Tuscany. Paul Maries also composed it, and Father Louis Bourrier, a Celestinian, gave us one in his collection of the Founders of Congregations. We have supplemented Father Giry's account with the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Catholic Theology, by Geschier. — Cf. Acta Sanctorum, vol. VII of July; Hélyot, Hist. of Religious Orders, vol. III; Life of Saint John Colombini of Siena, founder of the Jesuati, written, according to the Bollandists, by D. Frédéric Paul, priest of the Society of the Most Holy Savior. Ratisbonæ, 1546.