Blessed Bernardino of Feltre

After entering the Franci scan family, Bernard famille franciscaine Mendicant religious order to which the saint belonged. ine continued his studies until their full completion. He also applied himself with great ardor to the theological sciences, and in a short time became very capable of exercising the ministry of preaching. But he did not dare to engage in it, as nature had placed seemingly insurmountable barriers in his way. Indeed, Bernardine was of such a small stature that his head barely rose above the height of the pulpit; moreover, he was of such great shyness that the effort of speaking in public seemed destined to be forever beyond his strength. However, on the other hand, apostolic zeal pushed him inwardly toward the work of the missions, so that he was torn between the desire to announce the evangelical word and the fear of not being able to succeed. His superiors settled the matter. Knowing that his knowledge was as profound as his zeal was ardent, and having recognized in him all the qualities that make a true orator, they judged that his natural defects would be more than compensated, and they imposed upon him the duty of preaching the Gospel. Their expectations were realized. Bernardine traveled throughout Italy, preaching everywhere, attracting im mense Italie Country of origin of the saint. crowds around his pulpit. Never was a preacher more eloquent or more popular. He excelled above all when it came to pleading the cause of the poor; he knew so well how to depict their misery, and he moved his audience so deeply, that tears flowed from every eye, and all purses opened in favor of the works for which he had become the advocate.

The main goal toward which Bernardine directed his efforts was the foundation of the monts-de-piété. For a long time, the poor who needed some advance of money had no other resource than to turn to Jewish usurers, who ransomed them mercilessly and finished ruining them by making them pay interest so exorbitant that they could never manage to free themselves. Already a Franciscan, named Barnabas, had founded in Perugia a banking house called a mont-de-piété, intended to come to the aid of the indigent; but it was reserved for Bernardine of Feltre to give this work its full development . Driven by the spi Bernardin de Feltre Italian Franciscan friar, famous preacher and promoter of the monti di pietà. rit of God, he thundered from the pulpit against the rapacity of the Jews, and when the indignation of his listeners was sufficiently aroused, he would change his tone, and taking on the accent of supplication, he would address, in the name of the poor, to all the rich who were present, one of those irresistible appeals of which we have spoken above, and which were always followed by their effect. One would have thought oneself in the time of the Crusades; ladies brought their jewels and their rich finery, men, considerable sums of money; all, in a word, wanted to contribute to the establishment of these Christian banks, where one lent to the worker without interest, or at excessively minimal interest, intended solely to cover the costs of administration. Wherever Bernardine passed, the Jews were forced to flee, and finally they saw themselves reduced to abandoning Italy completely. They tried several times to get rid of this troublesome religious by assassination, but our Saint always escaped their snares.

But if the apostolic zeal of Bernardine was manifested particularly in the institution of the monts-de-piété, it was not entirely confined within these relatively narrow limits. Heretics and sinners felt the power of his word, and numerous conversions followed his discourses. Public morals became pure and Christian, and the scandalous vices that so devastated the Church at that time dared no longer show themselves, withered as they were by his powerful eloquence. His reputation was so great that all the cities wanted to hear him, and governors and princes addressed the Sovereign Pontiff so that he would order the holy religious to go and preach among them. He had a very special gift for appeasing civil discords. He was sent several times by the Holy See to pacify cities whose inhabitants were quite ready to come to Saint-Siège Papal authority that approved the cult of Aemilian. blows. On these occasions, his eloquence, without losing any of its usual power, found accents of ineffable sorrow, and the most ulcerated hearts could not resist the burning charity of the apostle. Thus, he succeeded in all the reconciling missions entrusted to him by the solicitude of the common Father of the faithful.

Bernardino was not only a great preacher, he was also a great Saint. His mortification was extremely rigorous; he had no other bed than the bare earth, no other food than bread and water. His fasts were almost continuous. He had a very vivid devotion to the holy Name of Jesus; it was by the invocation of thi saint Nom de Jésus A central devotion in the preaching of Bernardino. s adorable name that he began and ended his sermons, and he did not hesitate to attribute his marvelous oratorical successes to this holy practice. His love for Mary was expressed through a great zeal for the cult of her Immaculate Conception, a dogma alwa ys so dear to the Fr Immaculée Conception Marian privilege and central dogma structuring the identity of the congregation. anciscan family. Having reached the most sublime degree of prayer, he was often rapt in ecstasy, and remained for a considerable time in this state of anticipated beatitude. Striking miracles attested to his holiness, and added even more to the veneration that the people had vowed to him, because of his incessant labors in favor of the unfortunate. Moreover, his charity towards the poor was not limited to his preaching or to the pious foundations about which we have already informed our readers; he visited them and helped them in their needs; and if he heard that the plague was raging in any city, he hastened to go there, and cared for the plague-stricken night and day, with a devotion that only religion can inspire. He even nearly fell victim to his charity, for he was struck by the terrible disease, and was only cured by a special intervention of God.

After a life so well spent, Bernardino died in Pav ia, i Pavie City in Italy, seat of the saint's bishopric and place where his relics are preserved. n the year 1494, having himself predicted the day of his death. The people mourned him as a benefactor and a Saint, and gave him a magnificent funeral. To symbolize his angelic purity, his mortal remains were followed by three thousand children dressed in white; and in order to recall at the same time his love for God and his charity towards men, each of these children carried a banner on which was embroidered the name of Jesus, which he had so often invoked, and the image of a Monte di Pietà. The Congregation of Rites issued, on January 30, 1872, a decree relating to the cause of his canonization. This decree was ratified and confirmed by t he Sov Pie IX Pope who canonized Josaphat in 1867. ereign Pontiff Pius IX, on February 1, 1872.

Taken from the Franciscan Year, revised and corrected.