Saint Gonsalvo of Amarante

Aspiring to the way of life that most pleased the Mother of God, he spent an entire Lent fasting on bread and water, beseeching her with his most ardent prayers to indicate her will to him by an unequivocal sign. He obtained what he asked for and entered the O rder of Preachers. His nov Ordre des Frères-Prêcheurs Mendicant religious order founded by Saint Dominic. itiate completed, he received the mission to go and proclaim the word of God; and, for the greatest profit of souls, he was sent back to Amarante with a companion. Among all the other wonders by which he delighted the entire province, he undertook an extraordinary work: he built, with resources collected by himself alone, a stone bridge of several arches over the Tâmega, a rapid a nd dan Tamaga River over which the saint built a miraculous bridge. gerous river. An angel had designated the place where he was to establish it. More than once, he quenched the thirst of the workers with wine that he made flow in abundant streams from the bosom of a rock; more than once, he brought to the bank and within reach of the hand, fish in sufficient quantity to feed them. Long after his death, he preserved this famous bridge from inevitable ruin.

When impious men mocked the thunderbolts of ecclesiastical anathema in his presence, he confounded them with a striking and public miracle. Finally, broken by old age and his evangelical labors, this holy man knew, through divine revelation, the moment of his death. Provided with the sacraments of the Church, he saw it approach with joy, and was supported in this final passage by a vision of the Blessed Virgin and the heavenly glories (January 10, 1259).

His body has not ceased to this day to perform miracles, and it is continually surrounded by an immense gathering of people. Julius III and Pius IV permitted the clergy of Portugal to celebrate the feast of Saint Gonzalve, after having the renown of his holiness verified by apostolic judges. Finally, Clement X, on th Clément X Pope who extended the cult of Saint Gonsalo to the entire Dominican Order. e advice of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, extend Sacrée Congrégation des Rites Roman body that advised on the extension of a saint's cult. ed this concession to the entire Order of Preachers.

Blessed Gonsal Le B. Gonzalve Portuguese priest who became a hermit and then a Dominican, famous for his miracles in Amarante. vo is the patron of the parish and t he city of Amaran ville d'Amaranthe Place of the saint's eremitic retreat and mission. te, which formed during the holy man's own lifetime around his cell and took the name of the desert where he had retired. He has also been called the apostle of t he Entre-Douro Douro-et-Minho Region of Portugal of which Gonsalvo is considered the apostle. -e-Minho region.

authorized, calls U rseolo Urséole Saint mentioned in comparative sources at the end of the text. opere clarum, fide et moribus circumspectum; and further on, speaking of his elevation: « FERRILZ MYATS uû alimi quam Deo placere studens, oû tantæ dignitatis prosectum scandere consequnabat, timone ne sacularis honoris ambitious propositem amitteret sanctitatis... Sancto (Life of the Doges of Venice) says the same thing. Pietro Marcello (De vitâ, moribus et rebus gestis omnibus ducum Veneterum) calls Saint Urseolo vitæ probitate et innocenti clarus..., qui aliquando MAGISTRATUM ASCENDERE NOLUIT; serum populi precibus fatigatus, ne Rempublicam ea temporum necessitate duceret, charitate patriæ motus, manu administrationem assumpsit, et quamprimum omnes juramento adstringit, non futurum passurum res novas aut seditionem aliquam adserens supremum dignitatem, nec aliquid quod non ex Republicâ esset, malè facere... » Vella who completed and justifies the passage from the Proper of our diocese (... Gallus tamen, sufflatus est).

authorized, calls Urséole virum clarum, fide et moribus circumspectum; and further on, speaking of his elevation: « FERRILZ MYATS uû alimi quam Deo placere studens, oû tantæ dignitatis prosectum scandere consequnabat, timone ne sacularis honoris ambitious propositem amitteret sanctitatis... Sancto (Life of the Doges of Venice) says the same thing. Pietro Marcello (De vitâ, moribus et rebus gestis omnibus ducum Veneterum) calls Saint Urséole vitæ probitate et innocenti clarus..., qui aliquando MAGISTRATUM ASCENDERE NOLUIT; serum populi precibus fatigatus, ne Rempublicam ea temporum necessitate duceret, charitate patriæ motus, manu administrationem assumpsit, et quamprimum omnes juramento adstringit, non futurum passurum res novas aut seditionem aliquam adserens supremum dignitatem, nec aliquid quod non ex Republicâ esset, malè facere... » Vellâ who completed and justifies the passage from the Proper of our diocese (... Gallus tamen, sufflatus est).