Blessed Crispin of Viterbo

When he was ten years old, he was sent to study grammar at the Jesuit college. Despite his success, his parents did not deem it appropriate for him to continue his studies: they placed him as an apprentice with one of his uncles who was a shoemaker, in order to have him learn a trade that could later provide him with a means of subsistence. Every Saturday evening, when he was satisfied with his work, this uncle would give him a small wage. On Sunday morning, the pious child would run to the market and buy a bouquet there. "Give me your most beautiful flowers," he would say to the merchant; "for it is to offer them to a great lady." He would then go to carry them to some image or statue of the Virgin, and would remain all morning serving Masses in the church of his choosing. Sa dévotion pour la Mère de grâce semblait croître en lui avec les années : depuis qu'il avait l'âge de raison, il jeûnait le samedi ; désormais il jeûna encore la veille de ses fêtes. Accoutumé, dès sa plus tendre enfance, aux pratiques de mortification, il s'y livrait avec ardeur : chaque nuit il se flagellait avec un paquet de cordes, en mémoire de la passion. Une vie si pénitente influa sur son tempérament. Son oncle, qui remarqua sa pâleur et sa maigreur, s'en fâcha et exigea qu'il se nourrit comme les autres ; le serviteur de Dieu obéit, mais n'en devint que plus faible et que plus chétif ; alors l'oncle dit à la mère : « Laissez-le jeûner, car il vaut mieux qu'il se porte bien en étant maigre, que d'avoir de l'embonpoint et d'être un mauvais sujet ».

After several years spent in the shoemaker's shop, Crispino was called to a more perfect state. A great drought was at that time devastating the patrimony of Saint Peter. Penitential processions took place to appease the wrath of heaven. One of these processions was the means the Lord used to call him to His service. Religious Orders attended this ceremony. The virtuous young man was so touched by the modesty and the penitent air of the Capuchins that he looked upon them as angels and felt the desire to enter their Order to work out his salvation. From that moment on, he frequented the church of the good religious, procured the Rule of Saint Francis, learned it by heart, and placed it upon his chest so as never to be separated from it. The Provincial Father having come to Viterbo, he presented himself to him and obtained permission to enter the novitiate. He therefore shared his resolution with his parents and friends. His good mother, during the farewell interview, wept bitterly. "Why do you weep?" Crispino said to her. "Did you not consecrate me to God and the Virgin from the age of five? You made this donation freely, without reservation, without condition; I no longer belong to myself; you must fulfill your promise and console yourself." Then he covered his mother's hands with kisses, embraced those present, and left them immediately. It was in the month of July 1693.

The convent of Paranzana was the place designated for his novitiate. The guardian at first had difficulty receiving him because of his small stature and frail constitution: he feared that the new brother would not be able to endure the rigors of the Rule and engage in the work of the institute. But through his supplications and tears, through his prayers and his trust in Mary, the difficulties were smoothed away as if by enchantment. The provincial intervened and ordered that he be received, since he had admitted him. He took the habit on the day of Saint Mary Magdalene and changed his name to that of Crispino or Cri Crispino ou Crépin Italian Capuchin friar, famous for his simplicity and miracles. spin, patron of shoemakers, in memory of the trade he had practiced. The Blessed was in his twenty-fifth year.

He was admitted as a lay brother. It was not that he could not study and attain the priesthood; he had learned the first elements of Latin and did not lack natural wit; but in his humility, he did not believe himself pure enough to aspire to the sublime functions of the altars. He dug the garden, went begging, and cared for the sick: he was sufficient for everything, with the grace of God; he seemed to have acquired new strength.

A sick religious to whom he was assigned was so satisfied with his charity and care that he said: "Brother Crispino is not a novice, but an angel." This testimony and many others of the same kind that could be given in his favor led to his unanimous admission to profession.

When he had taken his vows, he was sent to the convent of Tolfa, where he exe rcised the office o couvent de la Tolfa Location of his first position as a cook and his first miracles. f cook. As soon as he had taken possession of his domain, he set up an altar there to the Blessed Virgin, which he adorned with care with flowers, renewed every day; the kitchen had become a true paradise, so sweet were the perfumes one breathed there. Every evening, he sang the litanies of his good Mother there. The Immaculate Virgin did not delay in rewarding the devotion of her servant.

An epidemic came to ravage Tolfa, a region near the sea and subject to unhealthy fogs. A lady who knew the virtue of the Blessed one was struck by it: she begged the Father Guardian to allow Brother Crispino to visit her: when the latter had entered, the sick woman begged him to make the sign of the cross on her head with the medal of his rosary which represented the Immaculate Conception. The Blessed one graciously acceded to this request, and immediately the sick woman was healed. This prodigy began his reputation abroad. The sick flocked from all sides; in vain the brother tried to hide: the Father Guardian ordered, and a very large number were healed by means of this medal.

The governor of the alum mines, located in the vicinity, was paying his tribute to the epidemic. Now, this personage had a bad reputation regarding his morals. The Blessed one went to see him: "Lord Governor," he said to him upon entering, "if you want the Blessed Virgin to heal you, you must not offend her Son; whoever offends one, afflicts the other." The governor began to weep and promised to change his life; he kept his word and lived holily, after the brother had healed him by making the sign of the cross with the all-powerful medal.

These miracles gave the Blessed one great influence in the region; his mere presence was enough to disperse gamblers and appease quarrels.

The superiors then sent him to Rome to serve as an infirmarian. In vain did the people of Tolfa ask that Brother Crispino be left with them, as they regarded him as the protector of the region. The provincial replied that it was against the spirit of the Rule: indeed, it is the custom of the Capuchins to frequently change the friars' convents, so that they do not become attached to the places where they live.

The Blessed entered Rome through the gate closest to Saint Peter's. To do so, he had to deviate from his path and travel a few miles further. This was because he wanted, in his own words, to pray at the tomb of the one who holds the keys to paradise before going to the convent.

He stayed in Rome for a short time: he needed the fire of the kitchen or the sun of the garden. "I am not a beast that can be kept in the shade," he would say, "I am too cold in the love of God. I need work to warm myself up." He did indeed fall ill. The superiors sent him to Albano, where he was again put in charge of the kitchen.

His first care was, as in Tolfa, to arrange a small altar on which he placed an image of Mary. When people came to see him, and many did, he would lead the visitors before this image and recite to them the beautiful stanzas that Tasso sang to Mary in his Jerusalem Delivered. This provided him with the opportunity to arrive at pious conversations, and at advice useful and salutary for the good of souls. A religious once reproached him for resorting to profane authors in this way. "My Father," the Blessed replied, "the fish does not come to the hook by itself; it is attracted by bait. Our austerities are hardly to the taste of people of the world; these stanzas are the bait with which I attract them and make them endure the little discourse that I add to them."

Albano is the meeting place for a large number of lords and prelates during the autumn: all those who came there wanted to see Brother Crispino's altar and hear him recite his verses: his sweet gaiety, his amiable simplicity, and the air of holiness spread over his whole person charmed the visitors.

Pope Clement XI himself was taken by this cha rm, and rarely pape Clément XI Pope who authorized the public cult of Salvador of Horta. came to Castel Gandolfo without going to the convent and asking for Brother Crispino. One morning, the Pontiff had two candles brought to him for his altar. This gift reminds us of an adventure in which the good religious had shown an abandonment of tenderness toward Mary, his beloved, truly worthy of an affectionate son.

A lord had presented him with two magnificent silk flowers. Some mischievous young men, who were coming and going in the kitchen, stole the flowers; this deeply distressed the brother, for it was a lack of respect to the most holy Virgin, to whom these flowers were destined. Shortly after, a religious, Father Damasceni, gave him two candles for his altar: the Blessed lit them and went out to pick vegetables in the garden. Father Damasceni immediately had the candles removed, so that when the Blessed returned, he believed they had been stolen from him again. He complained about it to the Blessed Virgin. "But how," he said to her with a completely filial familiarity, "yesterday the flowers and today the candles! But really, my Mother, you are too good; one day, they will take your son from your arms, and you will not dare to say anything!" and he continued for a long time in this tone. Father Damasceni, who had been hiding, heard these tender reproaches: he returned to the kitchen, took the brother in his arms, returned the candles to him, and left him full of an admiration that is easy to understand.

The benevolence of the Pope and the prelates of his court made the Blessed one's humility tremble. Some miracles that his charity compelled him to perform brought his fears to their peak: he therefore asked to be sent to another convent. That of Monte-Rotondo was assigned to him.

When he arrived, the questing friar was ill: he performed the quest, cultivated the garden, and took upon himself almost all the service of the convent. When people pitied him for this extra work, he would laughingly repeat the words of Saint Philip Neri: "Paradise is not made for the cowardly."

At that time, a contagious disease had struck the Capuchin convent in Bracciano: an infirmarian had to be sent there. But who to choose? It was a matter of life and death. Our charitable religious immediately offered himself. "But, Brother Crispino, since there is a danger of death, I do not intend to force your will," said the provincial. "What will?" he replied. "I left it in Viterbo when I entered the Capuchins." He left, provided with the blessing of his provincial, taking with him, as he used to say, Saint Francis as his physician and holy obedience as his prophylactic. Physician and prophylactic worked wonders, for Brother Crispino returned a few months later, healthier than ever: he had cured all the sick in the convent through his care and prayers.

At the following Chapter, he was sent to Orv Orvieto Place of death of the blessed. ieto, where he was to spend forty years of his life as a questor. He was quickly known and loved, and he was given in abundance everything he desired. He took advantage of this to relieve a great number of miseries. The love of the inhabitants of Orvieto for our Blessed was such that they were forced to leave him with them. Each time they tried to move him, all doors closed before the new questor brothers, and so as not to die of hunger, they had to resolve to bring back the one who, out of humility, called himself the Capuchin donkey.

When he had to cross the crowd, he would cry out: "Come, my children, make way for the Capuchin donkey." "And where is this donkey?" said a man one day who did not know him. "Do you not see that I am carrying the pack saddle?" said the Blessed, pointing to his bag. He was once asked why he always went bareheaded. "It is because a donkey does not wear a hat," he replied with a pleasant joviality.

In a convent of nuns, the sister who was in charge of receiving him never failed, no doubt to test him, to overwhelm him with foolishness, to treat him as a deceiver and a hypocrite. The servant of God was content to reply: "God be praised that there is someone in Orvieto who treats me as I deserve."

Miracles continued to arise under his footsteps: multiplication of flour and wine, prediction of the future, foresight of events, happy or unhappy, the gift of reading consciences; God had granted him everything in profusion.

He arrived one day unexpectedly at a convent of Dominican sisters; he asked for one of the nuns and said to her: "We are born to die; how happy you are, you are going to leave this valley of miseries where we are prisoners; an eternity of happiness is assured to you. How happy you are! How happy you are!" Now, this nun was in perfect health; one can therefore conceive of her astonishment. However, reflecting that she had dealt with a man of God, she resolved to prepare herself: a few days later, she died the death of the saints.

Cardinal Gualtieri, who lived in a villa in the vicinity of Orvieto, had one day to receive the King of England, son of James II: his steward had sent to Rome for flowers that were lacking, given the season. The person in charge of the commission forgot the flowers. The Cardinal's steward met Brother Crispino and told him of his desolation: "Do not be desolate," said the brother, "you will have all the flowers you need and more." He left and returned almost immediately, carrying magnificent flowers of which, surprisingly, the species was not cultivated in the gardens of Orvieto. When the Blessed was asked where he had gotten them, he replied: "Let us occupy ourselves with winning paradise; if we have the happiness of reaching it, we will see flowers there much more beautiful and of an incomparably more exquisite perfume."

One would have to go through the numerous series of Christian virtues if one wanted to speak in detail of those of this holy religious; for he possessed them all to an eminent degree. But he was especially distinguished by his zeal for the glory of God; the idea of seeing Him offended afflicted him so much that he made a thousand efforts to prevent sin; thus, when he was on his quest, and he heard someone swearing or pronouncing the holy name of God without respect, he would immediately go to rebuke the guilty, even if he were burdened with heavy loads. The rank and quality of the persons did not stop him then, disposed as he was to suffer everything to stop the evil of which he was a witness. No step was too much for him to bring sinners back to better sentiments. Two brothers, because of business interests, had quarreled so much that they had resolved to fight a duel. Crispino learned of it, his zeal was inflamed; and, although the friends of these two poor blind men had not been able to succeed in bringing them together, he did not despair of making them renounce their fatal project; indeed, he went to see them and acted so happily with them that the very day they were to expose both their soul and their body in a single combat, he reconciled them so perfectly that from then on there was no more division between them.

It was in Rome that the Blessed was to die, and it was in Rome that the last years of his life were spent. They were so full of miracles that the Eternal City was in admiration of them. Knowing by revelation the hour of his death, Crispino bade farewell to his benefactors and friends, who laughed at him, for he was still in good health and nothing suggested that he was so close to going to heaven. However, a few days later he fell ill: he was eighty-two years old and there was no hope of keeping him. The devil tried to disturb his final moments. He appeared to him in the form of a hideous beast, which holy water was enough to put to flight. As soon as the news of his illness spread, everyone wanted to see him. The Blessed was astonished by this and admired the simplicity of these people who showed admiration for a miserable sinner like him. After having received the last Sacraments with great fervor, he expired gently (1750). Immediately upon his death, his limbs, stiffened by age, regained their suppleness, they became fresh and rosy, and the gangrene that was devouring him disappeared: since then he has been preserved intact and can be seen in the Capuchin church in Rome. Miraculous healings were numerous at his tomb. Pope Pius VII beatified the Blessed Crispi no in 1806 a Pape Pie VII Pope who authorized the cult of Blessed Rainier. nd set his feast day for May 23, even though he had died on the 19th.

The image of Our Lady, which played such a great role in the life of the Capuchin saint, must, in all justice, be assigned to him as a characteristic attribute.

Vita del V. Serve di Dio Fr. Crispino da Viterbo, laico professio dell'Ordine de' Minori Capucini di S. Francesco, edizione prima romana, notabilmente accresciuta ed emendata dal Padre Fr. Emanuele da Dome d'Ossola, postulatore della causa, Roma, 1761.