École de RUBENS, Saint
Félix de Cantalice,
105 X
72
SAINT FÉLIX de CANTALICE
Capucin
(+ 1587)
Félix vit le jour à Cantalice, bourgade située au pied de l'Apennin. Dès le bas âge, il manifesta de telles marques de prédestination que ses compagnons l'avaient surnommé "le petit Saint". Ses parents, qui étaient de pauvres laboureurs, l'employèrent de bonne heure à garder les troupeaux. Cette vie allait bien à l'âme méditative de l'enfant: peu enclin aux conversations oiseuses, il recherchait les lieux solitaires, et y répétait souvent le Pater et l'Ave et les quelques formules pieuses qu'on lui avait apprises. Lorsque les autres bergers se livraient au sommeil, lui s'agenouillait devant un arbre sur l'écorce duquel il avait gravé une Croix.
À neuf ans, Félix passa au service d'un riche bourgeois qui lui confia d'abord la garde de ses troupeaux, puis le chargea du labourage de ses terres. Le jeune homme aima son nouvel emploi qui lui permettait d'assister tous les jours à la Messe avant de se rendre aux champs. Cet humble travailleur, sans instruction, qui n'avait fréquenté aucune école, avait beaucoup appris du Saint-Esprit. Comme il l'avouait plus tard, il ne connaissait que six lettres: cinq rouges et une blanche. Les cinq rouges étaient les cinq plaies du Sauveur, et la blanche était la Vierge Marie.
Dieu lui inspira d'embrasser un genre de vie plus parfait. À un parent qui lui objectait les austérités de la vie religieuse, il répondit: "Je veux être religieux tout de bon ou ne pas m'en mêler". Il alla frapper à la porte des Capucins. À la vue de ce paysan du Danube, le Père Gardien, voulant l'éprouver, lui dit: "Vous venez sans doute ici pour avoir un habit neuf et y vivre sans rien faire. Ou bien vous croyez que vous allez commander aux religieux comme vous commandiez à vos boeufs. Renoncez à ce projet et n'y pensez plus". Mais le postulant répondit à ce compliment si humblement et si sensément que le terrible Gardien l'admit sur-le-champ.
Devenu profès, le Frère Félix fut fixé au couvent de Rome avec les attributions de quêteur. Il resta quarante ans dans cet humble emploi, allant chaque jour, la besace sur le dos, pieds nus, et récitant son chapelet, quêter la subsistance de ses Frères. Les humiliations, comme les peines corporelles, étaient pour lui ses roses du Paradis; il ne craignait pas de s'appeler lui-même l'âne du couvent des Capucins. "Mais où est-il donc, votre âne? Frère Félix", lui demanda-t-on un jour. -- "C'est moi!" répondit l'humble religieux.
Dans sa vieillesse, le Cardinal protecteur de l'Ordre lui offrit de le faire décharger de ses fatigantes fonctions. "Monseigneur, répondit Félix, laissez-moi mon office de quêteur: un soldat doit mourir l'épée à la main, un âne sous sa charge, et Frère Félix sous sa besace".
La mortification allait de pair avec son esprit de pauvreté et d'humilité: il se privait même des satisfactions les plus légitimes, telles que de s'approcher du feu l'hiver. "Allons, Frère âne, disait-il à son corps, il faut que tu te réchauffes sans feu; car c'est ainsi que doivent être traitées les bêtes de somme... Loin du feu, Frère âne, loin du feu! C'est devant le feu que saint Pierre renia son Maître."
Après avoir achevé de le purifier par de douloureuses infirmités, patiemment supportées, Dieu rappela à Lui le Frère Félix, le 18 mai 1587.
J.M. Planchet, Nouvelle Vie des Saints, p. 199
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_felix_de_cantalice.html
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_felix_de_cantalice.html
Jacques Stella (1596-1657). La Rencontre de Saint Philippe de Néri et de Félix de Cantalice, 1622
Rome, Palazzo Barberini, Galleria d’Arte Antica. Photo : Sylvain Kerspern
Saint Félix de Cantalice
Capucin à Rome (✝ 1587)
Né dans une humble famille de paysans, il passa toute sa vie dans un couvent franciscain de Rome où il était connu sous le nom de "frère Deo Gratias." C'était sa réponse permanente à tous ceux qui lui donnaient l'aumône ou bien le repoussaient. Son optimisme infatigable en fit l'un des saints les plus populaires de la Ville éternelle.
À Rome, en 1587, saint Félix de Cantalice, religieux capucin, d’une austérité et d’une simplicité admirables. Pendant quarante ans, il exerça l’office de quêteur, semant autour de lui la paix et la charité.
Martyrologe romain
St. Felix of Cantalice
A Capuchin friar, b. at Cantalice, on
the northwestern border of the Abruzzi; d. at Rome, 18 May, 1587. His feastis celebrated among the Franciscans and in certain Italian dioceses on 18 May. He is usually represented in art as holding in his arms the
Infant Jesus, because of a vision he once had, when the Blessed Virgin appeared to him and placed the Divine Child in his arms.
"St. Felix of Cantalice." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 2 Apr. 2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06033a.htm>.
His parents were peasant folk, and very early he was set to tend sheep. When nine
years of age he was hired out to a farmer at Cotta Ducale with whom he remained for over
twenty years, first as a shepherd-boy and afterwards as a farm labourer. But
from his earliest years Felix evinced signs of great holiness, spending all his
leisure time in prayer, either in the harsh or
in some solitary place. A friend of his having read to him the lives of the Fathers of the Desert, Felix conceived a great desire for the eremitical life, but at the same time feared to live otherwise than under the obedience of a superior. After seeking light in prayer, he determined to ask
admittance amongst the Capuchins. At first the friars hesitated to accept him, but he eventually received the habit, in 1543, at Anticoli in the Roman Province. It was not without the
severest temptations that he persevered and made
his profession. These temptations were so severe as injure his bodily health. In 1547 he was sent to Rome and appointed questor for the community. Here he remained for the rest
of his life, and in fulfilling his lowly office became a veritable apostle of Rome.
The
influence which he speedily gained with the Roman people is an evidence of the inherent
power of personalholiness over the consciences of men.
He had no learning he could not even read; yet learned theologians came to consult him upon the.science of
the spiritual life and the Scriptures.
Whenever he appeared in the streets ofRome vicious persons grew abased and withdrew from his sight. Sometimes Felix would stop them and earnestly exhort
them to live a better life;
especially did he endeavour to restrain young men. But judges and dignitariesalso
at times incurred his rebuke, he was no respecter of persons when it was a matter of preventing sin. On one occasion,
during a Carnival, he and St. Philip Neri organized a procession with their crucifix; then came theCapuchin friars; last came Felix leading Fra Lupo, a well-known Capuchin preacher, by a rope round his neck, to represent Our Lord led to judgment by his executioners. Arrived in the middle of
the revels, the procession halted and Fra Lupo preached to the
people. The Carnival, with its
open vice, was broken up for that
year.
But Felix's special apostolate was amongst the
children of the city, with whom his childlike simplicity made him a special
favourite. His method with these was to gather them together in bands and,
forming circle, set them to sing canticles of his own composing, by which he
taught them the beauty of a good life and
the ugliness of sin. These canticles became popular and frequently, when on
his rounds in quest of alms, Felix would be invited into the houses of
his benefactors and asked to sing. He would seize the opportunity to bring home
some spiritualtruth in extemporized verse. During the famine of 1580 the
directors of the city's charities asked his superiors to place Felix at their disposal to collect alms for the starving, and he was untiring in his quest.
St. Philip Neri had a deep affection for the Capuchin lay brother, whom he once
proclaimed the greatest saintthen
living in the Church. When St. Charles Borromeo sought St. Philip's aid in drawing up the constitutions of
hisOblates, St. Philip took him to St. Felix as the most competent adviser in such
matters. But through all, Felixkept
his wonderful humility and simplicity. He was accustomed to style himself "Ass of the Capuchins". Acclaimed a Saint by the people of Rome, immediately after his
death, he was beatified by Urban VIII in 1625, andcanonized by Clement XI in 1712. His body rests under an altar dedicated to him in the church of the Immaculate Conception to Rome.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for
New Advent by Joseph P. Thomas.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. September 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New
York.
St. Felix of Cantalice, OFM Cap
(1515-1587)
His feast is celebrated on May 18. Felix was born at Cantalice, Italy, in 1515. His parents, Santi and Santa Porri, were farmers, struggling to make ends meet. Felix had two older brothers, Blase and Charles, and two younger brothers, Potenza and Peter Marino. The latter perished in one of the many battles between Cantalice and Rieti. When he was about 10 years old, Felix was hired out as a farmhand for the Picchi family at Cittaducale. Farmhands were rustic, "untamed" people, raised in the outdoors. Vegetarians, they learned how to survive in the wild. Their job was grueling. After a hard day's work, Felix found relaxation in wrestling. As a youngster, Felix' cousin would read to him the lives of the desert ascetics. Descriptions of their penances had enthused Felix and sparked in him a desire to imitate their austerity. Felix had a dream in which an angel directed him to go to Leonessa to join the Capuchins. In pursuit of his dream, Felix set out for Leonessa where the Capuchin local minister redirected him to the provincial vicar. Not knowing where to find him, Felix returned to work in the fields. He was not accustomed to receiving messages from angels and was even less inclined to waste his time searching for what was elusive. The angel returned a second time, telling Felix to go to the Capuchin Friary at Rieti. Again, nothing came of the trip, so Felix returned to working the land. One day, an Augustinian friar invited Felix to consider joining the Augustinians. Felix replied, "Either a Capuchin or nothing."
He persisted in his desire to become a Capuchin and presented himself at the Capuchin Friary at Cittaducale. The local minister led him into the church, before a large crucifix, asking that he pray to be enlightened. The corpus on the cross was bruised, bloodied, and disfigured. Moved by the sight, Felix experienced the depth of God's love for him. That evening, the local minister (having forgotten about Felix) returned to the chapel to pray. Felix was still there. The local minister remarked, "Son, what are you doing? Still here? You are a good person; we will accept you among us. Jesus will no longer be alone. You will help him carry the cross." Ten days later, toward the end of the autumn of 1543, the 20-year-old Felix was received. He immediately set out for Rome to present himself to the elusive provincial vicar. At the Roman friary of St. Nicholas de Portiis, Felix was received by Bernardine of Asti, who was both the Roman local minister and procurator for the Capuchin Order before the Roman Curia. Bernardine introduced Felix to Raphael of Volterra, the Capuchin Provincial Vicar of the Roman Province, who officially received Felix into the Order.
On a rainy morning in early 1544, Felix set out for the Fiuggi friary where the provincial vicar had determined his year of novitiate would be spent under the guidance of Boniface. During the harsh days of novitiate, Felix suffered debilitating fevers. The friars were considering asking him to return to secular life. As a last resort, they transferred Felix to Monte San Giovanni Campano where Felix recovered. Before the public notary, James of Mastrantonio, Felix relinquished his worldly possessions to his siblings and waived all claim to any future inheritance. He professed vows on May 18, 1545.
Lover of nature that he was, the rustic Felix had become a Capuchin hoping to be able to live the rest of his days in one of the many friaries located in secluded forests. In reality, only the first few years of his religious life were spent in such locations at Fiuggi, Monte San Giovanni, Tivoli, and Viterbo. Then, in 1547, Felix was introduced to the frenzied life of Rome. In his younger years, in imitation of the desert ascetics, Felix had vowed never again to touch bread. Ironically, his Roman assignment was to quest for bread and wine. Despite his desire for seclusion, Felix' ministry placed him in direct, daily contact with a multitude of people. Following then current Capuchin custom, Felix always made his quest barefoot, with eyes cast down. His response to every benefactor was always a humble yet confident "Thank God" ("Deo gratias"). So often was it repeated that Felix became known as "Brother Deo Gratias." Not only did Felix provide the friars with food, but he also furnished food for the hungry. He received permission from the ministers to help the needy, especially widows with many children. It is said that his begging sack was as bottomless as his heart. He never refused a request for help. Felix would dispense oil, bread, wine, and meat. When he could not provide the required aid himself, he would solicit the help of the wealthy, including church dignitaries. Felix always reminded people, benefactors and beneficiaries alike, of divine providence and urged them to give thanks to God. He would visit the sick at the friary, in private homes, at the hospitals of St. James of the Incurables, of the Holy Spirit, and of St. John Lateran. Felix spoke in simple language, exhorting the sick to trust, and to accept sickness as a graced moment.
Felix' reputation as a healer of peoples' ills spread. He would often bless the sick with a crucifix and they would be healed. At other times, he would give away some of the alms he had collected, which, in turn, became channels of healing. Felix healed Constance, the mother of the Cardinal Bishop of Orvieto, Peter Crescenzi, by bathing her eyes with wine he had received as an alms. Similarly, at the hospital of St. John, a patient was healed instantaneously after Felix had given him some donated wine. Friends began to tease Felix saying, "Brother Felix, when I get sick, bring me a little of your wine!" Felix exhorted everyone in his rustic Sabine dialect, always using the informal form of address. He treated every individual with the greatest respect, whether giving alms or receiving them. Felix was a person who had difficulty saying "no," and benefactors knew this. If someone asked for something, Felix always provided.
His upbringing prevented him from putting on airs. A person's social or ecclesiastical position notwithstanding, Felix would directly (and unceremoniously) confront those in need of conversion. Stories of Felix' life read like incidents out of the Fioreffi. One day, Felix, seeking food for the poor, knocked at the door of a lawyer who was immersed in reading a legal treatise. The lawyer, indignant over the intrusion, made it known that he was involved in something far more important than any trivial affair in which the brother was involved. Felix's eyes filled with tears and he asked, "Is there perhaps some law more important than God's?" The lawyer soon abandoned his law career to pursue a life of ministry in the church. On another occasion, Felix confronted the illustrious lawyer, Bernardine Biscia, by placing a crucifix on top of some legal tomes Biscia was perusing. Felix pointed to the Crucified One and said, "Look, Sir Bernardine, all these books were made for you to better understand him."
Felix normally spoke little outside the friary. Even within the friary, what he had to say was more often than not an exhortation for others to give good example. His style was frank and direct. He might tell someone, "I want to correct you." He often reminded Capuchin preachers, "Preach in order to convert people, not to make a name for yourself." At times, he would quote Brother Giles' quip: "Bo, bo, bo, assai dico e poco fo!" ("Tsk, tsk, tsk, a lot of talk, but no action.") To Cardinal Julius Anthony Santori, the Capuchin cardinal protector, Felix once said: "My lord cardinal, you were designated to protect us, not to interfere with matters that pertain to the superiors of the Order." He advised the future Sixtus V, "When you become pope, be pope for the glory of God and the good of the church. Otherwise, it would be better for you to remain a simple friar." The same pope would occasionally encounter Felix questing and would ask for a piece of bread. One day, Felix gave him a piece of stale black bread and remarked to the Franciscan pope, "Excuse me, Holy Father, but you're still a friar."
For his personal devotion and meditation, Felix memorized prayers and liturgical and biblical texts. Despite being illiterate, Felix prayed from the heart and occupied his mind with spiritual reflections. Whether he was walking the streets of Rome, in his cell or in chapel, he was absorbed in contemplation. He would recall the words of the gospel for inspiration. After everyone else had gone to bed, Felix would spend long hours before the Blessed Sacrament entrusting to God's care the people he had met in the course of the day.
He had a curiosity about subjects of which he had no formal education. Often he would seek counsel from the famous Spanish priest, Alphonse Lupo. Felix was a personal friend of Philip Neri and an acquaintance of Charles Borromeo. Felix recognized that authentic holiness was both enlightened and enlightening. Thus, by seeking the advice of knowledgeable people, the "saint of the streets of Rome" was enabled in turn to advise or admonish the people who sought counsel from him.
Felix was an institution for two generations of Roman youth. Youngsters would affectionately call him "Papa," causing some raised eyebrows among those who were unfamiliar with the esteem in which the Capuchin was held. People brought their cares immediately to Felix for help. Even before going to the doctor, they would call on Felix. He would go to their side, kneel, and say an "Our Father" and a "Hail Mary," and then return to the friary confident that providence would take care of the rest. At other times, Felix would exhort the sick to acceptance, saying, "Heaven, heaven," or, "Allow yourself to go to paradise." Felix had an intense fondness for mothers and babies. He would always take a moment to dedicate the infants and to teach the young to repeat, "Jesus, Jesus," or, "Deo gratias." Felix had a talent for spontaneously creating and singing spiritual hymns. People would often ask him to sing. His devotion to the Virgin Mary was not apparent, except in these free verse songs and from the testimony of Alphonse Lupo who knew Felix well. Felix carried out his ministry until just days before his death. Cardinal Santori had offered to use his influence to have the elderly Felix relieved of the difficult task of questing, but Felix refused.
On April 30, 1587, Felix fell ill. He knew he was about to die. To the friars he remarked, "This little ass has dropped; it will not rise again." With Urban of Prato at his bedside, Felix raised his hands and his face became resplendent. Urban asked him what was happening and Felix responded, "I see the Virgin Mary surrounded by a throng of angels." As the local minister was bringing Eucharist as Viaticum, Felix began to sing, "O Sacrum Convivium." He died on May 18, 1587. Felix' remains are enshrined in the Capuchin church of the Immaculate Conception on Rome's exclusive via Veneto.
Sixtus V was determined to proceed to canonization, by Roman acclamation if necessary, but the process was not concluded. After Sixtus V died, the momentum of the process dissipated. Finally, on October 1, 1625, Urban VIII beatified Felix and Clement XI canonized him on May 22, 1712, the first Capuchin to be so honored.
SOURCE : http://www.beafriar.com/felix.html
St. Felix of Cantalice
(1515-1587)
Felix was the first Capuchin Franciscan ever canonized. In fact, when he was born, the Capuchins did not yet exist as a distinct group within the Franciscans.
Born of humble, God-fearing parents in the Rieti Valley, Felix worked as a farmhand and a shepherd until he was 28. He developed the habit of praying while he worked.
In 1543 he joined the Capuchins. When the guardian explained the hardships of that way of life, Felix answered: "Father, the austerity of your Order does not frighten me. I hope, with God’s help, to overcome all the difficulties which will arise from my own weakness."
Three years later Felix was assigned to the friary in Rome as its official beggar. Because he was a model of simplicity and charity, he edified many people during the 42 years he performed that service for his confreres.
As he made his rounds, he worked to convert hardened sinners and to feed the poor–as did his good friend, St. Philip Neri, who founded the Oratory, a community of priests serving the poor of Rome. When Felix wasn’t talking on his rounds, he was praying the rosary. The people named him "Brother Deo Gratias" (thanks be to God) because he was always using that blessing.
When Felix was an old man, his superior had to order him to wear sandals to protect his health. Around the same time a certain cardinal offered to suggest to Felix’s superiors that he be freed of begging so that he could devote more time to prayer. Felix talked the cardinal out of that idea. Felix was canonized in 1712.
Comment:
Grateful people make good beggars. St. Francis told his friars that if they gave the world good example, the world would support them. Felix’s life proves the truth of that advice. In referring all blessings back to their source (God), Felix encouraged people to works of charity for the friars and for others.
Quote:
"And let us refer all good to the most high and supreme lord God, and acknowledge that every good is His, and thank Him for everything, [He] from Whom all good things come. And may He, the Highest and Supreme, Who alone is true God, have and be given and receive every honor and reverence, every praise and blessing, every thanks and glory, for every good is His, He Who alone is good. And when we see or hear an evil [person] speak or act or blaspheme God, let us speak well and act well and praise God (cf. Rm 12:21), Who is blessed forever (Romans 1:25)" (St. Francis, Rule of 1221, Ch. 17).
Bartolomeo Gennari. La Vierge Marie et l’Enfant Jésus avec Saint Félix de Cantalice,
1644, huile sur toile, 230 X 158
Saint Felix of Cantalice
Feast Day – May 18
In 1515, in the Italian village of Cantalice, in the beautiful valley of Rieti, Saint Felix of Cantalice was born of humble but pious peasants. As a boy he tended cattle, and later he became a farm laborer. Being so much amid God's free nature, his heart was attracted to God, who graciously ministers to us human beings He has daily before his eyes.
The hard work did not make Saint Felix of Cantalice coarse and worldly-minded, as sometimes happens, but he was gentle and kind towards everyone. When he came home at night all tired out, he still spent much time in his little room engaged in prayer, to which for that matter he applied himself also while at work. It grieved him that he could not attend holy Mass on weekdays. He would indeed have gladly consecrated his whole life to the service of God, but he could see no way of carrying out his desire until one day an accident showed him the way.
Saint Felix had to break to the plow a team of young oxen that were very wild. The oxen shied, and when Felix tried to stop them, they ran him down, dragging the sharp plowshare across his body. Peasants ran to the scene, certain that they would find the man dead, but Felix arose unharmed, with only his jacket rent, though he went straight to his employer and begged to be released from his service. The little he possessed he gave to the poor, and went to the nearest Capuchin convent, where he humbly begged for admission. After careful trial, his request was granted.
Now Saint Felix of Cantalice felt like one newly born, as if heaven itself had opened to him. It was the year 1543, and Felix was 28 years old. But in his novitiate he was yet to experience the burden and the struggles of this earthly life. The devil attacked him with violent temptations of all kinds. He was also seized with a lingering illness, which made it appear that he was unfit for convent life. But patience, steadfast self-control, prayer, and candor toward his superiors helped him secure admission to the vows, which he took with great delight.
Soon afterwards he was sent to the Capuchin convent at Rome, where, because of his genuine piety and friendly manner, he was appointed to the task of gathering alms, which he did for all the next 42 years until his death. With his provision sack slung over his shoulder, he went about so humbly and reserved in manner that he edified everybody. When he received an alms, he had so cordial a way of saying Deo Gratias - thanks be to God - that the people called him Brother Deo Gratias.
As soon as Saint Felix of Cantalice got back to the convent and delivered the provisions, he found his way to church. There he first said a prayer for the benefactors, then he poured out his heart in devotion especially before the Blessed Sacrament and at the altar of our Lady. He also passed many hours of the night there, and one time the Mother of God placed the Divine Child in the arms of the overjoyed Felix.
Saint Felix of Cantalice was most conscientious in observing every detail of his role and vows. He did not wait for the orders of his superiors; a mere hint from them was enough. Although always in touch with the world, he kept careful guard over his chastity in every word and look, that Pope Paul V said he was a saint in body and soul.
Poverty was his favorite virtue. Since his holy father St Francis forbade his friars to accept money in any form, Saint Felix of Cantalice could not be prevailed upon to accept it under any circumstances. How pleasing his spirit was to God was to be proved in a remarkable way. Once on leaving a house, Felix slung his sack over his shoulder, but felt it weigh so heavily that it almost crushed him. He searched the sack and found a coin which someone had secretly slipped into it. He threw it away in disgust, and cheerfully and easily took up his sack again.
Almighty God granted Saint Felix extraordinary graces. Many sick persons he restored to health with the Sign of the Cross. A dead child he gave back alive to its mother. In the most puzzling cases he was able to give helpful advice. Honored by the great and lowly, he considered himself the most wretched of men, but earned so much more merits with God.
Finally, the day arrived when St Felix of Cantalice was to gather the board of his merits. He died with a cheerful countenance while catching sight of the Mother of God, who invited him to the joys of Paradise. It was on the feast of Pentecost, May 18, 1587. Pope Urban VIII beatified him, while Pope Clement XI inscribed him in the register of the saints in 1709.
*from: The Franciscan Book of Saints, ed. by Marion Habig, ofm.
Felix of Cantalice, OFM
Cap. (RM)
Born in Cantalice near Rieti, Apulia, Italy, in 1513; died in Rome in 1587; canonized in 1712 (or 1709 or 1724)--the first Capuchin friar to attain this honor. Born to peasant farmers, Saint Felix began life as a farm laborer and shepherd. After a narrow escape from death at age 30, when bulls charged him while he was ploughing, he joined the Capuchins at Città Ducale in Rome as a lay brother.
From 1545 until his death 42 years later, he begged the daily alms for the friary and also pocketed insults to which he invariably responded, "thanks be to God." He made his rounds barefoot and dressed in a shirt of mail studded with spikes. A legend says that one stormy night, while making his usual rounds to collect food for the friary, a radiant child appeared to him, gave him a loaf of bread, and then, with a benediction, vanished.
Felix never learned to read. He said that he knew only five red letters--the five wounds of Christ. Nevertheless, learned theologians came to him for counsel. Often he could help them find solutions because he had the gift of reading hearts. Others of evil conscience avoided him because he would remonstrate with those in most need of conversion.
He was a friend of Saint Charles Borromeo and an intimate of Saint Philip Neri. In response to the excesses of the Roman carnival, Felix and Philip Neri conceived a unique procession. The Oratorians marched with the cross in front, followed by the Capuchins. At the tail was Saint Felix leading Fra Lupo, a well- known Capuchin preacher, by a cord around his neck to represent Jesus as he was led before Pilate. When the procession reached the center of the festival gathering, Fra Lupo gave such an impressive sermon against vicious living that the carnival dispersed.
Felix was given the nickname of Brother "Deo Gratias" because that was his habitual ejaculation.
The saint had a special love of children. He gathered them around himself and sang to them improvised song, which they then popularized. Benefactors called him into their homes; in thanks he would sing to them and give them advice. His characteristic virtue was spiritual joy--I think I like this saint a lot. The day after his death, Pope Sixtus V demanded a report of Felix's life so that he could beatify him. The entire city flocked to the church to say farewell to their beloved beggar friar. So many people crowded into the church that some died in the press of the crowd and another exit had to be created to relief it. When Felix's body was exhumed later, it was found to be incorrupt. Many miracles are recorded at his shrine (Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines, Coulson, Schamoni, Tabor).
In art, Saint Felix is an old Capuchin embracing the Christ-Child. The picture may include (1) the Christ-Child putting a loaf into his wallet; (2) the words Deo Gratias near him; or (3) SS. Philip Neri and/or Charles Borromeo (Roeder). He may also be simply a Capuchin carring a beggar's wallet (Tabor).
Born in Cantalice near Rieti, Apulia, Italy, in 1513; died in Rome in 1587; canonized in 1712 (or 1709 or 1724)--the first Capuchin friar to attain this honor. Born to peasant farmers, Saint Felix began life as a farm laborer and shepherd. After a narrow escape from death at age 30, when bulls charged him while he was ploughing, he joined the Capuchins at Città Ducale in Rome as a lay brother.
From 1545 until his death 42 years later, he begged the daily alms for the friary and also pocketed insults to which he invariably responded, "thanks be to God." He made his rounds barefoot and dressed in a shirt of mail studded with spikes. A legend says that one stormy night, while making his usual rounds to collect food for the friary, a radiant child appeared to him, gave him a loaf of bread, and then, with a benediction, vanished.
Felix never learned to read. He said that he knew only five red letters--the five wounds of Christ. Nevertheless, learned theologians came to him for counsel. Often he could help them find solutions because he had the gift of reading hearts. Others of evil conscience avoided him because he would remonstrate with those in most need of conversion.
He was a friend of Saint Charles Borromeo and an intimate of Saint Philip Neri. In response to the excesses of the Roman carnival, Felix and Philip Neri conceived a unique procession. The Oratorians marched with the cross in front, followed by the Capuchins. At the tail was Saint Felix leading Fra Lupo, a well- known Capuchin preacher, by a cord around his neck to represent Jesus as he was led before Pilate. When the procession reached the center of the festival gathering, Fra Lupo gave such an impressive sermon against vicious living that the carnival dispersed.
Felix was given the nickname of Brother "Deo Gratias" because that was his habitual ejaculation.
The saint had a special love of children. He gathered them around himself and sang to them improvised song, which they then popularized. Benefactors called him into their homes; in thanks he would sing to them and give them advice. His characteristic virtue was spiritual joy--I think I like this saint a lot. The day after his death, Pope Sixtus V demanded a report of Felix's life so that he could beatify him. The entire city flocked to the church to say farewell to their beloved beggar friar. So many people crowded into the church that some died in the press of the crowd and another exit had to be created to relief it. When Felix's body was exhumed later, it was found to be incorrupt. Many miracles are recorded at his shrine (Attwater, Attwater2, Benedictines, Coulson, Schamoni, Tabor).
In art, Saint Felix is an old Capuchin embracing the Christ-Child. The picture may include (1) the Christ-Child putting a loaf into his wallet; (2) the words Deo Gratias near him; or (3) SS. Philip Neri and/or Charles Borromeo (Roeder). He may also be simply a Capuchin carring a beggar's wallet (Tabor).
Saint
Philip Neri asked the painter Giuseppe de Cesari for a picture of Saint Felix.
One day when the saint came for his alms, Cesari detained him and sketched a
portrait while they talked without letting Felix know what he was doing. On the
back of the little wooden tablet, the artist wrote a few lines and sent the
picture to Saint Philip. The extant image, kept in the Gallery of Prince
Gaëtani in Rome, shows a sweet, old man with down-like hair, a full white
beard, and long bumpy Roman nose (Schamoni).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0518.shtml
May 21
St. Felix of Cantalicio, Confessor
ST. FELIX was born of poor but
virtuous parents, at Cantalicio, near Citta Ducale in the Ecclesiastical State,
in 1513. For his extraordinary piety he was from his infancy surnamed the
saint. At the time when in his childhood he kept cattle, and when afterwards he
followed tillage and husbandry work, he was careful to sanctify his labour by a
perfect spirit of penance. He accompanied all his actions with devout prayer,
so as even then to lead the life rather of a hermit than of a country labourer.
He watched during part of the night in holy meditation, and to his painful life
he added the austerity of rigorous abstinence and fasting. He contrived,
without prejudice to his work, every day to hear mass, and he declined the
ordinary amusements of those of his age. Oft in the fields, when he had drove
his cattle into some solitary pasture, he would pray for several hours together
at the foot of some tree before a cross which with his knife he had cut in the
bark. At twelve years of age his father put him out to service, in quality
first of shepherd and afterwards of husbandman, in the family of Mark Tully
Pichi, a virtuous gentleman who lived at Citta Ducale. In his tender years,
before the faculties of his mind were sufficiently opened to qualify him for
deep reflection and long meditation, his prayer chiefly consisted of the Our
Father, Hail Mary, Creed, Glory be to the Father, &c., especially of
certain petitions of the Lord’s Prayer, which he seemed almost never to cease
repeating in the fields with wonderful devotion. He was yet young, when he
learned to habituate himself to the practice of holy meditation during his
labour, and he soon attained to the perfection of heavenly contemplation,
whereby the fire of divine affections is readily kindled in the heart by the
least thought on God, as touchwood catches the flame; whereas holy meditation
calls in the succour of reasoning drawn from the truths of faith, to excite
ardent affections of virtue in the soul. It is a mistake to imagine that this
exercise requires learning or sublime thoughts. Pious meditation is not a dry
philosophical speculation. It chiefly consists in the affections of the will,
and in profound sentiments of adoration, praise, compunction, humility, and
other virtues. To be capable of this exercise, it is enough that a person has
an understanding to know God, and a heart capable of feeling the power of his
love. The most ignorant man can repeat often to God that he desires earnestly
to love him, and always to glorify his holy name; he can bewail his ingratitude
and sins, confess his weakness, and implore the divine pity and succour. To do
this well, the most essential dispositions are humility and simplicity of
heart; and to this holy art there is no greater enemy than that worldly science
which swells the mind with secret self-sufficiency and pride. Even in a
religious house this gift may be often denied to many who are distinguished by
their learning or dignities, 1 whilst an illiterate fervent lay-brother, who by perfect humility,
obedience, and self-denial, has crucified in his heart all self-love and
inordinate attachments to creatures, finds wings continually to soar to God by
high contemplation. Even in the world, our saint, whilst he followed the
plough, attained this gift. The tractableness and instinct of the beasts, the
painfulness of his labour, the barrenness of the earth accursed by sin, the
vanity of the world, the blindness of sinners, the sight of the heavens, the
obedience of all nature, the beauty of the verdant fields, the watered lawns,
and hanging forests, every object served to raise his heart to the praise of
his Creator, or excite him to deplore in his sight his own spiritual miseries,
and his distance from him. In God, in himself, and in all creatures round about
him, he found a perpetual fund of pious thoughts and affections; but the
sufferings of our Divine Redeemer were the most tender object of his devotions;
and he was never weary in contemplating that great mystery, nor in paying to
his loving Saviour the homages of adoration, love and thanksgiving, renewing
always the most perfect dedication of himself to his service. He was most
humble, charitable, meek, and always cheerful. He spoke little, shunned the
company of those whose conduct appeared irregular, abhorred all murmurs,
complaints and impatience. No injury or insult could provoke him to anger; and
if any one reviled him, he was wont to say with an engaging sweetness: “I pray
God you may become a saint.” The servant of God found all the means of perfect
sanctification in his condition in the world; but God was pleased, for his
greater advancement, to call him to a penitential religious state; to which
grace two accidents contributed to dispose him. As he was one day driving the
plough, at the sight of his master who came up dressed in black, the young oxen
started and dragged the plough over his body; yet he received no hurt.
Gratitude for this merciful deliverance inspired him with an ardent desire of
consecrating himself to the divine service; and by hearing soon after the lives
of some of the ancient fathers of the desert read at his master’s house, he
became extremely desirous to imitate them.
The state of a lay-brother among
the Capuchin friars seemed to him best to suit his design. He, therefore,
petitioned for the habit, and was admitted to it at Citta Ducale. The guardian
when he gave him the habit, showed him a crucifix, explained to him what our
Saviour had suffered for us, and in what manner we ought to imitate him by a
life of humiliation and self-denial. At that moving sight Felix burst into a
flood of tears, and felt in his breast a vehement desire of bearing in himself,
by the mortification of the flesh, the image of the sufferings of that Man-God,
by which he might resemble his crucified master, and subdue in himself the old
man. He performed his novitiate at Anticoli, and appeared already filled with
the perfect spirit of his Order, especially with a sincere love of poverty,
humiliations, and the cross. He often cast himself at the feet of his master of
novices, earnestly begging him to double his penances and mortifications, and
to treat him with greater harshness and severity than the rest, who, he said,
were more docile, and naturally more inclined to virtue. By this holy hatred
and contempt of himself, he laid the foundation of so eminent a degree of
sanctity that his fellow-religious usually called him the saint. He was thirty
years of age when he made his solemn vows in 1545; four years after which he
was settled in the convent of his Order in Rome, and appointed quester, whose
office is to collect the daily alms for the subsistence of the community. This
office requires a person of eminent virtue and prudence, and already perfect in
the spirit of his Order, who may be able to resist that of the world, which is
that of covetousness and dissipation, capitally contrary to his strictest
obligations. 2 But the frequent occasions of humiliation, contempt, and suffering
which attended this action, afford occasions for the exercise of penance,
humility, patience, meekness, and other virtues. In this circumstance Felix
thought himself most happy; for no ambitious man is more greedy of honours than
Felix appeared to be of contempt, which out of sincere humility he looked upon
as his due. His recollection suffered no interruption. He never spoke unless
obliged by necessity, and then in very few words, and with an edifying prudence
and humility. He walked with his eyes cast down, but his heart was always
raised to God by prayer. No objects seemed to turn his mind from heavenly
things, because he restrained his eyes from curiosity or vanity, and considered
God and his will in everything. He was much delighted with acts of praise,
adoration, and thanksgiving; and he often repeated to others the words Deo
gratias, inviting them to join with him in thanking God for all things.
With the leave of his superiors, who placed an entire confidence in his piety
and discretion, he assisted the poor abundantly out of the alms which he
gathered. He visited the sick with the most tender charity, and sucked himself
their most loathsome ulcers. He admonished sinners, and exhorted all to piety,
especially dying persons, with a most moving unction and prudence. St. Philip
Neri often conversed with him, being wonderfully delighted with that excellent
spirit of humility and piety which he discovered in his soul, and in his whole
deportment. When St. Charles Borromeo had sent the rules which he had drawn up
for his Oblates at Milan to St. Philip Neri, begging him to revise them, St.
Philip excused himself and referred the book to our poor lay-brother. St. Felix
declined the commission, alleging that he was an illiterate person. But being
commanded in obedience to hear the rules read to him, to speak to every part,
and direct what he thought best to be altered, he obeyed; and some things of
great moment he advised to be expunged as too difficult, with which St. Charles
complied, expressing his admiration at our humble saint’s heavenly discretion. 3
He always preserved his purity
unspotted both in mind and body, guarding it by the strictest watchfulness over
his senses, especially his eyes; and he never looked any woman in the face. He
walked always barefoot, even without sandals, and chastised his body with
incredible austerities; he wore a shirt of iron links and plates studded with
rough spikes: and when he could do it without too remarkable a singularity, he
fasted on bread and water: on the three last days in Lent he ate nothing at
all. He privately used to pick out of the basket the crusts left by the other
religious for his own dinner. He watched a great part of the nights in prayer,
allowing himself only two or three hours for sleep, which he usually took on
his knees, leaning his head against a faggot, or lying down on the boards, or
on twigs. At the least sign given him by any superior, he was always ready to
do whatever was ordered him. He always called himself the ass or beast of
burden to serve the community, and regarded himself as one who was not to be
ranked among the religious brethren. He thought himself unworthy even to
converse with them; and on that account, when with them he spoke very little.
If any one contradicted him in indifferent things, he readily acquiesced in
what they said, and was silent. When he ate alone and thought no one saw him,
he practised excessive austerities; but when he dined in company with others,
he endeavoured ordinarily to shun any singularity that could be taken notice
of. It was his study to conceal from others as much as possible all heavenly
favours which he received, and to avoid whatever might give them a good opinion
of him. He disguised his mortifications under various pretences, and excused
his going without sandals, saying he walked more easily without them, but
suppressed the inconveniences he felt in that mortification. In serving at mass
he was sometimes so overpowered by the abundance of his tears, and transported
in ecstasies of divine love, that he was not able to answer the priest. The
fire of divine love which burned in his breast made him often sing short
spiritual canticles, which it also inspired him to compose in a plain simple
style, but full of heavenly sentiments. In singing them he was often seen quite
ravished and absorbed in God. He had the most ardent devotion to the passion of
Christ, and in meditating on it usually watered the ground with abundant tears.
The habitual union of his heart with God made him often not perceive others
near him, and sometimes he did not know who had been his companion abroad. When
a certain brother in religion asked him how he could preserve so perfect a
recollection amidst the variety of objects which he met in his office abroad,
he answered: “Why, brother, every creature in the world will raise our hearts
to God if we look upon it with a good eye.” The extraordinary raptures with
which he was often favoured in prayer are not to be expressed by words. He
performed the office of the brother quester for his community in Rome forty
years. When he was grown old, the cardinal protector, who loved him exceedingly
for his extraordinary virtue, told his superiors that they ought now to ease
him of that burden. But Felix begged that he might be shown no indulgence, lest
by receiving earthly favours he should be deprived of those which are heavenly;
for the soul grows more sluggish if the body be too much cherished. Being
seventy-two years old, he foretold his death to several companions, and to
certain persons who lay dying. He soon after fell sick of a fever, and was
comforted by a vision of the Blessed Virgin, accompanied with many holy angels.
Shortly after this favour, he, in great spiritual joy, expired on the 18th of
May, 1587. Many miracles were juridically approved, and St. Felix was beatified
by Urban VIII. in 1625, and canonized by Clement XI. in 1721, though the bull
of his canonization was only published by Benedict XIII. in 1724. 4 His body remains in the church of his Order in Rome.
St. Felix, though little in the
eyes of the world and in his own, was great before God. The poverty of a
Lazarus, abandoned by all, but suffering with patience, resignation, and
humility, is something far more glorious and more desirable than the most glittering
sceptres. God will condemn the renowned exploits of those false divinities of
the earth who have filled the world with the sound of their name; but he crowns
the least desire of an humble heart employed in loving him. A person who lives
in the world is bound to make all his actions perfect sacrifices to God, and
purity of intention converts the works of any secular calling into the works of
God. But this can only be formed and maintained in a life in which a constant
spirit of piety animates the soul, and a considerable time is reserved for
exercises of interior devotion. Let no man take sanctuary in purity of
intention who suffers the works of his secular profession, much less company or
pleasures, to engross his soul, and entirely to usurp his time. A life of
business, and still more a life of pleasure, entangle and ensnare the mind, and
leave in it a peculiar relish which is incompatible with pure heavenly desires,
and a value for those maxims of the gospel wherein true heavenly wisdom
consists, or with a serious constant application to the mortification of
self-love and the passions.
Note 1. See Boudon, Règne de Dieu dans l’Ame, c.
1. [back]
Note 2. See on
this F. Dijon, Capuchin friar, Tr. des Oblig. des Relig. t. 2. [back]
Note 3. See the
life of St. Philip Neri, printed at Venice in 1727. Also Saxius, Annot. in S.
Caroli, hom. 120, t. 4, p. 229. [back]
Note 4. Bullar.
Roman, t. 13. p. 89. [back]
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/5/211.html
Voir aussi : http://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienF/Felix_von_Cantalice.htmlSOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0518.shtml
May 21
St. Felix of Cantalicio, Confessor
From the acts of his beatification, and from his life
written by F. John Baptist of Perugia. See Papebroke ad 18 Maij. t. 4, p. 203
A.D. 1587.
