Bienheureux Antoine
Grassi
Prêtre de
l’Oratoire (+ 1671)
Né à Fermo en Italie en
1592, éduqué chez les Oratoriens, il entra dans la Congrégation de l'Oratoire
et fut ordonné prêtre en 1617, il faisait souvent le pélerinage à pied à
Notre-Dame de Lorette, puis fit celui de l'année sainte à Rome en 1625. Il fut
supérieur de l'Oratoire de Fermo.
Béatifié en 1900 par le
Pape Léon XIII.
À Fermo dans les Marches,
en 1671, le bienheureux Antoine Grassi, prêtre de l’Oratoire. Humble et
pacifique, il poussa beaucoup ses confrères, par son exemple, à l’observance de
la Règle.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/11250/Bienheureux-Antoine-Grassi.html
Antonio Grassi naquit
le 13 novembre 1592 à Fermo. Enfant il était déjà pieux, appréciant la solitude
et fabriquant de petits autels, pour y honorer Jésus et Marie et certains
saints. Puis en 1609, malgré l’opposition de sa mère, il entra chez les
Oratoriens qui s’occupèrent de parfaire son éducation.
Quelques années plus
tard, en 1617, les études terminées, il fut ordonné prêtre. Le P. Grassi se
distingua par l'amour des enfants qu'il préparait au catéchisme, des malades et
des prisonniers dont il s'occupait. Il affirmait que la vocation du prêtre
était de compatir, de consoler et de porter assistance.
Il avait une grande dévotion
à la Vierge Marie et faisait à pied, chaque année, le pèlerinage de Notre Dame
de Lorette.
En 1625, il fit aussi le
pèlerinage à Rome de l'Année Sainte et ce fut pour lui l'occasion de grâces
mystiques. En 1635, il fut élu en tant que Préposé de la Communauté de Fermo,
charge qu'il assuma jusqu' à sa mort.
Le père Antoine Grassi se
voulait très proche de l’esprit de saint Philippe Néri — fondateur de
l’Oratoire —, gardant en toute chose un véritable esprit humaniste et
agissant avec mesure.
Les Papes Clément X et
Innocent XI le tenaient en grande estime ; car ils avaient eu connaissance des
bienfaits qu'il prodiguait : Assistance aux pauvres, réconciliations,
confessions et direction spirituelle. D'autres maisons de l'Oratoire ouvrirent dans
la région et sa réputation de sainteté se répandit. Il aimait prier Notre Dame
de Lorette. C'était un prêtre de son époque : humble, mystique et renoncé. De
nombreuses grâces lui furent attribuées. Il avait prédit le jour de sa mort qui
advint le 13 décembre 1671. On pria pour lui dans tous les Oratoires d'Italie
et d'Allemagne et sa cause fut rapidement ouverte par le Cardinal Colloredo qui
voyait en lui un authentique modèle de vie.
Il fut béatifié pendant
l'Année Sainte 1900 par Léon XIII, devenant le troisième Oratorien à être ainsi
glorifié. Il repose dans l'église de Notre Dame du Mont-Carmel à Fermo. Le
couvent dans lequel il passa toute sa vie est devenu aujourd'hui un tribunal.
SOURCE : http://alexandrina.balasar.free.fr/antonio_grassi.htm
Bienheureux Antoine
GRASSI, prêtre (1592-1671)
Fête le 15 décembre
Mémoire facultative
Antoine Grassi, né à
Fermo, d’une famille noble, entra à seize ans dans la Congrégation de
l’Oratoire instituée peu de temps auparavant dans sa ville. Observant
parfaitement les règles de la vie commune, il se distingua par son obéissance,
sa mansuétude et son affabilité. Il obtint de très bons résultats en
philosophie et en théologie, et il sut unir ses connaissances avec son
humilité. Brûlant d’un très grand amour pour la Vierge Marie, il se rendait
souvent en pèlerinage à la Sainte Maison de Lorette. Contre sa volonté, il fut
élu plusieurs fois prévôt de l’Oratoire de Fermo, apprécié de tous parce qu’il
agissait toujours avec une très grande charité, prudence et générosité. Il
travailla énormément à la beauté de la maison de Dieu et à la dignité des cérémonies.
Il fut appelé « Ange
de paix » parce qu’il régla d’innombrables conflits. Il lui fut toujours
agréable de rendre forts ceux qui étaient faibles dans la foi, d’instruire ceux
qui avaient peu d’instruction, de visiter les prisonniers, de remettre sur le
droit chemin les marginaux, d’attirer à la pratique de la foi l’âme des enfants
et des jeunes. Il passait des jours et des nuits auprès des malades, oubliant
ses fatigues et le sommeil, et chaque jour il passait plusieurs heures à
confesser les fidèles. Il s’endormit dans le Seigneur à quatre-vingts ans, le
13 décembre 1671. Le Pape Léon XIII l’inscrivit dans le livre des Bienheureux
pendant l’Année Sainte 1900.
De la lettre fraternelle
à tous les confrères Oratoriens », du Cardinal Alfonso Capecelatro de la
Congrégation de l’Oratoire. (Rome, 24 mai 1900, Archives de la Postulation
Générale de l’Oratoire).
Fidèle ami du Christ et
son infatigable ministre.
« Le vénérable
Antonio Grassi, de l’Oratoire de Saint Philippe Néri, est à juste titre à
compter parmi les plus fidèles amis du Christ et ses infatigables serviteurs.
En effet, pendant quatre-vingt ans, d’autant plus il fut nourri par Dieu avec
largesse du pain de la vie et de l’illumination de l’esprit et abreuvé de l’eau
de la sagesse qui sauve, d’autant plus il correspondit de jour en jour aux dons
de la grâce divine, ne cherchant rien d’autre qu’à devenir conforme à l’image
du Fils de Dieu. L’excellence de sa sainteté se distingue surtout dans le fait
qu’il développa sa piété et la vertu de religion, qu’il renonça à lui-même,
qu’il fut rempli d’ardeur pour le salut des âmes, si bien que des personnes
célèbres par leur dignité et leur prudence l’estimaient un véritable émule de
Philippe Néri et qu’elles lui demandaient des prières et des conseils de
sagesse céleste » (S.R.C. decr. De Approb. Mirac. 12 novembre 1893).
« Il se montra en
effet en tout un grand imitateur du Père Philippe » (S.R.C. Decr. Super
T . 11 février 1894.
Il est certain que le
Saint-Siège, à juste titre, émit de très grands éloges de ce genre pour
les actions et les gestes du vénérable Serviteur de Dieu.
En effet, avant même sa
naissance, et à peine né, il fut considéré comme « saint » et
« grand serviteur de Dieu ». Il vit la lumière à Fermo, en 1592,
Philippe étant encore vivant, et il fut baptisé par le père Civitella devenu
ensuite Prévôt de cette ville. Il fut un homme d’une telle pureté, comme un
nouveau saint Bernardin de Sienne ; quand il était encore un enfant la
seule présence ou la seule parole : « c’est Antoine », suffisait
à détourner ses plus jeunes compagnons de tout discours peu honnête. Et cette
vertu angélique fut marquée et donna une suave odeur qui sortait du corps
d’Antoine pendant sa vie comme à sa mort, et c’est avec une insupportable
puanteur que le Serviteur de Dieu reconnaissait prodigieusement la présence des
impurs, et enfin, ce témoignage : une prodigieuse exclamation d’une petite
fille de deux ans à peine : « Voici un Ange, voici un Ange »,
tandis qu’elle désignait plusieurs fois Antoine dans l’église.
Rendu conscient de sa
vocation oratorienne par son directeur spirituel, lui-même disciple de Saint
Philippe, à seize ans il quitta le monde pour entrer dans la Congrégation de
Fermo, Oratoire qu’il fréquentait depuis son enfance.
« Tenant devant ses
yeux l’image de Saint Philippe son père et précepteur, il fut tellement
toujours constamment semblable à lui dans l’observance des règlements, mêmes
les plus petits, qu’il ne s’éloignait ni à droite ni à gauche de l’observance
de la loi du Seigneur pendant plus de soixante années. Et sur ces années,
pendant trente ans, exemple nouveau et inhabituel, il fut Prévôt de cette
Congrégation, et comme une lampe qui brille sur le chandelier il éclaira
toujours de cette flamme inextinguible de ses vertus et il se fit tout à
tous pour gagner tous au Christ » (S.R.C. Decr. De approb. Virt. 1 avril
1770).
En 1625, il vint à Rome
pour obtenir l’indulgence plénière du grand Jubilé, et là, il donna
satisfaction à ses sentiments de piété et de dévotion en visitant surtout les
lieux auxquels son très aimé père et patron avait donné l’éclat de son vivant.
Brûlé par l’amour divin,
il recherchait un doux repos dans la plaie ouverte du côté du Christ, et,
devenu cher à Dieu et aux hommes, il entra en amitié et reçut des louanges de
la part d‘illustres disciples de Saint Philippe, dont le père Consolini qui fut
très cher au père Philippe. Et même, grâce à sa douceur et à sa renommée de
vertu, il attira à lui la famille de la Congrégation de l’Oratoire tout
entière, au point que les Philippins des autres Congrégations demandèrent avec
des lettres pleines d’amour, comme en compétition entre eux, la dernière
bénédiction d’Antoine, désormais époux de la vieillesse et des fatigues.
Il fut un dispensateur de
la dévotion mariale ; chaque année, il se rendait en pèlerinage à la
Sainte Maison de Lorette où le Verbe se fit chair, et là il jouissait
d’élévations admirables et de la douceur de l’Esprit Saint. Il prêchait
assidûment les louanges de la Vierge Marie et les chantait avec douceur. Il
recourait aussi à Saint Philippe comme médiateur pour obtenir plus efficacement
l’intercession de la très sainte Mère de Dieu, en disant : « Tout ce
que la bienheureuse Vierge Marie implore par Jésus-Christ son Fils, elle
l’obtient ; tout ce que Saint Philippe implore de la Bienheureuse Vierge,
il l’obtient ». Pour cette raison, il célébrait avec dévotion les grandes
vertus du saint père et il avait l’habitude de dire à ses confrères :
« Oh, avec quel honneur et attention nous avons été rendus dignes d’être
les fils de Saint Philippe ».
Il résulte des procès
apostoliques que toutes les vertus du vénérable Antoine furent héroïques. Pour
cela Dieu confirma par des charismes célestes l’extraordinaire sainteté de son
serviteur. Orné par Dieu du don de prophétie, de guérisons, de miracles, il
transféra sur lui, par un effet de sa charité, les douleurs des autres, il
transforma en argent des monnaies de bronze, il se réjouit de la présence
désirée et du chant d’un petit moineau ; et bien d’autres prodiges furent
mis en lumière.
Surtout lors de sa
dernière maladie, il se montra un parfait exemple de patience, tirant de
grandes consolations de la pieuse considération des saints stigmates de Saint
François desquels, assurait-il, il voulait être rendu participant, en tant
qu’inscrit à l’Archiconfrérie des Cordigeri du séraphique Père. Enfin, averti
par la Bienheureuse Vierge Marie, par Saint Philippe, de sa mort très
prochaine et du salut éternel, il s’exclama avec une incroyable joie :
« Oh, quelle félicité, quelle grande consolation qu’être un fils de Saint
Philippe pendant la traversée de cette vie ». Il mourut le 31 décembre
1671.
Profile
Oldest child in
a devout family. Antonio’s father,
Vincenzo Grassi, died when
the boy was only 10 years old, but he managed to pass on his devotion to Our
Lady of Loreto. Antonio, who attended Mass each
day as a boy,
joined the Oratorian
Fathers at age 17 where he showed a natural talent for the study of theology and Scripture. Priest.
At age 29, while praying in
the church of the Holy
House of Loreto, Antonio was struck by lightning;
he was not expected to survive, but recovered completely. He took his survival
as a gift from God, to be
used in God‘s
service; he also donated his scorched clothes to the church of the Holy
House as an offering, and he made a yearly pilgrimage to
the Holy
House. He devoted himself entirely to his priestly vocation,
especially hearing confessions, and was given the gift of reading consciences.
Pilgrim to Rome, Italy in 1625.
Elected superior of the Oratory in Fermo, Italy in 1635;
he was re-elected every 3 years for the next 36 years. With penitents he
insisted on adherence to the laws of God, with brother Oratorians he
added the constitutions of the Order,
but he was alway supportive and kind everyone, never severe, and encouraged the
same behavior in priests and parishioners.
Instead of social engagements to which his position entitled him, Antonio spent
his evenings visiting the sick and dying.
Old age was
a hard and humbling time on Father Antonio;
his spirit was not only willing but eager, but his body began to break down.
When he lost his teeth his speech became difficult to understand, and he gave
up preaching;
when his hearing began to fail, he gave up hearing confessions; and a fall
eventually led to him being confined to his room, unable to visit the
other sick and elderly.
But he bore it all as part of the gift he had been given.
Born
13
November 1592 in Fermo, Italy
13
December 1671 in Fermo, Italy of
natural causes
30
September 1900 by Pope Leo
XIII
Additional
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MLA
Citation
“Blessed Antonio
Grassi“. CatholicSaints.Info. 11 January 2022. Web. 7 May 2022.
<https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-antonio-grassi/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-antonio-grassi/
Blessed Anthony Grassi
Anthony’s father died
when his son was only 10 years old, but the young lad inherited his father’s
devotion to Our Lady of Loreto. As a schoolboy he frequented the local church
of the Oratorian Fathers, joining the religious order when he was 17.
Already a fine student,
he soon gained a reputation in his religious community as a “walking
dictionary” who quickly grasped Scripture and theology. For some time he was
tormented by scruples, but they reportedly left him at the very hour he
celebrated his first Mass. From that day, serenity penetrated his very being.
In 1621, at age 29,
Anthony was struck by lightning while praying in the church of the Holy House
at Loreto. He was carried paralyzed from the church, expecting to die. When he
recovered in a few days he realized that he had been cured of acute
indigestion. His scorched clothes were donated to the Loreto church as an
offering of thanks for his new gift of life. More important, Anthony now
felt that his life belonged entirely to God. Each year thereafter he made a
pilgrimage to Loreto to express his thanks.
He also began hearing
confessions, and came to be regarded as an outstanding confessor. Simple and
direct, he listened carefully to penitents, said a few words and gave a penance
and absolution, frequently drawing on his gift of reading consciences. In
1635 he was elected superior of the Fermo Oratory. He was so well regarded that
he was reelected every three years until his death. He was a quiet person and a
gentle superior who did not know how to be severe. At the same time he kept the
Oratorian constitutions literally, encouraging the community to do likewise.
He refused social or
civic commitments and instead would go out day or night to visit the sick or
dying or anyone else needing his services. As he grew older, he had a God-given
awareness of the future, a gift which he frequently used to warn or to console.
But age brought its
challenges as well. He suffered the humility of having to give up his physical
faculties one by one. First was his preaching, necessitated after he lost his
teeth. Then he could no longer hear confessions. Finally, after a fall, he was
confined to his room. The archbishop himself came each day to give him holy
Communion. One of Anthony’s final acts was to reconcile two fiercely quarreling
brothers.
SOURCE : http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/blessed-anthony-grassi/
Blessed Antonio Grassi
Fermo, Ascoli Piceno,
November 13, 15-20December 13, 1671
Roman Martyrology: In
Fermo in Italy, blessed Antonio Grassi, a priest of the Congregation
dell’Oratorio, peaceful and humble man, who by his example prompted many
brothers strongly with the rule.
Antonio Grassi was born
into a distinguished family of Fermo (Ascoli Piceno) on November 13, 1592. His
childhood was simple and religious studies at the curate of St. Peter,
attending the church of S. Spirit of the Fathers of the Oratory. Soon embodied
the spirit Filipino and entered the congregation on October 11, 1609. The
Oratorio di Fermo, one of the oldest, was born in 1586, while S. Filippo Blacks
was still alive (he died nine years later). On December 17, 1617, citizens in
the Cathedral, Bishop Alessandro Strozzi ordered the priest. Mansueto and
smiling, Father Antonio was distinguished by his catechetical commitment,
especially in preparing children to receive the sacraments, and charity toward
the sick and imprisoned. He spent many hours in the confessional, saying that
the main task of the priest was sympathy, help and consolation.
In 1625, he went on a
pilgrimage to Rome to gain indulgences of the Jubilee: he visited many churches
and places of the Founder. His mysticism gained the admiration of all. In 1635
he was elected Superior Filippini of his city, a position he held until his
death.
He had an exceptional
charisma and all, nobles and common people, saw in him a father. In those
years, in March, were born several Oratorian houses. In one of these, a Monte
S. Right, instantly healed the knee of a woman, Giacoma Pupilli. Outstanding
was his mission to “pacere, many rivalries that could set off between
individuals as among the lowly. Quest’apostolato was so providential that the
governor had put his portrait in the Palace City. Father of the poor, his
charity was exaggerated. In a year of exceptional famine, he donated to the
needy even their blankets, and his coat; he held out his hand to ask for alms
and then distributed them to others. His generosity became proverbial and
different stories have been told: Father Antonio Raccamadoro saw some copper
coins in his hands turned into silver coins, in the Conservatory of Orfane wine
multiplied in abundance. At night he visited those who were ashamed to seek his
help. To the brothers, who sometimes blamed him for his excessive generosity,
he said that Providence would not ever miss anything, for alms reduced to a
minimum the expenditures of the house.
Truly, the Virgin Mary,
was his annual pilgrimage, as long as he could walk, the Santa Casa di Loreto.
Here was an actor of exceptional, struck by lightning but remaining unharmed
while his clothes were burned, on September 4, 1621. Every Saturday went into
the church of S. Maria a Mare to celebrate the Holy Mass, helping to revive the
sanctuary that was almost abandoned.
His reputation for holiness arrived in Rome, earning the esteem of the pope and brothers. Among others Cardinal Colloredo, shortly after his death, began the process of beatification. Blessed Antonio predicted his ascent to heaven four years before it happened. Spiritually also attended by the Archbishop of Fermo, that during the days dell’agonia not moved away from his bedside, his last at 22, December 13, 1671. Legends of his holiness spread immediately throughout Italy and in Germany, many graces and miracles were attributed to him. During the Holy Year 1900, September 30, Pope Leo XIII beatified him. His body is kept in an artistic glass urn, under the high table of the Church of Carmine di Fermo. The monastery where he lived all his life as a priest for fifty-five years, is now the headquarters of the tribunal.
Author: Daniele Bolognini
SOURCE: Santi
e Beati
SOURCE : https://theblackcordelias.wordpress.com/2008/12/13/blessed-antonio-grassi/
Blessed Anthony Grassi (1592-1671)
entered the Oratory in Fermo at a young age and eventually became its superior.
The Fermo Oratory no longer exists, but its memory is perpetuated in Blessed
Anthony. His feast day
is December 15
Anthony Grassi was born
in 1592, three years before Philip's death, in Fermo, a town of a few thousand
inhabitants on the Adriatic coast. He was the eldest child of five born
to a devout middle class family. Antonio was a good natured and intelligent
boy, and quickly gained the respect and admiration of his teachers and
friends. He showed early signs of piety in his frequent attendance of
daily Mass which he would serve on his way to school. The first
experience of suffering that Anthony encountered, it seems, was a long illness
at the age of ten which was soon followed by the death of his father. But
Anthony's spirit was not to be conquered by life's blows. He took to
frequenting the newly founded Oratory in Fermo more often than he used to and received
regular spiritual direction from Father Ricci who had known Saint Philip
personally. The Fathers all took a liking to Anthony and he in turn presented
himself to the Congregation as a postulant just before his seventeenth birthday
in 1609.
Anthony's natural
intelligence and love of learning made his studies for the priesthood a
pleasant time in his life. His good memory made it possible for him to
acquire an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Bible, the Fathers of the Church, and
the teachings of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Anthony also received a spiritual
formation to complement his academic achievements.
Each year Anthony made a pilgrimage to the holy house of
Loreto which was only twenty miles away. On one such visit, Anthony was struck
by lightning and knocked unconscious. He received the anointing of the sick and
the doctors gave him little hope of recovery. But God had other plans for
him. Anthony was completely healed through the intercession of the
Blessed Virgin; and from that time on recognized all the more his
dependence on God and sought all the more to dedicate himself completely to His
Will.
In 1625, Anthony went on a pilgrimage to Rome, which turned out to be his only
trip away from Fermo except for his yearly pilgrimage to Loretto. In
Rome, Anthony went to see all the places that Saint Philip used to frequent and
also to learn as much as he could about Saint Philip from Father Pietro
Consolini who had known the Saint intimately. Anthony meditated upon this
knowledge and applied it in his own life for ten years before imparting it more
explicitly to others when he was elected superior of the Fermo Oratory in 1635.
Anthony retained the position of superior for the next 36 years until his death
in 1671. In his government of the Oratory, Anthony imitated the gentleness of
Saint Philip and of his Divine Master whose yoke is easy and whose burden is
light.
Perhaps the life of
Blessed Anthony does not immediately strike our imagination. He did not
go off half-way across the world to spread the faith as did Saint Francis
Xavier, Saint Jean de Brebeuf, or other well known missionaries. He is not
known for great feats of physical mortification. He left no learned writings to
make his name known in seminaries and universities. He did not found a
religious order or institute. And his life was not as permeated with the
supernatural as was Philip's who also shunned all worldly honours. Anthony's
life was a hidden one in a small provincial town in an institute whose priests
and brothers should strive to be unknown; and there he found his peace.
Perhaps, the very commonness of his life should make him of special interest to
us and to our restless age.
Anthony accepted that Divine Providence had placed him in Fermo. He was
born there; there was an Oratory there which he liked; there was no need to go
elsewhere to seek his vocation. Anthony was able to discern among the
familiar sights of youth a call to a divine work which needs to be carried out
among the commonplace.
Anthony also realized that whatever vocation we are called to, we can be
sanctified in it by doing each task well, no matter how menial and seemingly
unimportant. One of his oft-repeated maxims was ‘ad litteram, ad litteram’,
meaning, to the letter - to follow the rules of the institute to the
letter. This attitude requires humility. It requires humility to
subject ourselves to a law or a lawmaker. And it requires wisdom and humility
to recognize that there is virtue in following a rule - whether it be a rule of
a religious community, a rule of a place of work, a rule of family life, or one
of the ten commandments. All good laws are there to help us become better
as individuals and to smoothen the functioning of society. When we ignore
all laws and rules and act just to please ourselves, order breaks down in
society and in our souls; we become slaves to the law of our passions. Anthony
feared this breakdown in the harmonious life of the Oratory whose few rules
help to establish the spirit of Saint Philip, and, hence, he always demanded
that the rule be kept by others and ensured that it was by keeping it himself.
One of the works that Blessed Anthony was especially known for was visiting the
sick and the dying. He ever kept the reality of death before him which
helped him to remain faithful to his vocation. He knew that nothing in this
life is permanent, that there is no point in trying to find our complete
happiness here but that we must seek it from God in heaven. In 1671, as Blessed
Anthony lay dying he said with great joy, "What a beautiful thing it is to
die a son of Saint Philip." There is no better end to an
Oratorian vocation.
SOURCE : http://www.oratory-toronto.org/spn_grassi.html
Blessed Anthony spent
nearly all his life in the region of the Marches, near the east coast of Italy,
in and around his home town of Fermo. The 17th century through which he lived
was not a time of peace for the local inhabitants. Floods and fires took their
toll on the town during his childhood, but the Church in whose patrimony the
Marche lay, was quick to rebuilt the town’s prestige. The Jesuits were given
the University, the Cathedral chapter restructured, the Capuchin church opened,
regular deanery meetings established, and charities created to assist the poor.
This was the atmosphere of faith and good works in which Anthony grew up, and
throughout his life he exhibited all those qualities. And so when in the
explosive year of 1648 the harvest failed and some unscrupulous landowners
artificially inflated the price of wheat the townspeople rioted, it was Fr
Anthony who brought peace by calling the landowners to their responsibilities
and the making sure the poor did not go to bed hungry. For acts such as these
he is known as the ‘Angel of Peace’.
He was born on
13thNovember 1592, three years before the death of St Philip Neri in Rome. His
father and mother, Vincenzo and Francesca, were of noble families with strong
links to the local Church. Piety and gentle love were already forming Anthony
at home, and found their natural focus in the Church of the Fathers of the
Oratory in the town where he was baptised, now on the Corso Cavour in the town
next to the Palace of Justice which was the Oratory house.
As a schoolboy he would
join the Fathers in their prayers and meditations, and served Mass every
morning in their church. The influence of the Oratory led Anthony to emulate
the Fathers in reading and discussing the lives of the saints, the Sacred
Scriptures and Church History. At the Oratory the young Anthony found a true
School of Holiness in his formative years; the Church’s feasts and fasts
moulding his heart and mind. And unseen by the world he would copy the hidden
mortifications of the Oratorians, which helped him to bear serious illness and
the death of his father with much fruit. Anthony had
learnt from the Fathers
that God always brings good out of evil, and we must trust him as we carry the
Cross towards heaven.
After the death of his
natural father Anthony found his affections turned to a supernatural father, Fr
Flaminio Ricci. He had lived with St Philip and brought the Congregation of the
Oratory to Fermo. His humour, gentleness and wisdom won Anthony’s total
devotion, and he allowed Fr Flaminio to mould his heart in obedience to God following
the contours of St Philip heart in humility and joy. This is the work of the
Holy Spirit, which enlightens what is good and burns away what is bad, always
recognised by the fruits generated in the eager soul; charity, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, long-suffering, mildness, faith, modesty,
continence, and chastity.
It was no surprise when
Anthony asked to join the Congregation of the Oratory at Fermo, attracted by
the joy and determination of the community in putting into practice what he
felt interiorly. He was admitted on 11th October 1609 at the age of sixteen,
not long after the consecration of the new church dedicated to the Holy Spirit,
and began his journey in the Community towards the priesthood, knowing that he
would live, work and die in this one household. This was the place where his
holiness would be fashioned, where God’s grace would be found; here and nowhere
else. After many years he would often exclaim to the Community, and repeat on
his death bed, what he knew right from the beginning,“Oh what a beautiful thing
to die a child of St Philip!”
Of course, our fallen
nature has to be exercised day after day to cooperate with grace in order to be
holy. The sacraments, devotions, prayers, asceticism and the spiritual and corporal
works of charity assist in this work of turning our nature around. Anthony had
to work hard in grace to mitigate his sometimes choleric temperament by forcing
himself to be mild and calm, immediately subduing every motion to grumpiness
and irritability. Hair shirts were in comparison easy when compared to the
mortification of the temperament in a community. Like St Philip, when asked
whether he ever wore a hair shirt he answered with great simplicity that he had
not, but with four fingers touching his forehead his indicated another form of
hair shirt; the mortification of one’s own opinion and will by life in the
Congregation.
The round of his day was
punctuated with prayer in order to keep inner peace, beginning with the
community time of meditation. Throughout the day he would say the rosary,
dividing the mysteries up for different times of the day and the week. He
studied Sacred Scripture each week and together with theological works,
especially the Fathers and St Thomas, to feed his mind. His work in the
confessional was simple and direct, without long discourses but getting
straight to the matter set before him. Again this straightforward manner helped
him to prepare many people for their death. He had so conquered his natural
tendency to irritability that he was able to show gentleness and kindness to
all the Fathers and Brothers, especially when they brought to him their own
frustrations with each other, which are the pricks of the hair shirt of
communal life where the battle for holiness is waged.
Of the many stories about
Blessed Anthony the most famous concerns his yearly pilgrimage to the Holy
House at Loreto, not many miles distant from Fermo. Here he would go to pray in
that house where the angel Gabriel came to the Blessed Virgin, where she
consented to God’s will, and where the eternal Word was made flesh, and dwelt
among us. In 1621, when Anthony was 29, he was kneeling in prayer inside the
basilica during a terrific thunderstorm. As the storm was raging a bolt of
lightning smashed through the window of the church and struck him. He was
carried unconscious from the church, and was prepared for death, but he
recovered his strength and found himself cured of acute indigestion. He was in
perfect health, and all that remained of his close encounter with death were
the scorched underclothes from the heat of the lightning. These he donated as a
thanksgiving offering to the shrine. Perhaps these unusual relics of Blessed
Anthony are still there waiting to be venerated there!
His life was that
unremarkable round of the Oratorian priest in his community, serving the people
who came to the Oratory church. His sanctity, like ours, was simply
faithfulness and perseverance to his calling trying day after day to be like
the Lord. Towards the end of his life he retired more and more to his room.
Visitors were frequent, and he was gracious with everyone even when he felt
that he would rather not be disturbed, all flowing from the gentleness and
patience he had cultivated throughout his life. Finally the Archbishop of Fermo
came to administer the Last Rites to him, and attended him in his room night
and day. The Fathers and Brothers of the Congregation were summoned to his
bedside as his final hour came on the evening of Sunday 13th December, and with
the Archbishop they recited the Litany of Loreto, so beloved of Fr Anthony.
When they came to the invocation, “Regina Sanctorum Omnium” (Queen of All
Saints) he opened his eyes, raised them to an unseen figure near the ceiling,
smiled and closed his eyes in death. The room was filled with a beautiful
fragrance, which continued around the body for some days.
The scenes around the
church following his death were a riot of piety, so much so that the governor
of Fermo had to place soldiers around the building to check the crowds.
Thousands of people wanted to touch the body with medals, rosaries and such
like, so that at two o’clock in the morning the Archbishop and Fathers of the
Oratory finally closed the coffin lid so that preparation could be made for the
funeral.
Fr Anthony was hailed as a‘Second St Philip’, miracles began to be reported, and he was hailed by many as a saint. The Archbishop of Fermo opened his cause for canonisation in 1682, his virtues were declared heroic in 1700, he was declared venerable in 1893, and was eventually beatified by Leo XIII in 1900. His body was translated from his resting place in Oratory church he knew to the Carmelite church in the town, where his body lies exposed for veneration under the Blessed Sacrament altar. Here his body lies, in the town where he was born, lived his hidden life loving God and his neighbour in the humble and joyful model of St Philip.
SOURCE : http://www.manchesteroratory.org/sancti-et-beati/blessed-anthony-grassi
Blessed Antonio Grassi,
C.O.
1592-1671, Beatified 1900
Antonio Grassi was born
in 1592 in Fermo, on the Adriatic coast of Italy, home to one of the oldest
Congregations of the Oratory, which was founded in 1586. Good natured,
intelligent, and pious, Antonio’s childhood was simple and austere, and he was
educated by the Fathers of the Oratory. After a long illness and the death of
his father when he was ten years old, Antonio began spiritual direction under
Father Ricci, who had known St. Philip personally. Antonio entered the Fermo
Oratory shortly before his 17th birthday, and he was ordained in 1617 at age
25. During his studies for priesthood, he is said to have acquired an
encyclopedic knowledge of Scripture, the Church Fathers, and Aquinas.
Father Antonio’s devotion
to the Blessed Mother led to a most extraordinary experience when in 1621,
while praying at the shrine of the Holy House in Loreto, he was struck by
lightning. While his clothes were burned and he was knocked unconscious, he was
miraculously healed. This experience had a profound effect on the young priest,
who dedicated himself all the more to the will of God.
On pilgrimage in Rome
during the Holy Year of 1625, Father Antonio visited the important sites of St.
Philip and learned much about him from Father Consolini. This knowledge served
him well when he was elected provost of the Fermo Oratory, a position he held
for 36 years, from 1635 until his death.
Father Antonio
exemplified the Oratorian spirit of humility. He was not known for doing
anything extraordinary; he was not a missionary, mystic or ascetic. He rarely
left the small city where he had been born and raised. He did not need to go
elsewhere, for he was content to serve God quietly in the everyday tasks that,
when done well, bring about sanctification. He is known to have placed great
importance on adherence to the few rules of the Oratory which keep its members
close to the spirit of St. Philip.
As a priest, Father
Antonio was renowned as a confessor and known as the “priest of the poor” for
his extraordinary charity. He was particularly adept at resolving disputes
among rivals, earning the moniker “angel of peace”. And he was especially known
for his faithfulness in visiting the sick and the dying.
During his own long final
illness in 1671, Father Antonio was constantly attended at his bedside by the
Archbishop of Fermo. He is said to have repeatedly told his confreres, “What a
beautiful thing it is to die as sons of St. Philip.” While the Fermo Oratory no
longer exists, Blessed Antonio Grassi’s remains are venerated under the altar
of the Church of Mt. Carmel in Fermo. He was beatified by Pope Leo XIII during
the Holy Year of 1900, the third Oratorian to be so honored.
© 2014 | The New
Brunswick Oratory
SOURCE : http://www.nboratory.org/pages/saints/grassi.html
Saint of the Day – 13
December – Blessed Antonio Grassi Cong. Orat. (1592 – 1671)
Posted on December
13, 2018
Saint of the Day – 13
December – Blessed Antonio Grassi Cong. Orat. Franciscan Tertiary (1592 – 1671)
– Religious Priest of the Oratorians of St Philip Neri (1515-1595), Confessor,
Spiritual advisor, Counsellor, Mediator, Miracle Worker, Apostle of Charity.
Blessed Antonio
was known for his humble and pious nature with a strong devotion to the Our
Lady and the Holy House of Loreto to which he made pilgrimages on an annual
basis, as well as to the Rule of St Philip Neri – born Vincenzo Grassi on 13
November 1592 in Fermo, Italy and died on 13 December 1671 in Fermo, Italy of
natural causes. His Memorial is today although the
Oratorians celebrate on 15 December.
Anthony’s father died when his son was only 10 years
old but the young lad inherited his father’s devotion to Our Lady of
Loreto. As a schoolboy he frequented the local
church of the Oratorian Fathers, joining the religious order when he was
17. Already a fine student, he soon gained a reputation in his
religious community as a “walking dictionary” who quickly grasped Scripture and
theology. For some time he was tormented by scruples but they
reportedly left him at the very hour he celebrated his first Mass.
From that day, serenity penetrated his very being.
In 1621, at age 29,
Anthony was struck by lightning while praying in the church of the Holy House
at Loreto. He was carried paralysed from the church, expecting to
die. When he recovered in a few days he realised that he had been cured of
acute indigestion. His scorched clothes were donated to the Loreto church as an
offering of thanks for his new gift of life. More important,
Anthony now felt that his life belonged entirely to God. Each year thereafter, he made a pilgrimage to Loreto to
express his thanks.
He also began hearing confessions and came to be
regarded as an outstanding confessor. Simple and direct, he
listened carefully to penitents, said a few words and gave a penance and
absolution, frequently drawing on his gift of reading consciences.
In 1635 he was elected
superior of the Fermo Oratory. He was so well regarded that he was
re-elected every three years until his death. He was a quiet person
and a gentle superior who did not know how to be severe. At the
same time, he kept the Oratorian constitutions literally, encouraging the
community to do likewise.
He refused social or
civic commitments and instead would go out day or night to visit the sick or
dying or anyone else needing his services. As he grew older, he had
a God-given awareness of the future, a gift which he frequently used to warn or
to console.
But age brought its
challenges as well. He suffered the humility of having to give up
his physical faculties one by one. First was his preaching,
necessitated after he lost his teeth. Then he could no longer hear
confessions. Finally, after a fall, he was confined to his
room. The Archbishop himself came each day to give him holy
Communion. One of Anthony’s final acts was to reconcile two fiercely
quarrelling brothers.
Antonio died on 13 December 1671, as the community,
gathered round him, prayed the Litany of Loreto, exclaiming “What
happiness – what consolation – to be a son of Saint Philip in the passage from
this life”.
He was Beatified on 30
September 1900 by Pope Leo XIII.
From a Letter of Alfonso Cardinal Capecelatro,
Cong.Orat., Rome 24 May 1900.
The Venerable Antonio
Grassi, of the Congregation of the Oratory of St Philip, is rightly deemed to
have been a most loyal friend and indefatigable servant of Christ.
For he, during a lifetime of eighty years, was so richly nourished by God
with the bread of life and understanding and the cup of saving water of wisdom,
that day by day he co-operated more faithfully with the gifts of God’s grace,
considering his one concern to be in conformity with the image of the Son of
God. He was thus so marked with holiness, particularly in his
prayer and divine worship, his forgetfulness of self and zeal for the salvation
of souls, that the serious and learned men of his time thought him a real
follower of Philip Neri and asked for his prayers and advice on matters
divine. He indeed showed himself in every way to be a distinguished
follower of St Philip.
The known words and works
of the Venerable Servant of God confirm that these praises lavished in the
decrees of the Holy See were justified. For before and soon after
his birth, it was indeed prophesied by a heavenly voice, that he would be holy
and a great servant of God. He first saw the light in Fermo in
1592, while Saint Philip was still alive, and was baptised by Fr Civitella,
later Provost of the Oratory in the same city. He was so chaste
that, like another Bernardine of Siena, while still a boy, it needed only his
presence, the rumour “Antony is here” to deter his young playmates from any
sort of unseemly talk. This angelic virtue was proclaimed by the
pleasant scent which exuded from Antony’s body both in life and after death, as
well as the unbearable stench which the servant of God perceived in the
presence of the unchaste and the remarkable exclamation of a two year old girl
who repeatedly pointed out Antonio in the church, crying “Look an angel,
look, an angel!”
He attended the Fermo
Oratory from childhood and at the age of sixteen forsook the world for it,
advised on the certainty of his Oratorian vocation by his spiritual director, a
disciple of Saint Philip.
Keeping always before him
the example of St Philip his father and tutor, he was so faithful in imitating
him, observing even the least of the commandments, that he never turned away
from the law of the Lord neither to right not to left for over sixty
years. For thirty seven of those years he was, without precedent,
Provost of his Congregation. Like a lamp burning on a lampstand he
shed the unfailing rays of his virtues on all sides and “made himself all
things to all men, so as to win them all for Christ”.
In 1625 he visited Rome
to gain the plenary indulgence of the Holy Year. There he indulged
his feelings of holiness and devotion especially by visiting the places which
his beloved Father and Patriarch had marked while alive.
Aflame with the love of God, he looked for peace and
rest in the pierced side of Christ. In favour with God
and man, he was on terms of friendship with some famous disciples of Saint
Philip who still survived, including Fr Consolini who was much beloved of St
Philip himself. By his gentleness and the reputation he had for
virtue, he so attracted the whole family of the Congregation that Oratorians
from other regions earnestly begged a blessing of him, writing loving letters
to Antonio, now worn out by age and toil.
He was marked by the
depth of his love for Mary. Every year he used to pay a devout
pilgrimage to the Holy House of Loreto (shown in the painting above), in which
the Word had been made Flesh. There he enjoyed much refreshment of
spirit, in great fervour. He frequently preached in praise of the
Blessed Virgin Mary and sang hymns in her honour. He declared Saint
Philip to be a faithful intermediary in obtaining the intercession of the Holy
Mother of God, saying “whatever the Blessed Virgin Mary asks from her Son
Jesus Christ, she obtains; whatever Saint Philip requests of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, she will ask for”. Hence he was assiduous in praising
his great Patriarch’s holiness and would say to his companions “What a
great honour and privilege it is for us to be sons of Saint Philip!”
It was well established
by the apostolic investigation that the Blessed Antony’s virtues were of an
heroic nature. Indeed God ratified the great holiness of His
servant with heavenly charisms. He was endowed by God with the
gifts of prophecy, of healing and of miracles. By the force of his
love he took others’ sufferings on himself; he turned copper coins into
silver; he took his recreation in the company of a much loved sparrow,
enjoying its heavenly chirruping and there are other miracles which illumine
him.
In his final illness he
was a model of steadfast patience. He took great consolation in
meditating on the sacred stigmata of St Francis, which he used to say he would
love to share and had himself enrolled in the archconfraternity of the friars
of that seraphic saint. At last he was forewarned by the Blessed
Virgin Mary, via St Philip, of his approaching death and eternal salvation and
cried out with great joy “What happiness – what consolation – to be a son
of Saint Philip in the passage from this life”. He died on 13th
December 1671.
Author: AnaStpaul
Passionate Catholic.
Being a Catholic is a way of life - a love affair "Religion must be like
the air we breathe..."- St John Bosco Prayer is what the world needs
combined with the example of our lives which testify to the Light of Christ.
This site, which is now using the Traditional Calendar, will mainly concentrate
on Daily Prayers, Novenas and the Memorials and Feast Days of our friends in
Heaven, the Saints who went before us and the great blessings the Church
provides in our Catholic Monthly Devotions. "For the saints are sent to us
by God as so many sermons. We do not use them, it is they who move us and lead
us, to where we had not expected to go.” Charles Cardinal Journet (1891-1975)
This site adheres to the Catholic Church and all her teachings.
Beato Antonio Grassi
Fermo, Ascoli Piceno, 13
novembre 1592 - 13 dicembre 1671
Martirologio Romano: A Fermo nelle Marche, beato Antonio Grassi, sacerdote della Congregazione dell’Oratorio, uomo umile e pacifico, che con il suo esempio spinse fortemente molti confratelli all’osservanza della regola.
Antonio Grassi nacque in una distinta famiglia di Fermo (Ascoli Piceno) il 13 novembre 1592. La sua fanciullezza fu semplice e religiosa: studiò presso il curato di S. Pietro, frequentando la chiesa di S. Spirito dei Padri dell’Oratorio. Incarnò presto lo spirito filippino ed entrò nella congregazione l’11 ottobre 1609. L’Oratorio di Fermo, uno dei più antichi, era nato nel 1586, mentre era ancora in vita S. Filippo Neri (morì nove anni più tardi). Il 17 dicembre 1617, nel Duomo cittadino, il Vescovo Alessandro Strozzi lo ordinò sacerdote. Mansueto e sorridente, Padre Antonio si distinse per l’impegno catechistico, soprattutto nel preparare i ragazzi a ricevere i sacramenti, e per la carità verso gli infermi e i carcerati. Trascorreva molte ore nel confessionale, affermando che il compito principale del sacerdote era compatire, aiutare e consolare.
Nel 1625 andò pellegrino a Roma per lucrare le indulgenze del Giubileo: visitò molte basiliche e i luoghi del Fondatore. Il suo misticismo destò l’ammirazione di tutti. Nel 1635 fu eletto Preposito dei Filippini della sua città, carica che mantenne fino alla morte.
Aveva un carisma eccezionale e tutti, popolani e nobili, vedevano in lui un padre. In quegli anni, nelle Marche, nacquero diverse case di Oratoriani. In una di queste, a Monte S. Giusto, guarì istantaneamente il ginocchio di una donna, Giacoma Pupilli. Eccezionale fu la sua missione di “pacere”, tante le rivalità che riuscì a ripianare, tra persone importanti come tra gli umili. Quest’apostolato fu tanto provvidenziale che il Governatore fece mettere un suo ritratto nel Palazzo di Città. Padre dei poveri, la sua carità era smisurata. In un anno di carestia eccezionale donò ai bisognosi anche le proprie coperte, il soprabito e stese la mano per chiedere l’elemosina che poi distribuì. La sua generosità divenne proverbiale e si raccontano diversi fioretti: Padre Antonio Raccamadoro vide alcune monete di rame tramutarsi nelle sue mani in monete d’argento, nel Conservatorio delle Orfane moltiplicò in abbondanza il vino. Visitava di notte coloro che si vergognavano di ricevere il suo aiuto. Ai confratelli, che alcune volte lo rimproverarono per l’eccessiva generosità, diceva che la Provvidenza non avrebbe fatto mai mancare nulla. Per le elemosine ridusse al minimo le spese della casa.
Devotissimo della Vergine Maria, annuale era il suo pellegrinaggio, finché poté a piedi, alla Santa Casa di Loreto. Qui fu protagonista di un fatto eccezionale: colpito da un fulmine restò illeso sebbene le vesti si bruciarono, era il 4 settembre 1621. Ogni sabato si recava nella chiesa di S. Maria a Mare per celebrarvi la Santa Messa, contribuendo a far rinascere quel Santuario all’epoca quasi abbandonato.
La sua fama di santità arrivò a Roma, conquistando la stima del Papa e dei confratelli. Tra gli altri il Cardinale Colloredo, subito dopo la sua morte, ne istruì il processo di beatificazione. Il Beato Antonio predisse la propria salita al cielo quattro anni prima che avvenisse. Assistito spiritualmente anche dall’arcivescovo di Fermo, che durante i giorni dell’agonia non si allontanò dal suo capezzale, spirò alle ore 22 del 13 dicembre 1671. Immediata fu la fama di santità in tutta Italia e anche in Germania, numerose le grazie e i miracoli a lui attribuiti. Durante l’Anno Santo del 1900, il 30 settembre, Papa Leone XIII lo beatificò. Il suo corpo è custodito, in un’artistica urna di cristallo, sotto la mensa dell’altare maggiore della Chiesa del Carmine di Fermo. Il complesso conventuale in cui visse tutta la vita di sacerdote, per cinquantacinque anni, è oggi sede del tribunale.
La sua data di culto è stata fissata nel Martyrologium Romanum al 13 dicembre, mentre la Congregazione dell'Oratorio di San Filippo Neri lo celebra il 15 dicembre.
Autore: Daniele Bolognini
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/92368
Den salige Antonius
Grassi (1592-1671)
Minnedag: 13.
desember
Den salige Antonius (it: Antonio) ble født som Vincent
Grassi (it: Vincenzo) den 13. november 1592 i Fermo i provinsen Ascoli Piceno i
regionen Marche i Midt-Italia. Han kom fra en fremtredende familie.
Han studerte hos sognepresten i kirken San Pietro og gikk i kirken Santo
Spirito, som ble drevet av oratorianere. Han sluttet seg selv som 17-åring den
11. oktober 1609 til Oratorianerne (Institutum [nå
Confoederatio] Oratorii Sancti Philippi Nerii – CO) og tok
ordensnavnet Antonius.
Han var en ivrig student
og ble kjent som «et vandrende leksikon», og snart fikk han ry i bibelstudier
og teologi. Han ble presteviet den 17. desember 1617 av biskop Alexander
Strozzi i byens domkirke. Han hadde noen skrupler før sin prestevielse, men
disse forsvant da han feiret sin første messe, og han ble kjent for sin
uforstyrrethet og store ro.
I 1621, da han var 29 år,
knelte han i bønn i kirken for Det hellige Hus i Loreto da han ble truffet av
lynet. Da han fikk bevisstheten tilbake, trodde han fortsatt at han skulle dø,
så han ba om de siste riter. Han ble båret til sitt rom. Han kom seg etter et
par dager og var endret både fysisk og psykisk. Hans fordøyelsesproblemer var
forsvunnet, og han kom til den konklusjon at hans liv tilhørte Gud på en helt
spesiell måte. Han ga hver
dag et takkoffer for at han overlevde, og hvert år dro han på valfart til
Loreto med samme intensjon.
Han ba om tillatelse til
å høre skriftemål, og dette ble en av hans mest betydelige aktiviteter. Han
brakte med seg dit en stor enkelhet, lyttet til den skriftende, sa noen ord til
formaning, påla en bot og ga absolusjon. Han hadde gaven å kunne lese folks
samvittighet, og han foretrakk å ikke gi veiledning eller foreslå leveregler
eller behandle noen saker som ikke var direkte knyttet til skriftemålet. Han
pleide å si at når man skulle gjøre seg opp en mening om en person, skulle man
ikke dømme ut fra en enkelt handling eller karaktertrekk – i de fleste
mennesker var det mer godt enn ondt.
I 1625 dro han til Roma
for å oppnå den avlaten som var knyttet til Jubelåret, og han besøkte mange
basilikaer og stedene som var knyttet til ordenens grunnlegger, den
hellige Filip
Neri. I 1635 ble han valgt til superior for oratoriet i Fermo, og han ble
gjenvalgt hvert tredje år resten av livet. Han var en mild superior. Da han ble
spurt om hvorfor han ikke viste større strenghet, sa han at han ikke visste
hvordan man gjør det. På samme måte verken praktiserte han eller anbefalte
uvanlige fysiske botsøvelser. Da en inkvisitorisk person spurte ham om han bar
hårskjorte, svarte han at det gjorde han ikke. «Å gjøre sitt sinn og sin vilje
ydmyk er mer effektivt enn en hårskjorte mellom huden din og klærne dine».
Dette betydde ikke at han
var lettvint, tvert imot, han opprettholdt sin kommunitet på et svært høyt nivå
i observans og effektivitet gjennom sitt personlige eksempel. Han snakket lavt
og tolererte ikke høye røster, og han dempet andre ved å si: «Vær så snill,
pater, bare noen få tommer med stemme». Hans innflytelse strakte seg langt ut
over hans eget hus. Erkebiskop Gualtieri av Fermo sa at han ikke klarte tanken
på å miste ham, og både kardinal Facchinetti av Spoleto og kardinal Emilio
Altieri, den senere pave Klemens X (1670-76), søkte hans råd. Da sulten førte
til opptøyer i Fermo i 1649, prøvde han å megle mellom kardinalguvernøren og
folket, men ble nesten skutt av mobben i forsøket.
Antonius var svært
opptatt av hjembyens og innbyggernes beste. Ingenting kunne få ham til å
engasjere seg sosialt eller seremonielt, men han kunne gå ut på ethvert
tidspunkt både dag og natt for å besøke syke eller døende mennesker eller
enhver som trengte hans hjelp.
Da han nærmet seg sitt
åttiende år, opplevde han den ydmykelsen å miste noen av sine åndsevner. Han
måtte gi opp å preke fordi han ikke kunne gjøre seg forstått på grunn av
manglende tenner, og han måtte slutte å høre skriftemål da han ble mer og mer
døv. Etter et fall i trappen var han lenket til sitt rom, og i slutten av
november 1671 ble han sengeliggende. Erkebiskop Gualtieri kom hver dag for å gi
ham kommunion til han døde to uker senere, den 13. desember 1671 i Fermo. En av
hans siste handlinger var å forsone to heftig kranglende brødre. Mange mirakler
ble tilskrevet hans forbønn. Han ble saligkåret den 30. september 1900
(dokumentet (Breve) var datert den 8. september) av pave Leo XIII (1878-1903).
Hans minnedag er dødsdagen 13. desember.
Kilder:
Attwater/Cumming, Butler (XII), Benedictines, Index99, Infocatho,
santiebeati.it - Kompilasjon og oversettelse: p. Per Einar Odden -
Opprettet: 2000-08-12 01:21 - Sist oppdatert: 2006-07-06 11:16
SOURCE : http://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/agrassi
Antoni Grassi, Ojciec
Ubogich (1592-1671)
Paul Bernhard Wodrazka COr z Oratorium w Wiedniu
tłumaczenie: Agnieszka Juśko z Oratorium Dorosłych
Błogosławiony Antoni
Grassi „ujrzał światło tego świata” jeszcze za życia św. Filipa Neri
(1515 – 1595). Antoni urodził się w Fermo 13 listopada 1592 roku
jako pierwsze z pięciorga dzieci Vincenzo i Francesci Grassi.
Siedem lat
przed jego urodzeniem – w październiku 1585 roku – za zgodą
św. Filipa zostało założone trzecie na świecie Oratorium
w Fermo. Pięciu kapłanów i jeden brat wraz z Ojcem Flaminio
Ricci z Oratorium Rzymskiego, który również pochodził z Fermo,
podjęli życie we wspólnocie oratoryjnej. Orazio Civitella, pierwszy
prepozyt Oratorium Fermo, udzielił chrztu przyszłemu błogosławionemu. Był
to prawdopodobnie jeden z jego pierwszych kontaktów z Oratorium.
Mały Antonio przeżył dość
beztroskie dzieciństwo. Podaje się, że podobno każdego dnia przed szkołą
chodził do kościoła Oratorium, aby się modlić. Już w młodym wieku
chodził codziennie na Mszę świętą i słuchał kazań Ojców
z Oratorium. Ojciec Flaminio Ricci ze Kongregacji Rzymskiej stał się
jego ulubionym spowiednikiem, który zaznajomił go z duchowością
i z maksymami świętego Filipa. Jednocześnie był on dla Antoniego
wzorem miłości, ubóstwa, pokory, posłuszeństwa i wierności, wzorem
wszystkich cnót, które charakteryzują życie oratorianów. „Bóg,
którego zraniłem, umarł za mnie” to sentencja błogosławionego
Ojca Antoniego Grassi, którą kontemplował i rozważał codziennie
na nowo, aż do końca swojego życia.
W wieku 17 lat
Antoni postanowił podążyć za Jezusem w duchu świętego Filipa. Wstąpił
do Oratorium w Fermo 11 października 1609 roku.
We wszystkim młody nowicjusz próbował upodobnić się do Chrystusa. Jak
już wskazuje nazwa Oratorium, chodzi przede wszystkim o życie
w Chrystusie, czyli o modlitwę. Antonio był całkowicie wierny
tej postawie, modlił się co najmniej sześć lub siedem godzin dziennie
– ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem różańca. Podobnie jak św. Filip,
Sługa Boży również czytał wiele biografii świętych i miał szczególne
nabożeństwo do Matki Bożej. Każdego dnia kontemplował inną stację Męki
Pana naszego Jezusa Chrystusa. Dlatego często przedstawiany jest on jako
modlący się przed krzyżem i trzymający różaniec w ręku.
Antoni Grassi
z wielkim zapałem studiował Ojców Kościoła i pisma św. Tomasza
z Akwinu. Zwykł mawiać: „Całą wiedzę, którą zdobyliśmy, musimy oddać
w służbie Chrystusowi, a nie w służbie naszej próżności”.
17 grudnia 1617 roku przyszły błogosławiony otrzymał święcenia
kapłańskie i rozpoczął pracę duszpasterską w stylu charakterystycznym
dla Oratorium. Ojciec Grassi doprowadził wielu niewierzących do wiary,
wzmacniał słabych w czynieniu dobra, odwiedzał chorych i więźniów
oraz zachęcał dzieci i młodzież do wykonywania dzieł
charytatywnych.
Ojciec Grassi miał
również szczególne nabożeństwo do Dziewicy Maryi, którą nazwał „Patronką
domu”. Raz w roku odbywał boso pielgrzymkę do świętego domu Matki
Bożej z Loreto. We wrześniu 1621 roku, kiedy klęczał
na schodach sanktuarium i mówił słowa Augustyna, nauczyciela
Kościoła: „Tutaj spal, tutaj odetnij, jeśli chcesz być dla mnie łaskaw
w wieczności”, piorun uderzył w święty dom w Nazarecie. O.
Antonio został głęboko przeniknięty przez wewnętrzny i zewnętrzny
ogień i podobnie jak św. Filip został napełniony Duchem Świętym.
Do dziś na jego ubraniach, które są eksponowane w Muzeum
w Loreto, można wyraźnie zobaczyć ślady płomieni. Blizna pod lewym
okiem przypominała mu aż do śmierci o tym niezwykłym
wydarzeniu. Ojciec Antoni widział w tym wydarzeniu Bożą Opatrzność
i od tej pory jeszcze bardziej starał się czynić wolę Bożą. Stał
się bardzo poszukiwanym spowiednikiem i otrzymał od Boga łaskę
czytania w duszach spowiadanych osób.
By filipini.eu
SOURCE : https://filipini.eu/aktualnosci/antoni-grassi-ojciec-ubogich-1592-1671.html
Voir aussi : http://www.oxfordoratory.org.uk/bl-antony-grassi.php
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/blessed-anthony-grassi
