Antonio della Chiesa (1394 – 22 January 1459) was an

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Dominican superior and the companion of

Bernardino of Siena Bernardino of Siena, OFM (8 September 138020 May 1444), also known as Bernardine, was an Italian priest and Franciscan missionary preacher in Italy. He was a systematizer of Scholastic economics. His preaching, his book burnings, and his " bon ...

. He was born in 1394 as the son of the Marquis della Chiesa in San Germano. He was well-educated due to being a noble and demonstrated a keen taste for the religious life and devoted himself to the service of

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; he grew up with the hopes of becoming a member of the clergy. His father opposed this desire, which later led to his son breaking off all links to his parents. Despite the protests of his parents, della Chiesa he became a member of the

Order of Preachers The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

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at age 20 and soon gained great recognition as an apt preacher and confessor. He accompanied Saint Bernardine of Siena on a range of missions and served in various capacities in the Dominican

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

. Among those positions was that of the prior; he served at the friaries of

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco dialect, Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and ...

and

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as well as in

Savona Savona (; lij, Sann-a ) is a seaport and ''comune'' in the west part of the northern Italy, Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea. Savona used to be one of the chie ...

and

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. In Como, he reformed the life and morals of the town and was sent to govern other friaries following this success. It was at those friaries that he insisted on a rigorous observance to their rule of life according to

Saint Dominic Saint Dominic ( es, Santo Domingo; 8 August 1170 – 6 August 1221), also known as Dominic de Guzmán (), was a Castilian Catholic priest, mystic, the founder of the Dominican Order and is the patron saint of astronomers and natural scientis ...

. Della Chiesa was also one of the leaders opposing the last of the

antipope An antipope ( la, antipapa) is a person who makes a significant and substantial attempt to occupy the position of Bishop of Rome and leader of the Catholic Church in opposition to the legitimately elected pope. At times between the 3rd and mid- ...

Felix V Amadeus VIII (4 September 1383 – 7 January 1451), nicknamed the Peaceful, was Count of Savoy from 1391 to 1416 and Duke of Savoy from 1416 to 1440. He was the son of Amadeus VII, Count of Savoy and Bonne of Berry. He was a claimant to the papac ...

who troubled the Roman Catholic Church from 1440 until 1449. Felix V had a large support network stemming from

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and della Chiesa opposed the work of the antipope. He managed to succeed in winning over a large number of the antipope's adherents to the lawful power of the true pontiff:

Pope Eugene IV Pope Eugene IV ( la, Eugenius IV; it, Eugenio IV; 1383 – 23 February 1447), born Gabriele Condulmer, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 3 March 1431 to his death in February 1447. Condulmer was a Venetian, and ...

and later

Pope Nicholas V Pope Nicholas V ( la, Nicholaus V; it, Niccolò V; 13 November 1397 – 24 March 1455), born Tommaso Parentucelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 March 1447 until his death in March 1455. Pope Eugene IV, Po ...

. While on a trip from

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pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

s captured him, though della Chiesa was released unharmed. He had been apprehended with a fellow friar and the pirates released the pair after being so impressed with the demeanor of the two religious. He was a known

miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...

worker and was said to be able to read the consciences of men and women alike. Della Chiesa died in 1459 and was able to predict the date of his death. His relics were translated on 28 July 1810 to his birthplace.

Pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII ( it, Pio VII; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. Chiaramonti was also a m ...

affirmed his cultus and beatified della Chiesa on 15 May 1819, while setting his

liturgical feast The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does ...

for 28 July – the date of the translation of his relics. Antonio della Chiesa is an ancestor of Giacomo della Chiesa – the future

Pope Benedict XV Pope Benedict XV (Latin: ''Benedictus XV''; it, Benedetto XV), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, name=, group= (; 21 November 185422 January 1922), was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his death in January 1922. His ...

(1854–1922) who reigned during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

over four centuries after Antonio's own life.

References

Procter, Lives of the Dominican Saints, pp. 210–213. (See further V. Pellazza, Elogio storico del B. Antonio (1863) Taurisano, Catalogus Hagiographicus O.P., p. 40; and L. Ferretti, Vita del B. Antonio (1919)) {{DEFAULTSORT:Chiesa, Antonio Della 1394 births 1459 deaths 15th-century venerated Christians 15th-century Genoese people Dominican beatified people Members of the Dominican Order Italian Dominicans Italian beatified people Clergy from Genoa Venerated Catholics