Bernardo Scammacca, OP (1430 – 11 January 1487) was an Italian

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest and 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 ...

. After leading a dissolute early life, his conversion after a sustaining a wound from a duel led him down the path toward

religious life Consecrated life (also known as religious life) is a state of life in the Catholic Church lived by those faithful who are called to follow Jesus Christ in a more exacting way. It includes those in institutes of consecrated life (religious and se ...

. He became a noted prophet and spent hours in the confessional. Scammacca was

beatified Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

on 8 March 1825 after

Pope Leo XII Pope Leo XII ( it, Leone XII; born Annibale Francesco Clemente Melchiorre Girolamo Nicola della Genga (; 2 August 1760 – 10 February 1829), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 28 September 1823 to his death ...

confirmed his 'cultus' (or local devotion).

Life

Bernardo Scammacca was born in 1430 in

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

to upper-class and pious parents. Scammacca was well-educated in his childhood. Despite his education he spent his adolescence as a wild and dissolute man and during one such revel he received a leg wound in a duel with a man with whom he had quarreled. His subsequent convalescence provided him with adequate time to reflect on what had happened as well as the course his life had taken. This made him realize that he was heading in the wrong direction and needed urgent changes. His healing over time renewed his links to his faith; he approached the

in 1452 in Catania and begged to be admitted into their ranks. Scammacca became known for his range of charitable works and for his life of repentance for the life he had led, as well as for his strict adherence to the rule of

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 ...

. He fostered a particular devotion to the Passion of Christ, which sometimes led him into ecstasies. He founded a hospital for the poor, which still exists. He also liked to spend time in the confessional and work as a

spiritual director Spiritual direction is the practice of being with people as they attempt to deepen their relationship with the divine, or to learn and grow in their personal spirituality. The person seeking direction shares stories of their encounters of the di ...

. He had the gift of being a prophet and used that gift to warn others to change their lives. He also prophesied the date of his own death. Scammacca was named the prior of the

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

of Saint Dominic in Catania and later named as the prior of the convent in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

. He was also made the vicar general of the reformed Sicilian convents. It was often said that when he walked in his convent's garden the birds would come and sing to him, but would stop at once when he stopped to reflect. On one occasion a porter was sent to his room to fetch him, and the man saw a bright light under a door. He peeked in to see a child shining with light holding a book that Scammacca was reading from. Scammacca died in 1487 in Catania. In 1502 it was said that he appeared in a vision to the prior of his convent and asked that his incorrupt remains be relocated the house's chapel. During the translation a man was cured of his paralysis after he touched Scammacca's relics.

Beatification

Scammacca was beatified on 8 March 1825 after

confirmed his 'cultus' (or popular devotion).

References

External links

Saints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scammacca, Bernardo 1430 births 1487 deaths 15th-century venerated Christians 15th-century Italian Christian monks Beatifications by Pope Leo XII Dominican beatified people Italian Dominicans Italian beatified people Religious leaders from Catania Venerated Dominicans