, logo = Zchier11Leonardi.jpg , logo_size = 200px , logo_alt = Coat of arms , logo_caption = Coat of arms , image = SaintJeanLeonardi.jpg , image_size = 150px , alt = Portrait of John Leonardi, founder of the OMD , caption = John Leonardi, founder of the OMD , abbreviation = OMD , formation = , founder = Saint

John Leonardi Giovanni Leonardi (1541 – 9 October 1609) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and the founder of the Clerks Regular of the Mother of God of Lucca. Biography He was the youngest of seven children born to middle-class parents in Diecimo (now ...

, OMD , founding_location =

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one o ...

Republic of Lucca The Republic of Lucca ( it, Repubblica di Lucca) was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Lucca in Tuscany, which lasted from 1160 to 1805. Its territory extended beyond the city of Lucca, reaching the surr ...

, type = Religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right (for men) , headquarters =

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, num_members = 110 members (72 priests)
as of (2018) , leader_title = Rector General , leader_name = Vincenzo Molinaro, OMD , parent_organization =

Catholic Church 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 ...

, website = , footnotes = The Clerics Regular of the Mother of God ( la, Ordo Clericorum Regularium Matris Dei; abbreviated OMD) is a

religious order A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practi ...

clerics regular Clerics regular are clerics (mostly priests) who are members of a religious order under a rule of life (regular). Clerics regular differ from canons regular in that they devote themselves more to pastoral care, in place of an obligation to the p ...

pontifical right In Catholicism "of pontifical right" is the term given to ecclesiastical institutions (religious and secular institutes, societies of apostolic life) either created by the Holy See, or approved by it with the formal decree known by the Latin nam ...

. Its priests are dedicated to education and

pastoral care Pastoral care is an ancient model of emotional, social and spiritual support that can be found in all cultures and traditions. The term is considered inclusive of distinctly non-religious forms of support, as well as support for people from rel ...

. The Order was founded by St.

, who worked with this congregation to spread devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, as well as the

Forty Hours Forty Hours' Devotion, in Italian called ''Quarant'ore'' or written in one word ''Quarantore'', is a Roman Catholic exercise of devotion in which continuous prayer is made for forty hours before the Blessed Sacrament in solemn exposition. It ofte ...

devotion, and frequent reception of the

Blessed Sacrament The Blessed Sacrament, also Most Blessed Sacrament, is a devotional name to refer to the body and blood of Christ in the form of consecrated sacramental bread and wine at a celebration of the Eucharist. The term is used in the Latin Church of the ...

History

Leonardi was born in 1541, the son of middle-class parents, at Diecimo (now within the comune of

Borgo a Mozzano Borgo a Mozzano is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany (Italy), located on the Serchio River. History The town is mentioned for the first time in 879, when a document mentioned one place ''In loco Mozzano prope De ...

) in the

. He was ordained on December 22, 1572. Leonardi's Order may be said to have begun in 1574. Two or three young laymen, had gathered round him to submit themselves to his spiritual guidance and help him in the work of reform which he had begun even as a layman. Leonardi rented the Church of Santa Maria della Rosa in Lucca and, in a quarter close by, something like community life was started. It was here, when it became evident that his lay helpers were preparing for the priesthood and that something like a religious order was in process of formation, that a storm of persecution broke out against the devoted founder. The leaders of the Republic or Lucca seem to have had a real fear that a native religious order, if spread over Italy, would cause the affairs of the little state to become too well known to its neighbours. The persecution, however, was so effective and lasting, that Leonardi practically spent the rest of his life in banished from Lucca, only being now and again admitted by special decree of the Senate, unwillingly extracted under papal pressure. In 1580 Giovanni acquired secretly the ancient Church of Santa Maria Cortelandini (popularly known as Santa Maria Nera) which the Order holds to this day.Carmichael, Montgomery. "Clerks Regular of the Mother of God of Lucca." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 12 November 2021 In 1583, the congregation was canonically erected at the instigation of

Pope Gregory XIII Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...

by Alessandro Guidiccioni,

Bishop of Lucca The Archdiocese of Lucca ( la, Archidioecesis Lucensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Italy. The diocese dates back as a diocese to the 1st century; it became an archdiocese in 1726. The episcopal ...

, and confirmed by the

papal Brief A papal brief or breve is a formal document emanating from the Pope, in a somewhat simpler and more modern form than a papal bull. History The introduction of briefs, which occurred at the beginning of the pontificate of Pope Eugene IV (3 Marc ...

Clement VIII Pope Clement VIII ( la, Clemens VIII; it, Clemente VIII; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1592 to his death in March 1605. Born ...

"Ex quo divina majestas", 13 October 1595. The congregation at this time only took simple vows of chastity, perseverance, and obedience, and was known as the Congregation of Clerics Secular of the Blessed Virgin. In 1601, he obtained the Church of

Santa Maria in Portico Santa Maria in Campitelli or Santa Maria in Portico (''Santa Maria in Portico di Campitelli'') is a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary on the narrow Piazza di Campitelli in Rione Sant'Angelo, Rome, Italy. The church is served by the Clerics Re ...

in Rome. In the same year,

Cardinal Baronius Cesare Baronio (as an author also known as Caesar Baronius; 30 August 1538 – 30 June 1607) was an Italian cardinal and historian of the Catholic Church. His best-known works are his ''Annales Ecclesiastici'' ("Ecclesiastical Annals"), wh ...

became protector of the Order. Leonardi died in Rome 9 October 1609, aged 68, and was buried at Santa Maria in Portico, Rome. The present church of the order in Rome, obtained in 1662, is

Santa Maria in Campitelli Santa Maria in Campitelli or Santa Maria in Portico (''Santa Maria in Portico di Campitelli'') is a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary on the narrow Piazza di Campitelli in Sant'Angelo (rione of Rome), Rione Sant'Angelo, Rome, Italy. The church ...

(called also Santa Maria in Portico),Guida metodica di Roma e suoi contorni
by Giuseppe Melchiorri, Rome (1836); page 326. which also served as the first

titular church In the Catholic Church, a titular church is a church in Rome that is assigned to a member of the clergy who is created a cardinal. These are Catholic churches in the city, within the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Rome, that serve as honorary de ...

of the

Cardinal of York Henry Benedict Thomas Edward Maria Clement Francis Xavier Stuart, Cardinal Duke of York (6 March 1725 – 13 July 1807) was a Roman Catholic cardinal, as well as the fourth and final Jacobite heir to publicly claim the thrones of Great Brita ...

. The body of the founder was moved to this church and lies there, under the altar of St

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

. Leonardi was declared

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cathol ...

in 1701,

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 ...

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

in 1861, and

canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of Cult (religious practice), public veneration and enterin ...

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

on 17 April 1938. His

feast day 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 d ...

is celebrated on 9 October in the

General Roman Calendar The General Roman Calendar is the liturgical calendar that indicates the dates of celebrations of saints and mysteries of the Lord (Jesus Christ) in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, wherever this liturgical rite is in use. These celebra ...

of the Catholic Church. In 1614,

Pope Paul V Pope Paul V ( la, Paulus V; it, Paolo V) (17 September 1550 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death in January 1621. In 1611, he honored ...

confided to the congregation the care of the so-called Pious Schools. It is in his Brief "Inter Pastoralis" that the congregation is first called "of the Mother of God", having until then been known by its original name of "Clerics Secular of the Blessed Virgin". The care of these schools being considered outside the scope of the congregation, it was relieved of their charge by the same pontiff in 1617. It was not until 3 November 1621 that

Pope Gregory XV Pope Gregory XV ( la, Gregorius XV; it, Gregorio XV; 9 January 15548 July 1623), born Alessandro Ludovisi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 February 1621 to his death in July 1623. Biography Early life Al ...

, carrying out what was always in the founder's mind, erected the congregation into a religious order proper by permitting its members to take

solemn vows A solemn vow is a certain vow ("a deliberate and free promise made to God about a possible and better good") taken by an individual during or after novitiate in a Catholic religious institute. It is solemn insofar as the Church recognizes it a ...

, and it then became the Clerics Regular of the Mother of God. Leonardi received many offers of churches during his life, but, hoping to reconcile with the governing body of the Republic, thought it better to refuse them. In all its history the Order has never had more than 15 churches. In 2008 it ha
eight
all of them in Italy. They include that of Santa Maria Corteorlandi in Lucca and Santa Maria in Campitelli in Rome. In the

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is usually located ...

of Santa Maria Cortelandini is preserved a large portion of a

hairshirt A cilice , also known as a sackcloth, was originally a garment or undergarment made of coarse cloth or animal hair (a hairshirt) worn close to the skin. It is used by members of various Christian traditions (including the Catholic, Lutheran, A ...

of St. Thomas of Canterbury whose feast is celebrated there with considerable ceremony; in 1908 half of this relic was presented to the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

Abbey of St. Thomas, Erdington, England. The former residence of the clerics, who kept a large boys' school until the suppression in 1867, became the public library of Lucca. Two of the original companions of the founder, Cesare Franciotti and Giovanni Cioni, have been declared

by the Catholic Church. The Order is known for numerous scholars and writers. Notable among them is Giovanni Domenico Mansi, editor of the "Councils" and a hundred other works. The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

of the Order are azure, representing Our Lady Assumed into Heaven; and its badge and seal the monogram of the Mother of God in Greek characters.

References

External links

Official website of the Clerks Regular of the Mother of God of Lucca
(in Italian)
Official site of the Clerics Regular of the Mother of God, Nigerian Delegation (in English)
{{Authority control Clerics regular 1574 establishments in Europe Religious organizations established in the 1570s