Constabilis ( it, San Constabile, San Costabile) ( 1070 – 1124) was an Italian

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...

and saint. He was abbot of

La Trinità della Cava La Trinità della Cava ( la, Abbatia Territorialis Sanctissimae Trinitatis Cavensis), commonly known as Badia di Cava, is a Benedictine territorial abbey located near Cava de' Tirreni, in the province of Salerno, southern Italy. It stands in a go ...

, located at

Cava de' Tirreni Cava de' Tirreni (; Cilentan: ''A Càva'') is a city and '' comune'' in the region of Campania, Italy, in the province of Salerno, northwest of the town of Salerno. It lies in a richly cultivated valley surrounded by wooded hills, and is a p ...

, from 1122 to 1124.

Biography

He was born around 1070 at

Tresino Castellabate ( Cilentan: ''Castiellabbate'') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. History The area was inhabited since Upper Palaeolithic times. In early medieval times, the current ...

, in

Lucania Lucania was a historical region of Southern Italy. It was the land of the Lucani, an Oscan people. It extended from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Gulf of Taranto. It bordered with Samnium and Campania in the north, Apulia in the east, and Bruttiu ...

(currently part of the ''comune'' of

Castellabate Castellabate ( Cilentan: ''Castiellabbate'') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. History The area was inhabited since Upper Palaeolithic times. In early medieval times, the current ...

), to the noble Gentilcore family. At the age of seven, he was entrusted to the care of abbot of Cava,

Leo I The LEO I (Lyons Electronic Office I) was the first computer used for commercial business applications. The prototype LEO I was modelled closely on the Cambridge EDSAC. Its construction was overseen by Oliver Standingford, Raymond Thompson and ...

. Constabilis then became a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

at the abbey. He followed the

Benedictine Rule The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' ( la, Regula Sancti Benedicti) is a book of precepts written in Latin in 516 by St Benedict of Nursia ( AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Ru ...

zealously and was entrusted by the abbot to manage important negotiations and transactions on behalf of the abbey. On January 10, 1118, he was promoted by abbot

Peter of Pappacarbone Peter of Pappacarbone ( it, San Pietro di Pappacarbone) (died 4 March 1123) was an Italian abbot, bishop, and saint. He was abbot of La Trinità della Cava, located at Cava de' Tirreni. Born in Salerno, he had first been a monk at Cava under Leo ...

to the position of coadjutor. He subsequently succeeded Peter as abbot after the latter's death on March 4, 1122. Constabilis is venerated as the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

, for the reason that he founded the town. He started construction on the Angel's Castle on 10 October 1123, which afterwards became entitled to him. His title gave the village its present name: ''Castrum Abbatis'', the "castle of the abbot." He steered the monastery in an unassuming manner and cared for the general and individual needs of the monks. He died at the age of fifty-three and was buried in the church overhanging the grotto of Arsicia that had been used by the founder of the abbey, Alferius. Constabilis died on 17 February 1124. He was succeeded by Simeon.

Veneration

After his death, he is said to have appeared to his successors and was venerated as a protector of the ships belonging to this abbey. The first four abbots of Cava were recognized as saints on December 21, 1893 by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

. Veneration for Constabilis had already existed; however, this had now been officially approved.San Constabile (Costabile)
/ref>

Notes

External links

San Constabile (Costabile)Constabilis of Cava
{{Authority control 1070s births 1124 deaths People from the Province of Salerno Medieval Italian saints Italian abbots 12th-century Christian saints Italian Benedictines