Domenico da Cese (27 March 1905 - 17 September 1978), born Emidio Petracca, was a monk who was a member of the

Capuchin order The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM) ...

. Domenico da Cese was born as Emidio Petracca in Cese in the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

.The Face of God, Paul Badde, page 232. On 12 January 1915 at the age of nine while at school, he called out in class to his peers that there was going to be an earthquake that would strike that night; he was correct in this. He and his father were almost killed when their church collapsed on top of them. Both had to be pulled from the rubble to safety. Emilio joined the

and became a close friend of

Padre Pio Francesco Forgione, OFM Cap., better known as Padre Pio and as Saint Pius of Pietrelcina ( it, Pio da Pietrelcina; 25 May 188723 September 1968), was an Italian Franciscan Capuchin friar, priest, stigmatist, and mystic. He is venerated as a s ...

, a future saint. Padre Domenico became a believer and proponent of the

Holy Face of Manoppello The Veil of Veronica, or (Latin for sweat-cloth), also known as the Vernicle and often called simply the Veronica, is a Christian relic consisting of a piece of cloth said to bear an image of the Holy Face of Jesus produced by other than human ...

, eventually getting permission to live near the image. In September 1978, when in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

to visit the

Shroud of Turin The Shroud of Turin ( it, Sindone di Torino), also known as the Holy Shroud ( it, Sacra Sindone, links=no or ), is a length of linen cloth bearing the negative image of a man. Some describe the image as depicting Jesus of Nazareth and bel ...

, the six foot tall Padre Domenico was hit by a young man driving a

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

and died due to his injuries on 17 September 1978. He was buried in his hometown of Cese. His sainthood cause commenced on 3 March 2015 and he has been given the title of

Servant of God "Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Da Cese, Domenico 1905 births 1978 deaths Capuchins Italian Christian monks 20th-century venerated Christians Italian Servants of God

See also

References