Filippo Smaldone (27 July 1848 – 4 June 1923) was an

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Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

and the founder of the Salesian Sisters of the Sacred Hearts. Smaldone is best known for his extensive work with the deaf during his lifetime. Smaldone was a gifted preacher known for his commitment to proper catechesis and to the care of orphans and the mute, which earned him civic recognition. Smaldone's sainthood cause commenced in 1964 and in 1995 he became titled as

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 Cat ...

under

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

who soon after beatified him in mid-1996.

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

canonized him as a saint of the Catholic Church on 15 October 2006 in Saint Peter's Square.

Life

Filippo Smaldone was born in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

in 1848 as the first of seven children to Antonio Smaldone and Maria Concetta De Luca. He made his First Communion in 1858 and received his Confirmation in 1862. He almost failed the examination for minor orders because he did not want to abandon his apostolate for his studies. He returned to Naples in 1876 – with the permission of the Cardinal

Archbishop of Naples The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Naples ( la, Archidioecesis Neapolitana) is a Roman Catholic archdioceses in southern Italy, the see being in Naples. A Christian community was founded there in the 1st century AD and the diocese of Naples wa ...

Sisto Riario Sforza – after a period of education in the

Archdiocese of Rossano-Cariati The Italian Catholic Archdiocese of Rossano–Cariati ( la, Archidioecesis Rossanensis-Cariatensis) in Calabria has existed since 597, beginning as the Diocese of Rossano. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Cosenza-Bisignano.

. He was made a subdeacon on 31 July 1870 and ordained a deacon on 27 March 1871. Smaldone was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

to the priesthood on 23 September 1871. During his studies he began efforts to help the deaf of Naples and also did work with the sick. But at one stage he grew depressed, being frustrated over his mute students. He asked to give up teaching in favor of going to the foreign missions. But his

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

convinced him to remain and to continue his work. Smaldone almost died of cholera when it struck the area in 1884, and he credited his survival to the Madonna. In 1885 he founded an institution for the deaf and for the mute at Lecce on 25 March 1855 with the assistance of Lorenzo Apicella and several

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

s that he had under his care. He opened several other branches of his order in 1897 in both

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 ...

and Bari. On 18 December 1912, his order was aggregated to the

Order of Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (also called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi. The order adheres to the teachi ...

. . The order went on to receive the decree of praise from

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 ...

on 30 November 1915 and full papal approval from Pope Pius XI after Smaldone's death on 21 June 1925. Smaldone founded both the Eucharistic League of Priest Adorers and the Eucharistic League of Women Adorers to promote the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

and he also served for a brief period of time as the superior of the Missionaries of Saint Francis de Sales. The civic authorities commended and recognized him for his work as did religious authorities who made him a canon of the

Lecce Cathedral Lecce Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Lecce; ''Cattedrale dell'Assunzione della Virgine'') is the cathedral of the city of Lecce in Apulia, Italy, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Lecce. History The c ...

. In 1880 he was sent to

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

as an expert at a conference of teachers for the deaf. He died on 4 June 1923 at 9:00 pm from

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

-related complications combined with heart difficulties. His remains were later relocated in 1942 to the order's motherhouse. In 2005 there was a total of 40 houses with 398 religious in nations such as Rwanda and

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Sainthood

The canonization cause commenced in an informative process that opened in 1964 under

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

and concluded its business sometime after this. The introduction to this process titled him as a Servant of God. The

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pass ...

validated this process in Rome on 23 May 1989 and received the

Positio In the Catholic Church, a ''positio'' (''Positio super Virtutibus'') is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a person is declared Venerable, the second of the four steps on the path to canonization as a saint. Des ...

in 1989 which allowed for theologians to approve it on 3 February 1995 and the C.C.S. to likewise approve the cause on 16 May 1995.

declared Smaldone to be

on 11 July 1995 after the pope confirmed that the priest had indeed lived a model Christian life of

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs and used by the Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it ...

. The miracle needed for beatification was investigated and then validated on 7 May 1993 while a medical board later approved it on 1 June 1995. Theologians also assented to this miracle on 27 October 1995 as did the C.C.S. on 12 December 1995. John Paul II issued formal assent needed and deemed that the healing was a miracle attributed to Smaldone's intercession on 12 January 1996, and presided over Smaldone's beatification on 12 May 1996. The process for a second miracle spanned from 2000 to 2002 at which point it received validation on 4 April 2003 before receiving the assent of the medical board on 3 February 2005; theologians assented to it on 17 May 2005 as did the C.C.S. on 17 January 2006.

approved this on 28 April 2006 and canonized Smaldone in Saint Peter's Square on 15 October 2006.

References

External links

Hagiography Circle

Saints SQPN

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smaldone, Filippo 1848 births 1923 deaths 19th-century venerated Christians 19th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests 19th-century Christian saints 20th-century venerated Christians 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests 20th-century Christian saints Beatifications by Pope John Paul II Canonizations by Pope Benedict XVI Deaths from diabetes Founders of Catholic religious communities Italian Roman Catholic saints 19th-century Neapolitan people Venerated Catholics by Pope John Paul II