Giacomo Bianconi (7 March 1220 – 22 August 1301) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

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 lette ...

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 particu ...

and a professed 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 ...

. Bianconi - who hailed from

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

- joined the order in his adolescence and dedicated his pastoral career to his flock and on one notable occasion aided refugees when Frederick II sacked the area in 1248. He also combatted heresies and managed to convert one of their chief propagators while also distinguishing himself through his life of extreme poorness that went past the Dominican standards. The difficult road to sainthood commenced under

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 ...

in 1608 and stalled several times until

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As po ...

decided to preside over the beatification in 1641 - the process had failed then and the pontiff's death exacerbated the prospect of the process never facing completion. It reopened one final time and allowed - on 18 May 1672 - for

Pope Clement X Pope Clement X ( la, Clemens X; it, Clemente X; 13 July 1590 – 22 July 1676), born Emilio Bonaventura Altieri, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 April 1670 to his death in July 1676. Elected pope at ag ...

to confirm Bianconi's beatification on the recognition of the late priest's local 'cultus' - or popular veneration.

Life

Giacomo Bianconi was born on 7 March 1220 in

. His birth spouted a miracle when - as he was born - three brilliant bright stars containing three separate images of friars amongst the clouds: these individuals were later confirmed as Bianconi himself as well as

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wi ...

and

Ambrose of Siena Ambrose of Sienna was an Italian Dominican teacher, missionary and diplomat. Biography Ambrose was born at Siena on 16 April 1220, to the noble family of Sansedoni. When he was around a year old, Ambrose was cured of a congenital deformity, in ...

. In his childhood he achieved peace between two quarreling families. Bianconi became a member of the

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; la, Spoletum) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome. History Spolet ...

in 1236 during his mid-adolescence after meeting two Dominican friars preach during

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

. He decided to choose an extreme life of poorness that exceeded Dominican standards. He founded - and became the first prior at the same time - 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 ...

Mevania Bevagna is a town and ''comune'' in the central part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria), in the flood plain of the Topino river. Bevagna is south-east of Perugia, west of Foligno, north-north-west of Montefalco, south of Assisi an ...

. Bianconi aided survivors and refugees from Mevania in 1248 after Frederick II sacked the town in 1248. He helped to quash the Nicolaites heretical movement in Umbria and scored a success for the opposition when he managed to convert its chief propagator named Ortinellus. Bianconi became provincial minister for the order in 1281 and later made the prior of all Dominican friaries in Spoleto in 1291 and in

Foligno Foligno (; Southern Umbrian: ''Fuligno'') is an ancient town of Italy in the province of Perugia in east central Umbria, on the Topino river where it leaves the Apennines and enters the wide plain of the Clitunno river system. It is located so ...

in 1299. He became active in the rebuilding of the town which culminated in the rebuilding of the Palazzo dei Consoli in 1270. In 1291 he received approval to rebuild the church of San Giorgio in Mevania and to construct an adjoining convent to it and he later founded two nunneries known as Santa Lucia and Santa Margherita. He served also as the lector at San Domenico in

Orvieto Orvieto () is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy, situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff. The city rises dramatically above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs that are compl ...

and became the spiritual advisor of Jane of Orvieto. Father Bianconi once knelt before a

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

and experienced doubts about his personal salvation and at that moment blood spurted from it which led to the voice of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

tell the priest that the blood was a sign that he would be saved. On another occasion his mother was so shocked at the poor condition of his habit that she gave him the funds needed to purchase another though her son wanted to purchase a crucifix for his cell. But his mother reminded him he had to purchase a habit instead with Bianconi assuring her that the garment he wore before her was the one he purchased using her gift. Bianconi died on 22 August 1301. Both

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

and

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 ...

appeared to him as he died as well as the

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

who he believed would take him to Heaven. Before he died he brought fresh water to his cell so he and his companions could drink but ended up drinking wine when the water turned into it. His remains were buried in San Giorgio though his remains were later relocated in 1302 to the counter-façade of Ss. Domenico e Giacomo to the left of the entrance.

Pope Boniface IX Pope Boniface IX ( la, Bonifatius IX; it, Bonifacio IX; c. 1350 – 1 October 1404, born Pietro Tomacelli) was head of the Catholic Church from 2 November 1389 to his death in October 1404. He was the second Roman pope of the Western Schism.Richa ...

offered a papal indulgence to those who venerated his remains during the first week of the fifth month in 1397 as an impetus for potential sainthood. His remains were moved again in 1589 and for the final time to a gilded bronze urn on the high altar in 1686.

Beatification

Bianconi's cause for beatification commenced in 1608 under

once Cardinal Alfonso Visconti inaugurated the process itself. Cardinal Maffeo Barberini - later

- reopened the process after a brief stall in 1612 and led to a formal process being opened in 1632 under three bishops including the

Bishop of Spoleto The Archdiocese of Spoleto-Norcia ( la, Archidioecesis Spoletana-Nursina) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy. Historically, it was the Diocese of Spoleto. Elevated to the status of an archdio ...

Lorenzo Castrucci. That process too was inconclusive and a second was needed because Urban VIII wanted to preside over Bianconi's beatification in 1641. But that too stalled and the death of the pontiff also halted prospects for beatification. The final process launched in 1658 and this led to the announcement that Bianconi would be beatified. He received beatification from

on 18 May 1672 after the pontiff provided ratification to the late priest's local and enduring 'cultus' - or popular devotion and veneration - thus providing a conclusion to a long and difficult process.

References

External links

Saints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bianconi, Giacomo 1220 births 1301 deaths 13th-century venerated Christians 13th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests Italian beatified people Dominican beatified people Italian Dominicans Members of the Dominican Order People from Spoleto Venerated Catholics Venerated Dominicans Beatifications by Pope Clement X

Life

Beatification

See also

References

External links