Bernardino Realino

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
2 July
AttributesPriest's cassock
PatronageLecce

Bernardino Realino (1 December 1530 – 2 July 1616) was an

ordained to the priesthood in Naples. He is often dubbed as the "Apostle of Lecce" for his commitment to the poor and for his preaching abilities.[2][3]

Realino received beatification in 1896 from Pope Leo XIII while Pope Pius XII canonized him on 22 June 1947 as a saint of the Catholic Church.

Life

Tomb of Saint Bernardino Realino in Lecce.

Bernardino Realino was born in Carpi on 1 December 1530 to nobles. His father was a collaborator of Cardinal Cristoforo Madruzzo.[3]

He first attended school at

Francesco Ferdinando d'Avalos and moved to Naples to act as the superintendent of the fiefs of the Marquis.[1]

In Naples a

priesthood on 24 May 1567; he made his vows in October 1566.[3] Francis Borgia appointed Realino as the novice master at Naples. He was later sent to found a Jesuit house and college in Lecce in 1574. In 1583 he began a movement for diocesan priests to foster their virtues and to improve their moral-theological education to make them better confessors and preachers.[2] Realino spent most of his life going from place to place preaching parish missions. He taught catechism and visited slaves on the galleys in the harbour at Naples.[5]

In 1610 he suffered a fall and sustained two wounds that never healed. Not long before his death blood was taken from one leg wound and placed in glass vials; his health took a sharp decline in June 1616.

relics of his blood which were kept were reported to have liquified. On his deathbed, the Lecce magistrates asked him twice that he be the town's patron when he entered Heaven. Realino could not speak but nodded in approval and died whispering: "Gesù ... Maria".[4]
The blood was liquefied until the mid 19th century, though later instances were also reported.

Roberto Bellarmino heard of his death and said: "I have never heard a complaint about Father Realino though I have been his provincial; even those who were ill-disposed to the society who seized every opportunity to speak unfavourably of it always made an exception for Realino. ...Everyone knows that he is a saint".[2]

Sainthood

Realino was proclaimed to be

Congregation for Rites on 29 February 1940, while a preparatory committee approved them on 1 April 1941. Pope Pius XII
later canonized him as a saint (after the confirmation of two more miracles) on 22 June 1947.

Pius XII named him as the patron saint for Lecce on 15 December 1947.[4]

His remains are preserved in Lecce in the Chiesa del Gesù.

References

  1. ^ a b c "St. Bernardino Realino". Catholic Exchange. 2 July 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Saint Bernardino Realino". The Jesuit Curia in Rome. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  3. ^ a b c "Saint Bernardino Realino". Santi e Beati. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  4. ^ a b c "Saint Bernadine Realino". Saints SQPN. 12 June 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  5. ^ "Saint Bernardino Realino", Living Space

Sources

  • Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993.
    ISBN 0-14-051312-4
    .

External links
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