Egidio Maria of Saint Joseph

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
7 February
AttributesFranciscan habit
Patronage
  • Taranto
  • Ill people
  • Outcast people
  • Children
  • People looking for work

Egidio Maria of Saint Joseph (16 November 1729 – 7 February 1812) - born Francesco Pontillo - was an

professed religious of the Order of Friars Minor.[1] Pontillo became a Franciscan brother rather than an ordained priest due to his lack of a proper education and so dedicated himself to the care of the poor and ill in southern Italian cities such as Taranto and Naples where he earned the moniker of the "Consoler of Naples".[2][3]

Life

Francesco Pontillo was born in Taranto on 16 November 1729 to Cataldo Postillo and Grazia Procaccio; three siblings later followed him.

baptized
as Francesco Domenico Antonio Pasquale Pontillo.

His father died in 1747 and this forced Pontillo to seek work to provide for his widowed mother and siblings. For a brief period of time he worked as a rope maker. The lack of a personal education meant that he was unable to become a priest and served instead as a professed religious in the Order of Friars Minor in Naples. He applied to enter the order on 27 February 1754 and made his solemn profession of vows on 28 February 1755 at the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in

lepers; he often travelled outside the confines of his convent to beg for alms and to aid those who were shunned and isolated. Postillo spent almost a week at a convent in Capuso near Bari in 1759 when he was assigned to the convent of San Pasquale in Chiaia near Naples.[3]

Pontillo died in Naples in 1812. His death came as a result of severe

dropsy
. His remains are housed at San Pasquale convent's adjacent church in Chiaia.

Sainthood

The process for sainthood commenced in Naples in an informative process that Cardinal

Archbishop of Taranto
Orazio Mazzella named him the patron of Taranto.

The cause for Postillo's canonization was formally opened on 14 March 1952.

Congregation for the Causes of Saints on 2 October 1992 which led to a medical board approving it on 27 January 1994; theologians did likewise on 13 May 1994 as did the C.C.S. on 18 October 1994. Pope John Paul II
declared the healing to be a miracle - the 1937 cure of Mrs. Angela Mignogna - on 15 December 1994 and canonized Postillo on 2 June 1996.

His liturgical feast is celebrated on the date of his death.

References

  1. ^ List of canonisations by Pope John Paul II. Vatican Publishing House. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Saint Giles Mary-of-Saint-Joseph". Saints SQPN. 18 April 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  3. ^ a b "CANONIZATIONS from 16 June 1993 to 11 Oct 1998". EWTN. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Saint Egidio Maria of Saint Joseph (Francesco Pontillo)". Santi e Beati. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  5. ^ a b Index ac status causarum beatificationis servorum dei et canonizationis beatorum (in Latin). Typis polyglottis vaticanis. January 1953. p. 2.

External links

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