† Saint of the Day †
(October 31)
✠ Blessed Thomas of Florence ✠
Religious:
Born: 1370 AD
Florence, Republic of Florence
Died: October 31, 1447 (Aged 77)
Rieti, Papal States
Venerated in: Roman Catholic Church
Beatified: 1771 AD
Pope Clement XIV
Feast: October 31
Patronage: Butchers, Penitents,
Missionaries
Blessed Thomas of Florence or
“Tommaso Bellacci” was an Italian Roman Catholic professed member of the Third
Order of Saint Francis. Bellacci was a butcher and became a religious after
turning his life around from one of sin to one of penance and servitude to God.
Bellacci travelled across the Middle East and the Italian peninsula to preach
and administer to people despite not being an ordained priest.
The rite of beatification was
celebrated in 1771.
Life :
Thomas of Florence was born in
Florence in 1370 as the son of a butcher. His parents came from Castello di
Linari in Val d'Elsa. He was born in a house that was situated on the Ponte
alle Grazie. He led a wild and dissolute life as an adolescent that parents
warned their sons to keep their distance from him. He became a butcher like his
father. He got into a lot of trouble on various occasions during his childhood.
Thomas was accused of having
committed a serious crime in 1400 that he in fact did not do and so he wandered
the streets of Florence until he met a priest who listened to Thomas and took
him in and helped clear his name. The incident shocked him so much - coupled
with his appreciation of the priest - that he shed his life of sin and decided
to live a life of total penance and service to God. He joined the Third Order
of Saint Francis in Fiesole in 1405 as a religious rather than a priest and
became noted for keeping vigils and fasting. He also became a novice master
despite not being a priest.
He founded friaries in Corscia Pope
Martin V called him to preach in the northern cities against the
"Fraticelli" who were a group of heretical Franciscans and was also
made Vicar General at the pope's behest; he and Alberto da Sarteano in 1438
were later sent to the Middle East to cities such as Damascus and Cairo in
order to promote the reunification of the Eastern and Western Churches when he
was over 70. Alberto had to leave due for back home due to his ill health which
left Thomas on his own.
He attempted to travel to Ethiopia
but the Turks captured him three times. The Florentine merchants helped to
secure his release the first two times while he was later imprisoned for his
faith and work the third time and expected that he would be killed though Pope
Eugene IV helped secure his release. He returned home in 1444 and spent his
time in a convent in Abruzzo until 1446. He was known for his diet of water and
vegetables.
Thomas died in Rieti while on a
visit to Rome to visit the pontiff. He planned to ask him for permission to
return to the Orient. His remains were relocated in 2006.
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