 St. Philip Benizi
Name: St. Philip Benizi
Date: 23 August
Saint Philip Benizi was born in Florence on the Feast of the Assumption, 1233. That same daythe Order of Servites was founded by the Mother of God. As an infant one year old, Philip spokewhen in the presence of these new religious, and announced the Servants of the Virgin. Amid allthe temptations of his youth, he longed to become a Servant of Mary, and it was only the fear ofhis own unworthiness which made him yield to his father’s wish and begin to study medicine. Hereceived the bonnet of a doctor of medicine at Padua. After long and weary waiting, his doubts were solved one day by Our Lady Herself, who in avision during a Mass in Florence offered in the Servite Chapel, bade him enter Her Order. StillPhilip dared only offer himself as a lay brother; and saying nothing of his studies, in this humblestate he strove to do penance for his sins. Two Dominican Fathers traveling with him one dayrecognized the great talents, wisdom and knowledge which he had succeeded in concealing. Theytalked to his Superiors, and he was told to prepare for the priesthood. As a priest he did immensegood. He pacified many dissensions, common among the city-states of those days. One day hemet a leper, almost naked, and having no money gave him his tunic. When the leper put it on, hewas instantly cured. Thereafter honors were accorded him in rapid succession; he became General of the Order andonly by flight did he escape elevation to the Papal throne; he retired to a grotto in the mountainsuntil the conclave had ended. His preaching restored peace to Italy, wasted by civil wars. He wassent not only to various cities of that country but to the Netherlands and Germany, where heconverted many, not without opposition and even a flogging by rebels. At the Council of Lyons,he spoke to the assembled prelates with the gift of tongues. Amid all these favors Philip lived inextreme penitence, constantly examining his soul before God, and condemning himself as only fitfor hell. Saint Philip, though he was free from every stain of mortal sin, was never weary of beseeching God’s mercy. From the time he was ten years old he daily prayed the Penitential Psalms. On his deathbed he recited verses of the Miserere, his cheeks streaming with tears; during his agony hewent through a terrible contest to overcome the fear of damnation. But a few minutes before hedied, all his doubts disappeared and were succeeded by a holy trust. He uttered the responses tothe final prayers in a low but audible voice; and when at last the Mother of God appeared beforehim, he lifted up his arms with joy and breathed a gentle sigh, as if placing his soul in Her hands. He died on the Octave of the Assumption, 1285. |
