Saint Antoninus | |
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.jpg) St Antoninus Pierozzi weighs on a scale the fruits received as a gift and the merits rendered to God, Sant'Angelo a Lecore, c. 17th century | |
| Religious, bishop and Confessor | |
| Born | Antonio Pierozzi 1 March 1389 Florence,Florentine Republic |
| Died | 2 May 1459(1459-05-02) (aged 70) Florence, Florentine Republic |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church Iglesia Filipina Independiente |
| Canonized | 31 May 1523, Rome byPope Adrian VI |
| Majorshrine | Church of San Marco Florence, Italy |
| Feast | 2 May; 10 May (General Roman Calendar, 1683–1969) |
| Patronage | Moncalvo,Turin, Italy University of Santo Tomas Graduate School,Manila, Philippines, Saint Antoninus Parish, Municipality of Pura, Tarlac Philippines |
Antoninus of FlorenceOP (1 March 1389 – 2 May 1459) was an ItalianDominicanfriar who served asArchbishop of Florence in the 15th century. He isvenerated as asaint in theCatholic Church.
He was bornAntonio Pierozzi (also calledde Forciglioni) on 1 March 1389 in the city ofFlorence, then capital of an independentRepublic, to Niccolò and Tomasina Pierozzi, prominent citizens of the city, Niccolò being anotary.[1] His mother died when he was about five years of age. As a child, he spent time at the church ofOrsanmichele.
The young Anthony was received into theDominican Order in 1405 at the age of sixteen at the new priory of San Domenico inFiesole and given thereligious habit by theBlessedJohn Dominici, founder of the community, becoming its first candidate. WithFra Angelico andBartolomeo di Fruosino, the one to become famous as a painter, the other as a miniaturist, he was sent toCortona to make his novitiate under Bl.Lorenzo da Ripafratta. Upon the completion of his year in the novitiate, he returned to Fiesole, where he remained until 1409, when with his brethren, all faithful adherents ofPope Gregory XII, he was constrained by the Florentines, who had refused obedience, to take shelter in the Convent ofFoligno.[1]
He was tasked with the administration of various houses of his Order atCortona, Rome,Naples, as well as Florence, which he labored zealously to reform.[2] These communities became part of a new DominicanCongregation ofTuscany, established by John Dominici in order to promote a stricter form of life within the Order, which had been devastated through its division in theWestern Schism of the preceding century. In 1430 he became prior ofSanta Maria sopra Minerva.
From 1433 to 1446 Antoninus served asvicar of the Congregation. In this office, he was involved in the establishment of the Priory ofSt Mark in Florence with friars from Fiesole.[1] The priory's cells, including one forCosimo de' Medici, were painted infrescos by Fra Angelico and his assistants.
Antoninus wasconsecratedArchbishop of Florence on 13 March 1446, at the Dominican priory inFiesole, on the initiative ofPope Eugene IV, who had come to admire him through his participation in the major church councils of the period. He came to win the esteem and love of his people, especially by his energy and resource in combating the effects of the plague and earthquake in 1448 and 1453.[2] It was they who began the use of the diminutive form of his name which has come to prevail. Antoninus was unusual for his time not only in continually living in his diocese, but also in conducting yearly visits to every parish and convent by foot.[3]: ch.1
Antoninus is honored as thepatron saint ofMoncalvo, nearTurin.
Antoninus lived a life of austerity as archbishop, continuing to follow the DominicanRule. His relations with theMedici regime were close but not always harmonious, with his serving several times as an ambassador for the Republic to theHoly See during the 1450s.
Antoninus died on 2 May 1459, andPope Pius II conducted his funeral. The pope happened to be on his way to theCouncil of Mantua when he heard of the archbishop's death. The archbishop's wish was that he be buried at the priory which he had founded in the city.
His body lies in the Chapel of St. Antoninus inSan Marco, Florence.[4][5]
Antoninus had a great reputation for theological learning, and had assisted as a papal theologian at theCouncil of Florence. Of his various works, the list of which is given inQuétif andJacques Échard,Scriptores ordinis prædicatorum recensiti, notisque historicis illustrati ad annum 1700 auctoribus, vol. i.818, the best-known are hisSumma theologica moralis (printed in 1477) and theSumma confessionalis, Curam illius habes (printed in 1472).[2] Both were printed years after the author's death. The former condenses the material ofmoral theology in four parts, drawing heavily from the writings ofThomas Aquinas. The first presents the anthropological foundations of moral teaching examining the soul and its powers; the second discusses different sins; the third examines social, religious, and ecclesiastical states of life as well as excommunications and censures; and the fourth concerns itself with thecardinal virtues and thegifts of the Holy Spirit.[6] The latter is one of three guides forconfessors which he wrote, and it was highly regarded by the clergy as an aid for centuries. His writings were a major development in the field of moral theology. For a more up to date list of works and manuscripts, see Thomas Kaeppeli,Scriptores ordinis praedicatorum medii aevi, vol. 1 (Rome: Ad S. Sabinaa, 1970).
In 1477 Antoninus'Chronicon partibus tribus distincta ab initio mundi ad MCCCLX was published; it was intended to be a history of creation from a religious perspective, up to the end of the 14th century. Though uncritical in its account of earlier ages, his accounts of more current events have been useful to historians.
Antoninus' writings, some in Italian, reflect a pronounced awareness of the problems of social and economic development. He argued in them that the state had a duty to intervene in mercantile affairs for thecommon good, and the obligation to help the poor and needy. His viewpoint on the vanity of women's dress made concessions to the social status of women of high birth or married to holders of high office.
Antoninus was canonized on 31 May 1523 byPope Adrian VI,[7] who himself held ideas of radical and drastic church reform similar to those of Antoninus.
Hisfeast day, which was not in theTridentine calendar, was inserted in theGeneral Roman Calendar in 1683, for celebration on 10 May[8] as a Double, a rank altered in 1960 to that of Third-Class Feast. Since 1969, it isno longer in theGeneral Roman Calendar, but theRoman Martyrology indicates that it is still observed, moved to 2 May, the day of his death.[9]
Saint Antoninus is honored as the patron saint of the Catholic Church & Aglipayan Church of the Municipality of Pura, Tarlac Philippines.
Antoninus is typically shown in his Dominican habit with his bishop's mitre set aside, as he works distributing food to the needy.[10] He may have a stalk of Florentine lilies and a confessor's book, and a tender or aggressive posture depending on who he is facing.[7]
McMahon, Arthur Lawrence (1907). "St. Antoninus". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Antoninus, Saint".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 148. This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "St. Antoninus".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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