Antonio Maria Pucci (16 April 1819 - 12 January 1892) - born Eustachio Pucci - was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

and a

professed A vow ( Lat. ''votum'', vow, promise; see vote) is a promise or oath. A vow is used as a promise, a promise solemn rather than casual. Marriage vows Marriage vows are binding promises each partner in a couple makes to the other during a weddin ...

member from the

Servite Order The Servite Order, officially known as the Order of Servants of Mary ( la, Ordo Servorum Beatae Mariae Virginis; abbreviation: OSM), is one of the five original Catholic mendicant orders. It includes several branches of friars (priests and brothe ...

. He was beatified on 12 June 1952 under Pope Pius XII and was later made a saint on 9 December 1962 at the conclusion of the first session of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

Life

Eustace Pucci was born on 16 April 1819 to a poor sacristan as the second of seven children. He felt called to life in a religious order in his childhood but his father opposed this despite his own career as a church worker. Overcoming this opposition later allowed him to enter the

in 1837 (at Santissima Annunziata) at which time he was given the religious name of "Antonio Maria". He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

to the priesthood in 1843 after having made his profession into the order a few months prior. In 1843 he was assigned to serve in

Viareggio Viareggio () is a city and ''comune'' in northern Tuscany, Italy, on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. With a population of over 62,000, it is the second largest city within the province of Lucca, after Lucca. It is known as a seaside resort as ...

at the parish church of Sant'Andrea and was later made its

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

in 1846. He went on to serve in this post for the next four decades until his death. He became known as (the Little Parish Priest) and took care of the poor and the sick as well as the old; this was augmented during two epidemics. In 1853 he founded an institution for the education of children and initiated the first seaside hostel for sick and poor children in Viareggio. He also helped found the Holy Childhood Society in 1853 for educational purposes. Pucci died on 12 January 1892 due to

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

. He celebrated

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

on 6 January and that night, he went in a storm to render assistance to an ill person when he contracted pneumonia and grew worse until his death. His remains were later relocated to the church of Sant'Andrea on 18 April 1920.

Sainthood

Viareggio, chiesa di sant'andrea, vetrata di sant'antonio maria pucci

He was proclaimed a Servant of God on 13 April 1932 under Pope Pius XI with the introduction of his sainthood cause and he was later made

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cat ...

on 18 January 1948 upon the confirmation of his life of

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs and used by the Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it ...

. Pope Pius XII beatified him on 12 June 1952 while

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

canonized him on 9 December 1962.

References

Sources

* Calabuig I. M. (editor), ''Sant'Antonio Maria Pucci'', Facoltà Teologica Marianum, 2004 * Antonio Maria Pucci, ''Epistolario di s. Antonio M. Pucci osm (1847-1891), Vol. 1: 1847-1883'', Facoltà Teologica Marianum, 2001 * Antonio Maria Pucci, ''Epistolario di s. Antonio M. Pucci osm, Vol. 2: 1883-1891, Facoltà Teologica Marianum, 2006 * Peretto E. (editor), ''Storia e profezia nella memoria di un frate santo. Atti del Convegno di studio nel primo centenario della morte di s. Antonio Pucci (Roma, 14-16 ottobre 1992)'', Facoltà Teologica Marianum, 1994

External links

Hagiography Circle

Saints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pucci, Antonio Maria 1819 births 1892 deaths 19th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests 19th-century venerated Christians Beatifications by Pope Pius XII Canonizations by Pope John XXIII Deaths from pneumonia in Tuscany Italian Roman Catholic saints People from the Province of Prato Servites