Blessed Blessed may refer to: * The state of having received a blessing * Blessed, a title assigned by the Roman Catholic Church to someone who has been beatified Film and television * ''Blessed'' (2004 film), a 2004 motion picture about a supernatural ...

John dal Bastone or Bl. John of the Staff, born Giovanni Bonello Botegoni (24 March 1200 – 24 March 1290), is a Blessed of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Biography

John was born in Paterno,

Fabriano Fabriano is a town and ''comune'' of Ancona province in the Italian region of the Marche, at above sea level. It lies in the Esino valley upstream and southwest of Jesi; and east-northeast of Fossato di Vico and east of Gubbio (both in Umb ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. His father Bonello and mother Superla had five children and John was the youngest. Because of his studious nature, his parents sent him to

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

to study the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

. He was afflicted with a purulent sore on one side of his thigh. Journeying back home, he rode on the back of a donkey, which made his thigh weaker. He was lame for the rest of his life and was forced to walk with the help of a staff, for this he was nicknamed John ‘of the staff’ (dal Bastone). Attracted by the fame of the sanctity of the

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 ...

Sylvester Gozzolini (Italian: Silvestro Guzzolini) John went to meet him. He was received into the holy order and took up a monastic way of life, about 1230. He lived for 60 years in a small cell of the Hermitage of Montefano Renowned for its love of concealment, for prudence and counsel. Silvester then promoted him into the priesthood. John's body was racked with pain, but he nevertheless observed the greatest poverty and had no possessions beyond his needs and without permission from his spiritual father. His fellow monks confidently sought his advice in their difficulties and doubts. He continued to preach even after the death of Sylvester in 1267. Later, his sore became worse and he was taken for treatment to Fabriano, where he died. His body was laid in the church of St. Benedict in Fabriano. On 29 August 1772, he was beatified. On 27 October 1872, in the centenary year of his being raised to the status of Blessed, the foundation stone was laid for a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

in his name at Pelawatte,

Battaramulla Battaramulla is a suburb of Colombo, situated from the city centre at Colombo Fort, near the Parliament of Sri Lanka. It is one of the fastest developing administrative, commercial and residential areas in the Colombo District, being home to the ...

, Sri Lanka. The church was completed in 1881. The church was originally administered by the Silvestrines but in 1972 it was entrusted to the

Franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

. In 2006, the Sri Lanka Post issued a stamp commemorating the 125th anniversary of the church, which is the only one in the world to be dedicated to St John dal Bastone.Stamp ‹ St John Dal Bastone Church - Talangama
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:John dal Bastone 1200 births 1290 deaths People from Ancona Italian beatified people 13th-century Christian saints Beatifications by Pope Clement XIV