Baldassare Ravaschieri, OFM (1420 – 17 October 1492) was an Italian Catholic priest and a professed member of the

Order of Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (commonly called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; Post-nominal letters, postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a Mendicant orders, mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis ...

. Ravaschieri served as a noted preacher and confessor and befriended as contemporaries

Bernardine of Feltre Bernardine of Feltre (sometimes Bernardinus of Feltre) was a Friar Minor and missionary, b. at Feltre, Italy, in 1439 and d. at Pavia, 28 September 1494. He is remembered in connection with the monti di pietà of which he was the reorganizer an ...

and architect

Giovanni Antonio Amadeo 260px, Amadeo, Milan Cathedral Giovanni Antonio Amadeo (c. 1447 – 27 or 28 August 1522) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor of the Early Renaissance, architect, and engineer. He dominated late fifteenth-century Lombard architecture and sculptu ...

. Ravaschieri's beatification received confirmation on 8 January 1930 after

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

issued a decree that acknowledged his 'cultus' (or popular devotion and following).

Life

Baldassare Ravaschieri was born in the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

in 1420 to nobles whose ancestors were the counts of

Lavagna Lavagna is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, in the Italian region of Liguria. History and culture The village, unlike nearby Chiavari which has pre-Ancient Rome, Roman evidence, seems to have developed in Ancient ...

; his father was Count Cattaneo (d. 1421). His aunts Ginerva and Tobia - both Franciscan tertiaries - were responsible for his religious upbringing. He entered the

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

of the

not too far from his home in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

where he became noted for being a good theologian and a model religious while also acting as a zealous confessor. He was also known for his practice of mortifications. Ravaschieri also served as the order's superior and later its vicar provincial. His studies for the priesthood were conducted at Santa Maria del Campo (where he earned his doctorate in theological studies) before he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

as a priest. Ravaschieri also suffered from

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of pain in a red, tender, hot, and Joint effusion, swollen joint, caused by the deposition of needle-like crystals of uric acid known as monosodium urate crysta ...

which limited his movements and required him to sometimes be carried to

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

. Ravaschieri also served as a preacher alongside

. He was a friend of the architect

and the confessor of Veronica of Milan. It was once said that on one winter night he had remained in the woods where it was snowing though the spot he was sitting in was without snow. He died on 17 October 1492. His relics were transferred to

Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...

in 1805.

Beatification

The Diocese of Pavia initiated the cause for beatification that later resulted in the recognition of his 'cultus' (or popular following) which allowed for

- on 8 January 1930 - to confirm his beatification.

References

External links

Hagiography CircleSaints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ravaschieri, Baldassare 1420 births 1492 deaths 15th-century venerated Christians 15th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests Beatifications by Pope Pius XI Franciscan beatified people Italian Franciscans Italian beatified people Clergy from Genoa Binasco