Cesare Sportelli (29 March 1702 – 19 April 1750) was an Italian Roman Catholic Redemptorist lawyer.

Biography

He was born at

Mola di Bari Cathedral. Mola di Bari, commonly referred to simply as Mola ( Barese: ), is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Bari, in the region of Apulia, in Southern Italy, on the Adriatic Sea. In recent times, the town was best known for ...

in southern Italy and became a lawyer. He was 33 when under the guidance of Thomas Falcoia of the " Pii Operarii" he joined

Saint Alphonsus Liguori Alphonsus Liguori, CSsR (27 September 1696 – 1 August 1787), sometimes called Alphonsus Maria de Liguori or Saint Alphonsus Liguori, was an Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosop ...

, and was the first clerical

novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession A profession is a field of work that has ...

of the saint's institute. He was ordained priest by his director, now become Bishop of Castellamare. Sportelli was St. Alphonsus's first and most faithful companion. He founded the house of Mater Domini ('Mother of the Lord') at

Caposele Caposele (Irpino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Avellino, Campania, Italy. The town was seriously damaged by the 1980 Irpinia earthquake. It borders with Calabritto, Bagnoli Irpino, Lioni, Teora, Conza della Campania, Castelnuov ...

and the house of Pagani in which St. Alphonsus lived and died and where his

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

repose. On his way to preach a retreat he was struck by apoplexy in a lonely place. Bandits helped him to reach Pagani, where after he died in 1750, the day he had foretold.

Veneration

Three years and seven months after his interment it was decided to transfer his remains to a place in a newly built

crypt A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a chur ...

. When his coffin was opened the vestments turned to dust, while the body was in perfect preservation. The countenance was beautiful and when a vein was opened blood flowed. St. Alphonsus wished to take steps at once for Sportelli's

beatification Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

, but was prevented from doing so by many difficulties. On 4 December 1899, the cause was introduced and he was declared

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 Cathol ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sportelli, Cesare 1702 births 1750 deaths People from the Metropolitan City of Bari 18th-century Italian lawyers Venerated Catholics by Pope Leo XIII