Gregorio Celli (1225 (purportedly) – 11 May 1343) was an Italian

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 deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and a professed member of the

Order of Saint Augustine The Order of Saint Augustine (), abbreviated OSA, is a mendicant order, mendicant catholic religious order, religious order of the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1244 by bringing together several eremitical groups in the Tuscany region who ...

. Celli lived with the latter order in

Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...

until he decided to spend the remainder of his life in deep contemplation and so moved to the region's hills where he dwelled in a cave near the

Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...

stationed there. It is claimed he was expelled from his order and became a Franciscan though there is no evidence to support this claim. His beatification received approval from

Pope Clement XIV Pope Clement XIV (; ; 31 October 1705 – 22 September 1774), born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 May 1769 to his death in September 1774. At the time of his elec ...

on 6 September 1769 after the pontiff confirmed the late friar's local 'cultus' - otherwise known as popular and enduring veneration.

Life

Gregorio Celli was born in

. His father died in his childhood. He was

baptized Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three ...

in the church of Saint Martin. Each evening his mother would set off for the local church to find her son there who remained entranced with the

Gregorian Chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...

. His mother's relations - despite being devout - feared that Celli would not follow in his father's footsteps to become a doctor of law but rather that he would consider the religious life. In 1240 he was admitted into the

and his mother became a third order religious. He travelled to 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 ...

on a mule for admission to commence his period of

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

and in 1242 he had become a well-noted and regarded figure in the convent for his penances and strict adherence to the rule of

Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman province), Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced th ...

. He made his solemn profession into the hands of the order's superior Matteo de Modena. It was Brother Matteo who later selected Celli to preach and hear confessions in the region despite the latter not being an

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 ...

priest - though he was soon ordained as such at the successful conclusion of his ecclesiastical studies. It was during this period that he preached against the heresies of Catharism and he even met the famous heretic Armanno Pungilupo. In 1256 he witnessed the Grand Union of the order. In 1300 he set off for

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

to participate in the Jubilee that

Pope Boniface VIII Pope Boniface VIII (; born Benedetto Caetani; – 11 October 1303) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 until his death in 1303. The Caetani, Caetani family was of baronial origin with connections t ...

called for and he visited each of the tombs of the Apostles. In 1300 he decided to withdraw from the active life of the apostolate he had served for decades in favor of a more contemplative existence somewhere in the hills surrounding the region he lived in. He confided this to Agostino Novello - the general of the order - and the general embraced and encouraged him. He lived in a cave where he spent the remainder of his life in reflection and fasting. Gregorio Celli died in mid-1343. His remains are now interred in the church of Saint Augustine in Verucchio.

Beatification

Citizens in Rimini requested on numerous occasions that a beatification process be opened and it was believed that Pope Innocent VI drew up a decree for the actual beatification itself in 1357. People in Rimini again began pushing for beatification in 1757. The beatification was later approved on 6 September 1769 after

issued a formal decree that acknowledged the fact that there existed a spontaneous and enduring local 'cultus' - otherwise known as popular veneration - to the late monk.

References

External links

Saints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Celli, Gregorio 1343 deaths 13th-century venerated Christians 13th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests 14th-century venerated Christians 14th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests Augustinian friars Augustinian monks Italian beatified people Longevity claims People from Rimini 1225 births