Pacificus da Ceredano (1424 – 4 June 1482) - born Pacificus Ramati - was an

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

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

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 ...

and a professed member from 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 ...

Pope Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV (; ; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758. Pope Benedict X (1058–1059) is now con ...

approved his "cultus" and beatified him on 7 July 1745.

Life

Pacificus Ramati was born in

Novara Novara (; Novarese Lombard, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous ...

in 1424. He was orphaned at some point in his childhood. Ramati decided to become a monk in the

Order of Saint Benedict The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

at their San Lorenzo

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 ...

but opted against it and decided to become a Franciscan. He entered the

- their Observants convent of San Nazario - in Novara in 1445. 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 ...

to the priesthood in 1452 and then served as a preacher in which field the Observants of that time were quite prominent. Pacificus also had a share in the preaching of the crusade against the Turks that his order undertook. He had received a doctorate from the Sorbonne in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in the

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. The General Chapter of the order held in

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

- on 15 May 1481 - sent him as a commissioner to

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

to administer and inspect the Franciscan monasteries in that area where he later died on 4 June 1482;

Pope Sixtus IV Pope Sixtus IV (or Xystus IV, ; born Francesco della Rovere; (21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 until his death in 1484. His accomplishments as pope included ...

reinforced the request for Pacificus to go there. According to his wish his remains were brought to Cerano and were buried in the church attached to the Franciscan convent. His head was given to the parish church of that place as a relic.

Beatification

- on 7 July 1745 - approved his "cultus" and therefore beatified him as a subsequent result of this recognition.

Published works

He is known as the author of a dissertation written in Italian and named after him as the ''Summa Pacifica'' which elaborates on the proper method of hearing confessions. It was first printed at Milan in 1479 under the title: "Somma Pacifica o sia Trattato della Scienza di confessare". The work was also published in Latin at Venice on two occasions first in 1501 and then in 1513.

Bibliography

Luke Wadding Luke Wadding (16 October 158818 November 1657), was an Irish Franciscan friar and historian. Life Early life Wadding was born on 16 October 1588 in Waterford to Walter Wadding of Waterford, a wealthy merchant, and his wife, Anastasia Lombar ...

, Annales Ord. Min., XIV (Rome, 1735), 165, 266, 326; (1650), 271; (1806, 184; (1906), 181; *

Sbaralea Giovanni or Gian Giacinto Sbaraglia (13 March 16872 January 1764), otherwise Joannes Hyacinthus Sbaralea, was a historian of the Franciscan Order. His works include ''Supplementum et castigatio ad scriptores trium ordinum S. Francisi'' and ''Bull ...

, Supplem. ad Script. O. M. (Rome, 1806), 571; *(Anonymous) Vita del B. Pacifico da Cerano (Novara, 1878); *Basilio da Neirone, Sul. b. Pacifico da Cerano (Genoa, 1882); *Cazzola, Il b. Pacifico Ramati (Novara, 1882); *''

Acta Sanctorum ''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, organised by the saints' feast days. The project was conceived and ...

'', Jun., I, 802-3 (2nd ed., 789-90); *Jeiler in ''

Kirchenlexikon ''Wetzer and Welte's Kirchenlexikon'' is an encyclopedic work of Catholic biography, history, and theology, first compiled by Heinrich Joseph Wetzer and Benedict Welte. The first edition in 12 volumes was published from 1847 to 1860, by Verlag H ...

'', s.v.

References

External links

Saints SQPN
{{Authority control 1420 births 1483 deaths 15th-century venerated Christians 15th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests Franciscan beatified people Italian Friars Minor Italian Franciscans Italian beatified people People from Novara