Stephen Bellesini was a

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the o ...

in the Order of the

Hermits of St Augustine The Order of Saint Augustine, ( la, Ordo Fratrum Sancti Augustini) abbreviated OSA, is a religious mendicant order of the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1244 by bringing together several eremitical groups in the Tuscany region who were f ...

(OSA), who was born in

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th cen ...

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 ...

, on November 25, 1774, and died in

Genazzano, Italy Genazzano is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, located on a tuff spur at above sea level that, starting from the Monti Prenestini, ends on the Sacco River valley. History The name originates from its role as vacation resor ...

, on February 2, 1840.

Life

Of the Italian aristocracy, Luigi Giuseppe Bellesini joined the Augustinians in 1790, taking the name Stefano, and made his profession on May 31, 1794. After studies in Rome and Bologna, he was forced to return to Trento during the government suppression of religious houses and completed his theological education there."Blessed Stephen Bellesini, priest", Order of Saint Augustine
/ref> Bellesini was ordained in 1797 and served primarily as a preacher and rector of the small chapel attached to the Order's monastery in Trento.
/ref> In 1810 the monastery in Trento was also ordered closed and Bellesini went to live at his brother's house where he lived as a secular priest. He dedicated his time to teaching poor children of the city. He also gave food, clothing and encouragement to his students. Bellesini became a great champion of the education of youth and the local authorities appointed him Director and Superintendent of all schools in the district. In September 1817 he resigned from these offices and made his way to Rome in order to resume his religious life. The reaction in Trento was first shock, then indignation, and finally condemnation. The same government that had valued his work so highly now proclaimed him to be an exile and forbade him to return under threat of punishment.
/ref> For a period, he was Novice Master for his Order, and in 1825 was transferred to Genazzano, home to the miraculous fresco of

Our Lady of Good Counsel Our Lady of Good Counsel ( la, Mater boni consilii) is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary, after a painting said to be miraculous, now found in the thirteenth century Augustinian church at Genazzano, near Rome, Italy. Measuring the ima ...

, for whom he had a great devotion. He was named parish priest in 1831. During a cholera epidemic in January 1840, while answering a call to care for a sick parishioner, he tripped and fell. A cut on his leg became infected, and he developed a high fever. He tried to remain active for the next two days, but the fever never went away. He died February 2, 1840 in Genazzano. His remains are at the Shrine of Our Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano."Bl. Stephen Bellesini", Midwest Augustinians
/ref>

Veneration

He was beatified by Pope

Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of C ...

, on December 27, 1904, and his Feast Day is February 3. In Massachusetts is found the Blessed Stephen Bellesini OSA Academy, in collaboration with

Merrimack College Merrimack College is a private Augustinian university in North Andover, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1947 by the Order of St. Augustine with an initial goal to educate World War II veterans. Its campus has grown to a campus with nearly 40 ...

References

* ''New Catholic Encyclopedia'', The Catholic University of America, 1967. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bellesini, Stephen Italian beatified people Augustinian friars 1790 births 1840 deaths 19th-century Italian people 18th-century Italian people