Stephen Bellesini was a

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 ...

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...

in the Order of the

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

(O.S.A). He was born in

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin language, Ladin and ; ; ; ; ; ), also known in English as Trent, is a city on the Adige, Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the Trentino, autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, on 25 November 1774, and died in

Genazzano, Italy Genazzano is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, 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 originate ...

, on 2 February 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 Mother of Good Counsel () formerly known as Our Lady of Paradise is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with a purported miraculous painting of the Madonna and Child enshrined within the namesake Minor Basilica at ...

, for whom he had a great devotion. He was named parish priest in 1831. During a

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

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 (; 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 Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...

, on December 27, 1904, and the cause for his canonization was opened on 27 December 1904. His feast day is observed in the Catholic Church on February 3. In Massachusetts is found the Blessed Stephen Bellesini OSA Academy, in collaboration with

Merrimack College Merrimack College is a Private university, private Order of Saint Augustine, 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. It en ...

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