Francesco Lippi

Blessed

Francesco Lippi

O. Carm.
Painting in San Martino in Bologna.
Religious
Born3 December 1211
Siena, Republic of Siena
Died11 December 1291 (aged 80)
Siena, Republic of Siena
Venerated inRoman Catholic Church
Beatified1670, Saint Peter's Basilica, Papal States by Pope Clement X
Feast11 December
Attributes

Francesco Lippi (3 December 1211 – 11 December 1291) was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious from the Carmelites.[1] He lived his life as a soldier before suffering the loss of sight at which point his healing led him down the path of repentance and into the Carmelites.[2][3]

Lippi was beatified in 1670 after Pope Clement X approved Lippi's longstanding local 'cultus' (or popular devotion).[4]

Life

Francesco Lippi was born on 3 December 1211[4] in Siena to the nobles Matteo Lippi and Dorotea.[2]

He spent his dissolute adolescence as a soldier that indulged in vices and his outfit captured Sarteano from the Orvientani. But in that conflict he was blinded in 1261.[4] He offered to change his life if he was healed which, according to tradition, occurred after requesting the intercession of Saint James.[1][2] He travelled on a pilgrimage to Campostella and to the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari to visit the tomb of Saint Nicholas. He also travelled to both Loreto and Rome. Lippi listened to the preaching of Ambrose Sansedoni in Siena and was resolved to live the remainder of his life as a hermit and to do penance for his earlier life; he shut himself in a small cell and remained there from 1261 to 1266.[2][3]

Lippi entered the Carmelites and continued to live as a hermit. He experienced visions of Jesus Christ and the Madonna as well as seeing angels and experiencing the temptations of demons. He also possessed prophetic gifts.[1]

He died on 11 December 1291. Part of his relics were relocated to a Carmelite convent in Cremona in 1341.[1]

Beatification

The confirmation of the late Lippi's 'cultus' (or popular devotion) allowed for Pope Clement X to approve his beatification in 1670. His iconographical depiction includes a chain and a ball in his mouth which he used to practice silence.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Blessed Franco of Siena". Saints SQPN. 10 December 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d "Frank of Siena (Francis Lippi, d. 1291)" (PDF). Carmelnet. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Blessed Franco of Siena". Santi e Beati. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  4. ^ a b c "Bl. Franco Lippi". Encyclopedia. 2003. Retrieved 4 August 2016.