Bartolomeo Cerveri
| Blessed Bartolomeo Cerveri O.P. | |
|---|---|
| Priest; Martyr | |
| Born |
1420 Savigliano, Cuneo, Duchy of Savoy |
| Died |
21 April 1466 (aged 46) Cervere, Cuneo, Duchy of Savoy |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 22 September 1853, Saint Peter's Basilica, Papal States by Pope Pius IX |
| Feast | 21 April |
| Attributes |
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| Patronage | Against bad weather |
Blessed Bartolomeo Cerveri (1420 - 21 April 1466) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Order of Preachers.[1] Cerveri served as an inquisitor for Piedmont and Liguria and knew of the threats against his life being an inquisitor - a small group of heretics killed him in Cuneo.[2]
The late priest's death attracted hundreds and a local 'cultus' - or popular devotion - and this local devotion allowed for Pope Pius IX to approve Cerveri's beatification on 22 September 1853.
Life
Bartolomeo Cerveri was born in 1420 in Cuneo and was noted in his childhood for his piousness and devotion to the faith.
He became a professed member and an ordained priest for the Order of Preachers before making his solemn profession.[2] He lived in the Piedmont region where the heretical Catharists ran rampant and killed Saint Peter of Verona and the Blesseds Peter of Ruffia and Antonio Pavoni.[1] Cerveri obtained his licentiate as well as his master's and doctorate's degree - on 8 May 1452 - at the University of Turin in an occasion that was the first and last time when someone received all three at the same time. He taught there until 1453 until he was appointed as the prior of the Savigliano convent.
Father Cerveri converted heretics and this led to his appointment as an inquisitor for Piedmont and Liguria in 1451 in which it was clear to him that he would soon be targeted and killed. Being a Dominican in that region at that time was dangerous and meant that heretics could take their hatred out on the new Dominican inquisitor.[2]
He made his final confession before he set off for his final trip alongside two of his companions - the brothers Giovanni and Gianpietro Riccardi.[2] He said of it: "I go there as an inquisitor and there I must die". On the road in Cervere he and his two companions were attacked though the five attackers wounded the companions but killed him after riddling him with dagger wounds. Those that washed his remains before his funeral found that despite the wounds he had not bled.[1] His remains were relocated in 1802.
Beatification
The confirmation of the late priest's local 'cultus' - or popular and enduring veneration - received the papal approval of Pope Pius IX on 22 September 1853 which allowed for the pontiff to confirm his beatification.
References
- 1 2 3 "Blessed Bartholomew Cerveri". The Order of Preachers, Independent. 22 April 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 "Blessed Bartolomeo Cerveri". Santi e Beati. Retrieved 10 August 2016.