ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST
Saints celebrated on the 10th of August
BLESSED AMADEUS OF PORTUGAL
João Mendes de Silva, better known as Amadeus of Portugal, born 1420, began his religious life in the Hieronnymite monastery of Notre-Dame de Guadalupe (Spain), where he spent about ten years.
Wishing to join the Franciscans, he went to Italy, where he was received into the order and, living in various convents, chiefly at Milan, attracted attention by his virtue and miracles.
THE COVENANT OF NOTRE-DAME DE LA PAIX
Under the protection of the Archbishop of Milan, he established the convent of Notre-Dame de la Paix (1469) which became the centre of a Franciscan reform.
The minister general of the order Francesco della Rovere, later Pope Sixtus IV, extended his protection to him. Other foundations were made in Italy, among one at Rome.
A DISTINCT BRANCH OF THE FRANCISCANS
Blessed João died at Milan, in 1482. Supernatural favours obtained through his intercession aided in the spread of his cult. The convents he founded continued after his death to form a distinct branch of the Franciscans, the friars were called the Amadeans or Amadists, and they had twenty-eight houses in Italy, the chief one, St Peter de Montorio, in Rome. Innocent VIII gave them the convent of Saint Genesto near Cartagena in Spain (1493).
The successors of Blessed João preserved his foundation in its original spirit until Saint Pius V suppressed it along with similar branches of the Franciscan Order uniting them into one great family of Friars Minor Observants in 1568.
(Excerpts from Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913)
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