BL. PACIFICUS, RELIGIOUS - 10 JULY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JULY

Saints celebrated on the 10th of July

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

BL. PACIFICUS, RELIGIOUS

Blessed Pacificus was a disciple of St Francis of Assisi, born probably near Ascoli, Italy, in the second half of the twelfth century; died probably at Lens, France, around A.D. 1234.

Local authors identify him with a certain William of Lisciano. Before becoming a Friar Minor he had been poet laureate at the Court of Frederick II of Sicily.

TWO RESPLENDENT SWORDS

When St Francis, towards 1212, preached at San Severino, in the Marches, the poet saw two resplendent swords crossed on the saint’s breast. Deeply impressed by this vision, he asked to be received into the new order, and St Francis gladly complied, giving him the name of Pacificus. 

HE WAS SENT TO FRANCE

In 1217 we was sent to France, where he is said to have become the founder and first provincial of the Friars Minor. 

In the spring of 1226 Pacificus witnessed the holy "Stigmata of Saint Francis". When the saint composed the "Canticle of the Sun" he wished to summon Brother Pacificus and send him with other friars through the world, preaching the praises of God. 

PREACHING THE PRAISES OF GOD

The last certain date in the life of Brother Pacificus is that of the Bull "Magna sicut", April 12, 1227, in which Gregory IX recommends the Poor Clares of Siena to his care. Later authors who say he died at Suffiano, in the Marches, confounded him with another friar of the same name. According to Gonzaga, he was sent by Brother Elias back to France, where he died. 

POETRY

Pacificus was long credited with having put the songs of St Francis into verse. But for the simple construction of the "Canticle of the Sun", the saint needed no help, whilst the other two do not belong to him at all. Some Italian verses said to have been composed by Pacificus are given by Italian authors.

(From Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913)