St. Francis Caracciolo
He belonged to the Pisquizio branch of the Caracciolo and received in
baptism the name of Ascanio. From his infancy he was remarkable for his
gentleness and uprightness. Having been cured of leprosy at the age of
twenty-two he vowed himself to an ecclesiastical life, and distributing
his goods to the poor, went to Naples in 1585 to study theology. In 1587
he was ordained priest and joined the contraternity of the
Bianchi della Giustizia
(The white robes of Justice), whose object was to assist condemned
criminals to die holy deaths. A letter frorn Giovanni Agostino Adorno to
another Ascanio Caracciolo, begging him to take part in founding a new
religious institute, having been delivered by mistake to our saint, he
saw in this circumstance a confidence of the Divine Will towards him
(1588). He assisted in drawing up rules for the new congregation, which
was approved by Sixtus V, 1 July, 1588, and confirmed by Gregory XIV, 18
February 1591, and by Clement VIII, 1 June, 1592.
St. Francis Caracciolo’s statue at Monteverginella, Naples, over his remains.
The congregation is both contemplative and active, and to the three
usual vows a fourth is added, namely, that its members must not aspire
to ecclesiastical dignities outside the order nor seek them within it.
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is kept up by rotation, and
mortification is continually practised. The motto of the order “Ad
majorem Dei Resurgentis gloriam” was chosen from the fact that Francis
and Adorno made their profession at Naples on Low Sunday, 9 April, 1589.
In spite of his refusal he was chosen general, 9 March, 1593, in the
first house of the congregation in Naples, called St. Mary Major’s or
Pietrasanta, given to them by Sixtus V. He made three journeys into
Spain to establish foundations under the protection of Philip II and
Philip III. He opened the house of the Holy Ghost at Madrid on 20
January, 1599, that of Our Lady of the Annunciation at Valladolid on 9
September, 1601, and that of St. Joseph at Alcala sometime in 1601, for
teaching science. In Rome he obtained possession of St. Leonard’s
church, which he afterwards exchanged for that of St. Agnes in the
Piazza Navona (18 September, 1598), and later he secured for the
institute the church of San Lorenso in Lucina (11 June, 1606) which was
made over to him by a bull of Pope Paul X, and which was, however,
annulled by the Bull “Susceptum” of Pope Pius X (9 November, 1906).
The bronze statue of St. Francis Caracciolo, beside the church in Villa Santa Maria, province of Chieti, Abruzzo.
St. Francis Caracciolo was the author of a valuable work, “Le sette
stazioni sopra la Passione di N.S. Gesù Christo”, which was printed in
Rome in 1710. He loved the poor. Like St. Thomas Aquinas, a relative on
his mother’s side, his purity was angelic. Pope Paul V desired to confer
an important bishopric on him, but he steadfastly refused it. His
frequent motto was “Zelus domus tuae comedit me”. Invited by the
Oratorians at Agnone in the Abruzzo to convert their house into a
college for his congregation, he fell ill during the negotiations and
died there on the vigil of Corpus Christi. He was beatified by Pope
Clement XIV on 4 June, 1769, and canonized by Pope Pius VII on 24 May,
1807. In 1838 he was chosen as patron of the city of Naples, where his
body lies. At first he was buried in St. Mary Major’s, but his remains
were afterwards translated to the church of Monteverginella, which was
given in exchange to the Minor Clerks Regular (1823) after their
suppression at the time of the French Revolution. St. Francis is no
longer venerated there with the old fervour and devotion.
Francesco Paoli (Catholic Encyclopedia)
