Saint Marcolin de Forlì
Religieux dominicain (✝ 1397)
Moine de l'ordre des prêcheurs au couvent de Forlì (Italie du Nord), il se dévouait aux tâches humbles et à la prière, au service des pauvres et au soin des enfants.
Déclaré bienheureux en 1756.
À Forlì en Émilie, l’an 1397, le bienheureux Marcolin Amanni, prêtre de l’Ordre des Prêcheurs, qui passa toute sa vie, avec la plus humble simplicité, dans le silence et la solitude, ainsi que dans le service des pauvres et le soin des enfants.
Martyrologe romain
Blessed Marcolino Amanni, OP (AC)
(also known as Marcolino of Forlì)
Born at Forlì in 1317; died January 2, 1397; cultus confirmed in 1750. Marcolino Amanni entered the Dominicans at age 10. He occupies a place unique in Dominican annals because he was almost purely contemplative .
There is outwardly little to record of Blessed Marcolino, except that for 70 years he kept the Dominican Rule in all its rigor. That is a claim to sanctity that can be made by very few, and is of itself enough to entitle him to canonization. He did accomplish the reform of several convents that had fallen from their primitive fervor, but this he did by his prayers and his example rather than by teaching or preaching.
It is related that Marcolino was most at home with the lay brothers, or with the neighborhood children who enjoyed talking to him. He seldom went out of his cell, and could not have engaged in any active works; neither did he leave any writings. His work was the unseen labor presided over by the Holy Spirit, the work of contemplation.
"To give to others the fruits of contemplation," is the Dominican motto and one might be curious to know how Blessed Marcolino accomplished this. In order to understand the need for just such a type of holiness, it is well to remember the state of the Church in the 14th century. Devastated by plague and schism, divided and held up to scorn, preyed upon by all manner of evils, the Church militant was in need, not only of brave and intelligent action, but also of prayer. Consistently through the centuries, God has raised up such saints as could best avert the disasters that threatened the world in their day, and Marcolino was one answer to the need for mystics who would plead ceaselessly for the Church.
The interior life of Marcolino was not recorded by himself or by others. He lived the mystical life with such intensity that he was nearly always in ecstasy and unconscious of the things around him. Some one of his brothers recorded that he seemed "a stranger on earth, concerned only with the things of heaven." Most of his brethren thought him merely sleepy and inattentive, but actually he was, for long periods, lost in converse with God. Some had heard him talking earnestly to the statue of Our Lady in his cell; some fortunate few had heard Our Lady replying to his questions, with the same simplicity.
At the death of Marcolino, a beautiful child appeared in the streets, crying out the news to the little town that the saintly friar was dead. As the child disappeared when the message was delivered, he was thought to have been an angel. Many miracles were worked at the tomb of Marcolino. One was the miraculous cure of a woman who had been bedridden for 30 years. Hearing of the death of the blessed, she begged him to cure her so that she could visit his tomb (Attwater2, Benedictines, Dorcy).
Blessed Marcolinus of Forli
Memorial day: January 24th
Profile
Marcolino Amanni entered the Dominicans at age 10. He occupies a place unique in Dominican annals because he was almost purely contemplative . There is outwardly little to record of Blessed Marcolino, except that for 70 years he kept the Dominican Rule in all its rigor. That is a claim to sanctity that can be made by very few, and is of itself enough to entitle him to canonization. He did accomplish the reform of several convents that had fallen from their primitive fervor, but this he did by his prayers and his example rather than by teaching or preaching.
It is related that Marcolino was most at home with the lay brothers, or with the neighborhood children who enjoyed talking to him. He seldom went out of his cell, and could not have engaged in any active works; neither did he leave any writings. His work was the unseen labor presided over by the Holy Spirit, the work of contemplation. "To give to others the fruits of contemplation," is the Dominican motto and one might be curious to know how Blessed Marcolino accomplished this. In order to understand the need for just such a type of holiness, it is well to remember the state of the Church in the 14th century. Devastated by plague and schism, divided and held up to scorn, preyed upon by all manner of evils, the Church militant was in need, not only of brave and intelligent action, but also of prayer. Consistently through the centuries, God has raised up such saints as could best avert the disasters that threatened the world in their day, and Marcolino was one answer to the need for mystics who would plead ceaselessly for the Church.
The interior life of Marcolino was not recorded by himself or by others. He lived the mystical life with such intensity that he was nearly always in ecstasy and unconscious of the things around him. Some one of his brothers recorded that he seemed "a stranger on earth, concerned only with the things of heaven." Most of his brethren thought him merely sleepy and inattentive, but actually he was, for long periods, lost in converse with God. Some had heard him talking earnestly to the statue of Our Lady in his cell; some fortunate few had heard Our Lady replying to his questions, with the same simplicity.
At the death of Marcolino, a beautiful child appeared in the streets, crying out the news to the little town that the saintly friar was dead. As the child disappeared when the message was delivered, he was thought to have been an angel. Many miracles were worked at the tomb of Marcolino. One was the miraculous cure of a woman who had been bedridden for 30 years. Hearing of the death of the blessed, she begged him to cure her so that she could visit his tomb (Attwater2, Benedictines, Dorcy).
Born: 1317 at Forli, Italy
Died: January 2, 1397
Canonized: Benedict XIV confirmed his cult in 1750
First Vespers:
Ant. Strengthen by holy intercession, O Marcolino of Forli, confessor of the Lord, those here present, have we who are burdened with the weight of our offenses may be relieved by the glory of thy blessedness, and may by thy guidance attain eternal rewards.
V. Pray for us, Blessed Marcolino.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Lauds:
Ant. Well done, good and faithful servant, because Thou has been faithful in a few things, I will set thee over many, sayeth the Lord.
V. The just man shall blossom like the lily.
R. And shall flourish forever before the Lord.
Second Vespers:
Ant. I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock..
V. Pray for us. Blessed Marcolino Gonsalvo.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Prayers:
Let us Pray: O God, to whom the prayer of the humble and meek hath always been pleasing, grant that we may so profit by the prayers an example of Blessed Marcolino that, becoming truly meek and humble of heart, we may the more readily receive Thy gifts. Through Christ our Lord. Amen
Beato Marcolino Amanni da Forlì Domenicano
Forlì, 1317 - 1397
Entrato giovanissimo nell'Ordine Domenicano nel convento di Forlì, vi rifulse per la semplicità di vita, la rigorosa osservanza e per la carità verso i poveri. Devotissimo della Vergine Maria, ne portava sempre con sé un'immagine, opera del pittore Vitale da Bologna, che la Fraternita locale del Terz'Ordine conserva ancora gelosamente.
Martirologio Romano: A Forlì, beato Marcolino Amanni, sacerdote dell’Ordine dei Predicatori, che visse tutta la vita in grande umiltà e semplicità, nel silenzio, nella solitudine, nel servizio dei poveri e nella cura dei fanciulli.
Il 1300 fu un periodo di decadenza per l’Ordine Domenicano, come del resto anche per gli altri Ordini. Ne fu causa principale la peste nera che nei conventi e nei monasteri fece vittime senza numero, lasciando atterriti e scoraggiati i pochi superstiti, e aprendo l’adito alla mollezza e al disordine. Non mancarono però religiosi santi e ferventi i quali seppero efficacemente opporsi al rilassamento generale. Sotto il soffio ispiratore di Santa Caterina da Siena, il Beato Raimondo da Capua, appena eletto Generale, nel 1380, chiamò a raccolta tutte le anime di buona volontà per far rinverdire l’orto piantato da San Domenico. Tra i molti che risposero all’appello, brilla per la sua incantevole umiltà Marcolino Amanni. Egli vesti l’Abito santo nella sua città natale, Forlì, a soli dieci anni, acceso da un fervore superiore alla sua tenerissima età. Il piccolo novizio fu additato presto come modello di ogni virtù, ma l’ala che fece così rapidamente salire la sua anima angelica fu la continua ricerca di Dio nell’orazione e nel raccoglimento. E il Signore si fece trovare in una preghiera sublime che lo fece vivere più in cielo che in terra: solo il campanello della elevazione, alla consacrazione, durante la messa, lo riscuoteva dalle sue estasi. Egli non brillò, né sulla cattedra, né sul pulpito. La sua azione fu silenziosa e nascosta. Regola vivente, predicò con i suoi luminosissimi esempi di vita quotidiana, rappresentando quell’abbondanza di vita interiore che, secondo il pensiero di Domenico, deve essere la viva sorgente della predicazione apostolica. L’unico ornamento della sua cella fu un quadro raffigurante la Madonna, per la quale ebbe sempre una speciale devozione. Morì nel febbraio del 1397. Il suo corpo riposa nella cattedrale di Forlì. Il suo culto è stato confermato da Papa Benedetto XIV il 9 maggio 1750.
Autore: Franco Mariani