Francis Caracciolo

The manuscript would have been enough to ensure Edfrith a place in art history; nevertheless, he was also a good bishop. Most of his memorable actions, however, are associated with Saint Cuthbert. The anonymous Life of Cuthbert was dedicated to Edfrith and he commissioned Saint Bede to write his prose Life of Cuthbert. He restored Cuthbert's oratory on the Inner Farne Island for the use of Saint Felgild. He may also have been the recipient of a letter from Saint Aldhelm.

Edfrith was connected with Cuthbert even in death: He was buried near his tomb. His relics, together with those of Saints Aidan, Eadbert, and Ethelwold, were taken with Cuthbert's in their wanderings through Northumbria from 875 to 995, when they reached Durham. When Cuthbert's relics were taken to the new cathedral, Edfrith's were translated, too. Today's feast is that of the translation (Farmer).

Francis was baptized Ascanio. His father was related to the Neapolitan princes of Caracciolo, and his mother was related to Saint Thomas Aquinas. At 22, Francis developed a skin disease similar to leprosy, and his case was thought to be hopeless. He vowed that if he recovered, he would devote his life to God and to serving others. His speedy recovery was thought to be miraculous.

He went to Naples to study for the priesthood and, after his ordination, joined the confraternity Bianchi della Giustizia, devoted to the care of prisoners and who prepared them to die a holy death.

In 1588, Fr. John Augustine Adorno, a Genoese, set out to found an association of priests who would combine the active life of pastoral work and the strictest possible discipline to encourage contemplative life. A letter inviting the cooperation of another Ascanio Caracciolo was mistakenly delivered to Francis, rather than his distant kinsman. Agreeing with Adorno's vision, Francis felt the God must have misdirected the letter to him. Francis wished to join Adorno, offered his help, and the two made a 40-day retreat to draw up the rules for the proposed order.

When they had gathered 12 followers, they went to Rome to obtain approval from the pope. Sixtus V approved their new order, the Minor Clerks Regular, on June 1, 1588. They did missionary work and cared for the sick and prisoners. The next year, Caracciolo made his solemn profession and took the name of Francis, in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. The company settled in a house in the suburbs of Naples, and Francis and Adorno travelled to Spain, in keeping with the pope's wishes that they establish themselves there.

The court of Madrid refused permission for the house, however, and they were forced to return. They were shipwrecked on the way back, and by the time they arrived in Naples, their foundation had flourished and was unable to contain all those who wished to join it. They were invited to take over the monastery of Santa Maria Maggiore, whose former superior, Fabriccio Caracciolo, had joined their order.

The Minor Clerks Regular worked mostly as missioners, but some worked in hospitals and prisons. Hermitages were provided for those who wished solitude. Perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is one of the main duty of the order.

Francis contracted a serious illness; soon after his own recovery, Adorno died at the age of 40. Against his wishes, Francis was named superior, but he swept rooms, made beds, and washed up in the kitchen just as the others did. During his life, he refused several bishoprics because the Minor Clerks Regular took a fourth vow: Never to seek any office or dignity either within the order or outside it. Returning to Spain in 1595 and 1598, Francis successfully founded houses in Madrid, Valladolid, and Alcalá.

After seven years as superior, he obtained permission from the pope to resign and became prior of Santa Maria Maggiore and master of the novices. In 1607, he gave up his administrative duties for a time of contemplation to prepare for death. He lived in a recess beneath the staircase of a Neapolitan house, where he was often found in ecstasy.

Meanwhile, Saint Philip Neri offered the Minor Clerks Regular a house at Agnone in the Abruzzi, and Francis was asked to help with the new establishment. He travelled there but he soon developed a fever, which rapidly worsened. While feverish, he dictated a letter in which he exhorted his brethren to remain faithful to the rule. He fell into meditation. An hour before sunset, he cried out, "To heaven!" A moment later, he died. Miracles, ecstasies, and prophecies have been attributed to him (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Encyclopedia, Walsh, White).

"You cannot deny that you are aware that in the city of Rome the episcopal chair was given first to Peter; [Picture] the chair in which Peter sat, the same who was head--that is why he also called Cephas [Rock]-- of all the apostles; the one chair in which unity is maintained by all." --Optatus in The Schism of the Donatists 2:2

Petroc was buried at Padstow, which became the center of his cultus. There are 18 churches dedicated to him in Devon, plus others in Cornwall and south Wales. About 1000, his shrine and relics, including his staff and bell, were translated to Bodmin. In 1178, his relics were stolen by a disgruntled priest named Martin and given to Saint-Méen's Abbey near Rennes, Brittany, but were returned to Bodmin the next year at the request of its Prior Roger after the intervention of Bishop Bartholomew of Exeter and King Henry II. A rib was left at Saint-Méen's. During the reign of Henry VIII, his shrine and tomb were in the church of Bodmin on the eastern side of the high altar. During the Reformation the fine Sicilian-Islamic reliquary containing Petroc's head was hidden. It was rediscovered in the 19th century and remains in the parish church at Bodmin.

Petroc may also have evangelized in Brittany, where more than 30 churches are dedicated to him under the name Perreux. His is also the titular saint of a church in the Nivernais. It is possible, however, that his many disciples carried his cultus across the Channel. The extant vita of Saint Petroc are unreliable (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Farmer, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).

In art, Petroc is generally portrayed with a stag--a reminder of one he sheltered from hunters.

In art, Saint Quirinus is a bishop with a millstone near him. He might also be shown (1) being thrown into the River Raab with a millstone tied to him; (2) floating on a millstone, preaching to a crowd; or (3) as a deacon with a millstone (erroneously) (Roeder). He is venerated in Hungary (Roeder).