Crispin of Viterbo

St. Crispin of Viterbo, O.F.M. Cap.
Born	13 November 1668(1668-11-13) Viterbo, Italy
Died	19 May 1750(1750-05-19) (aged 81) Rome, Italy
Honored in	Roman Catholic Church
Beatified	7 September 1806 by Pope Pius VII
Canonized	20 June 1982 by Pope John Paul II
Major shrine	Capuchin Church of the Immaculate Conception, Rome, Italy
Feast	23 May

Saint Crispin of Viterbo, O.F.M. Cap., (13 November 1668 – 19 May 1750) was an Italian member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin who is now venerated as a saint for his decades of devoted service, and the spiritual wisdom he developed in the course of his life.

Biography

Crispin was born Pietro Fioretti in Viterbo, Italy. When he was five years old, his mother took him to a shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary that lay a short distance from Viterbo, where she consecrated him to the Mother of God and placed her son under Mary's special protection. The child was known for his piety and knowledge of the saints; so that the townsfolk of Viterbo were wont to call him il santarello (the little saint).

As Pietro one day saw the Capuchin novices walking in a procession, he was inspired with the desire to embrace the religious life. He was shortly afterwards received into the Capuchin Franciscan Order as a simple lay brother, and given his religious name. After having served for some time as a cook in the friary at Viterbo, he was sent to Tolfa, a town not far distant from Civitavecchia, to fulfill the same office. From there he was sent to Rome and finally to Albano. Here Crispin was visited by illustrious men of the world, by bishops and cardinals, and even by the pope himself, who always took delight in conversing with the humble lay brother. It was Crispin's constant endeavor to imitate the virtues of his patron, St. Felix of Cantalice, whom he had chosen as his model of perfection at the beginning of his religious life.

Like St. Felix, Crispin used to call himself the ass or beast of burden of the Capuchins, and, having on one occasion been asked by a stranger why he went bare-headed, Crispin answered, that "an ass does not wear a hat." Enfeebled by old age and by his numerous austerities, he was sent from Albano to Rome by his superiors, there to end his holy life. His body, which even at the present time is still in a remarkable state of preservation, rests under one of the side altars in the famed Capuchin Church of the Immaculate Conception in Rome.

Veneration

Saint Crispin was beatified by Pope Pius VII on September 7, 1806, and was the first saint canonized by Pope John Paul II on June 20, 1982.

Sources

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). "Blessed Crispin of Viterbo". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. 

Persondata
Name	Crispin Of Viterbo
Alternative names	Pietro Fioretti
Short description
Date of birth	13 November 1668
Place of birth	Viterbo, Italy
Date of death	19 May 1750
Place of death	Rome, Italy