| Saint Antoninus, O.P. | |
|---|---|
Bust outside the family home of St. Antoninus Torre dei Pierozzi. Florence, Italy |
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| Bishop, Religious and Confessor | |
| Born | March 1, 1389 Florence, Italy |
| Died | February 5, 1459 (aged 70) Florence, Italy |
| Honored in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Canonized | 1523, Rome by Pope Adrian VI |
| Feast | 2 May; 10 May (General Roman Calendar, 1683–1969) |
| Patronage | Moncalvo, Turin, Italy University of Santo Tomas Graduate School, Manila, Philippines |
Saint Antoninus of Florence, O.P., (Anthony of Florence, Antonio Pierozzi, also called De Forciglioni) (1 March 1389 – 2 May 1459) was an Archbishop of Florence.
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He was born in the city of Florence, and christened Anthony. His parents, Niccolò and Thomasina Pierozzi, were in high standing, Niccolò being a notary of the Florentine Republic. He entered the Dominican Order in his 16th year. Soon, in spite of his youth, he was tasked with the government of various houses of his Order at Cortona, Rome, Naples and Florence, which he labored zealously to reform. He was involved in the establishment of the monastery of San Marco, Florence. The monastery's cells, including one for Cosimo de' Medici, were painted in fresco by Fra Angelico and his assistants.
Antoninus was consecrated Archbishop of Florence in 1446 on the initiative of Pope Eugene IV, and won the esteem and love of his people, especially by his energy and resource in combating the effects of the plague and earthquake in 1448 and 1453. It was they who began the use of the diminutive form of his name which came to prevail. Antoninus lived a life of austerity as archbishop, continuing to follow the Dominican Rule. His relations with the Medici regime were close but not always harmonious. He died on 2 May 1459, and Pope Pius II conducted his funeral. (The pope was on his way to the Council of Mantua when he heard of the archbishop's death.)
Antoninus had a great reputation for theological learning, and sat as a papal theologian at the Council of Florence. Of his various works, the list of which is given in Quétif-Échard, De Scriptoribus Ordinis Praedicatorum, vol. i.818, the best-known are his Summa theologica (Venice, 1477; Verona, 1740) and the Summa confessionalis, Curam illius habes (Mondovi, 1472), invaluable to confessors. (This is one of three guides for confessors he wrote.)
His writings, some in Italian, reflect a pronounced awareness of the problems of social and economic development. He argued in them that the state had a duty to intervene in mercantile affairs for the common good, and the obligation to help the poor and needy. His viewpoint on the vanity of women's dress made concessions to the social status of women of high birth or married to holders of high office.
Saint Antoninus was canonized by Pope Adrian VI, who himself held ideas of radical and drastic church reform similar to that of Antoninus.
His feast day, which was not in the Tridentine Calendar, was inserted in the General Roman Calendar in 1683, for celebration on 10 May[1] as a Double, a rank altered in 1960 to that of Third-Class Feast. Since 1969, it is no longer in the General Roman Calendar, but the Roman Martyrology indicates that it is still observed, moved to 2 May, the day of his death.[2]
Antoninus is honored as the patron saint of Moncalvo, near Turin.