| Saint Philip Benizi | |
|---|---|
| Confessor | |
| Born | August 15, 1233 Oltrarno, city-state of Florence, Tuscany, (modern-day Italy) |
| Died | August 22, 1285 (aged 52) Todi, Province of Perugia, Umbria, Italy |
| Honored in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | October 8, 1645, Rome by Pope Innocent X |
| Canonized | April 12, 1671, Rome by Pope Clement X |
| Major shrine | Church of the Servites of Mary in Todi, Umbria, Italy |
| Feast | August 23 |
| Attributes | Habit of the Servite Order |
| Patronage | The Minor Basilica in Monte Senario (Fiesole) in the Diocese of Florence, Tuscany, Italy; Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines |
Saint Philip Benizi de Damiani (sometimes St Philip Benitius, Spanish: Felipe Benicio, Czech: Filip Benizi) (August 15, 1233 – August 22, 1285) was a General Superior of the Order of the Servites.
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Philip Benizi was born on August 15 in the Florentine district of Oltrarno, the day the Blessed Virgin first appreared to the Seven Founders. He became the great propagator of the Order of the Servants of Mary (the Servites). When he was elected the General Superior on June 5, 1267, the order, which had long been the object of attack from enemies, entered into the crisis of its existence. The Second Council of Lyons in 1274 put into execution the ordinance of the Fourth Lateran Council, forbidding the foundation of new religious orders, and absolutely suppressing all mendicant institutions not yet approved by the Holy See. In the year 1276 Pope Innocent V in a letter addressed to St Philip declared the order suppressed. Philip proceeded to Rome, but before his arrival there Innocent V had died.
St Philip died on August 22, 1285 during the Octave of the Assumption at Todi, where he is buried.[1]
In the cloister of Santa Maria of the Servites in Vicenza, took place his miracles in 1319.
The Church of the Servites of Mary in Todi, Umbria contains the body of St Philip Benizi, whose statue is the work of Bernini.
St Philip's feast day is celebrated on August 23. He and Santa Maria Addolorata are the titular co-patrons of a Minor Basilica in Monte Senario (Fiesole), Province of Florence in the Diocese of Florence (since 1917).
Five scenes from his life were painted in the early 16th century by the Florentine Andrea del Sarto: "His Charity to a Leper," "The Smiting of the Blasphemers," "The Cure of the Woman Possessed with a Devil," "The Resurrection of Two Children near the Tomb of the Saint," and "The Veneration of his Relics."
There is a statue of him on the Charles Bridge, in Prague, Czech Republic. Designed in 1714, this statue was made from Salzburg marble and donated by the Servites convent in Prague. The statue portrays him holding a cross, a book and a spray. By his legs there is the crown of the Pope. A clay model of this statue can be found in the Salzburg museum.[2]
There is also a chapel dedicated to him in the church of San Marcello al Corso, in Rome.