FEAST OF BLESSED POPE GREGORY X – 10th JANUARY

FEAST OF BLESSED POPE GREGORY X
FEAST DAY – 10th JANUARY

Blessed Pope Gregory X (1210 to 1276) was Bishop of Rome 1272 and Ruler of the Papal States until his death. He was elected on 1 September 1271 following the longest election in the history of the Church and ascended the throne on 27 March. He was a Third Order Franciscan. Born Teobaldo Visconti, in 1210 in Piacenza, Italy, he was a member of the illustrious Visconti family of Piacenza, was born in the City in 1210. In his youth, he was distinguished for his extraordinary virtue and his progress in his studies, especially of the Canon Law, which he began in Italy and pursued at Paris and lastly, at Liege.

He was Archdeacon of this last Church, when he received an order from the Pope to preach the Crusade for the recovery of the Holy Land. Incredible were the pains which he took in executing this commission and in reconciling the Christian Princes, who were at variance. When the Crusade faltered, a tender compassion for the distressed situation of the servants of Christ in those parts, moved the holy Archdeacon of Liege to undertake a dangerous pilgrimage to Palestine, in order to comfort them, and at the same time to satisfy his devotion by visiting the holy places.

In the interim, the See of Rome had been vacant for almost three years, from the death of Clement IV, in November 1268, the Cardinals, who were assembled at Viterbo, could not reach an agreement in the choice of a Pope. By common consent, they referred the election to six amongst them, who, on 1 September in 1271, nominated Teobald, the Archdeacon of Liege. Upon the news of his election, he prepared himself to return to Italy. Nothing could be more tender and moving than his last farewell to the disconsolate Christians of Palestine, whom he promised, in a most solemn manner, never to forget.

He arrived at Rome in March 1272 and was first Ordained Priest, then Consecrated Bishop and Crowned. He took the name of Gregory X and, to procure the most effectual succour to the Holy Land, called a General Council to meet at Lyons, where Pope Innocent IV had held the last in 1245. The fourteenth General Council, the second of Lyons, was opened in that City in May, 1274, in which were assembled five hundred Bishops and seventy Abbots.

The Council was closed by the fifth and last session, on 17 July. The more our holy Pope was overwhelmed with public affairs, the more watchful he was over his own soul and the more earnest in the interior duties of self-examination, contemplation and prayer. He spoke little, conversing assiduously in his heart with God. He was very abstemious in his diet and strict in the discipline he subjected himself to.

After the Council, he was taken up in measures for carrying out its decrees, particularly those relating to the Crusade in the East. By his unwearied application to business and the fatigues of his journey, in passing the Alps on his return to Rome, he contracted a distemper, of which he died at Arezzo, on 10 January, in 1276, three years and nine months after his Consecration and four years, four months, and ten days after his election. His name was inserted in the Roman Martyrology, published by Benedict XIV and he was Beatified on 8 July 1713, by Pope Clement XI. His patronage is the Diocese of Arezzo and Franciscan tertiaries.

PRAYER

God our Father, Blessed Pope Gregory X glorified your Holy Name by the splendor of his life and the rigors he applied to himself. Gregory’s faith was deeply embedded in Jesus, and by this crucified life, his soul was prepared to taste the hidden manna which is concealed in the divine word, with which he continually nourished it, in holy meditation.

Help us to live exemplary lives, looking at the lives of such great saints and giving you praise and glory. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Blessed Pope Gregory X, pray for us.

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THE SERVANT OF GOD VICO NECCHI

On January 10, 1930, Louis (Ludovico, hence Vico) Necchi, professor of biology at the University of Milan, died. His will prescribed that on his headstone be engraved the simple legend, Vico Necci, Franciscan Tertiary. These significant words tell the story of so extraordinary a life, that all who knew the deceased are putting forth every effort for his beatification.

He was born in Milan on November 19, 1876. While still a young man, he joined the forces of Christ and the Church. The Franciscan spirit became manifest in him in a special way, when he was invested with the garb of the Third Order. Later, because of his position as a physician, he moved in circles where everything that savored of Christianity was rejected or even attacked.

These people he met with the enthusiasm of a Paul and the kindliness of a Francis, and thus he was instrumental in gaining not a few to enlist under the banner of Christ. Among his converts was a young radical who later became a Franciscan and the rector of the Catholic University at Milan, Augustine Gemelli. Together they founded the University of the Sacred Heart in Milan.

And when Rome called for Catholic Action against socialism, Necchi was found at the head of the ranks. He considered his medical profession a holy apostolate which he employed for the welfare of the souls of his patients as well as of their bodies. He lavished his services without cost on the care of backward children.

The spirit of prayer, humility, and charming cheerfulness was the mainstay of this model Tertiary, even though adversities demanded a heavy sacrifice from him. Professor Doctor Vico Necchi is a brilliant example of active Christianity for everyone, particularly for the representatives of modern learning and culture.

Catholic Action is the union of Catholic forces for the maintenance, administration, accomplishment, and defense of Catholic principles in the life of the individual, of the family, and of society. Just as the servant of God Vico Necchi has exemplified it for us. In order to do our share toward the proper promotion of Catholic sentiment and Catholic principles in public life, it is not sufficient that our names be entered in the baptismal record, that we approach the Communion railing, and belong to Catholic societies. Catholic in our dealings with others and Catholic in conduct – that is Catholic Action. Active Christianity! “The kingdom of God is not in speech but in power.” (1 Cor. 4,20)

Catholic Action is necessary. It aims to erect a barrier against the tide of religious indifference, lack of charity, and immorality of our day. The clergy can no longer do the work alone. Hence the call for Catholic Action of the laity. If the laity refuse their assistance, the already overburdened clergy must succumb, and with them Catholicity. But what lay apostles can do has been shown us by the servant of God Vico Necchi.

According to his will, his headstone was to be inscribed with the simple words, Vico Necchi, Franciscan Tertiary. An extraordinary man, he is buried in the chapel of the University of the Sacred Heart in Milan in the expectation that one day he will be raised to the altars.

As a young man Vico was deeply in love with Christ, St. Francis and the Church. Invested in the habit of the Third Order, he displayed the enthusiasm of Paul and the gentleness of Francis. He used his position as a physician to counter the secular, anti-Christian attitudes of his age and to bring others to Christ. One of his converts was the radical, Augustine Gemelli, who with Vico was the cofounder of the University of the Sacred Heart.

Vico himself was a prayerful, humble, charming and cheerful man who stood at the forefront of the new Italian Catholic Action. Despite opposition and trials, he used his medical profession as a holy apostolate for the conversion of his patients while his charity was being lavished on retarded children.

One of the documents produced by the Second Vatican Council explored the apostolate of the laity. Vico was born long before that council sat, but he took seriously his role as apostle. We too are called by Christ to be his apostles: to spread his reign of forgiveness and peace, to bring his healing touch wherever we go—at home, at work, to the marketplace or wherever else our daily journey takes us.

PRAYER

Blessed Vico Necchi, you put in practice the principle that “in order to lead others to faith is the task of every preacher and of each believer”. This witness of life, however, is not the sole element in the apostolate and the true apostle is on the lookout for occasions of announcing Christ by word, either to unbelievers or to the faithful. (Catechism of the Catholic Church) May we, as laity of the Catholic Church, be faithful to our calling, as you were, in Jesus’ Name. Amen

Source: from The Franciscan Book of Saints by Marion A. Habig, OFM