Saint of the Day – 27 September – Saint Bonfilius of Foligno OSB (1040-1125)

Saint of the Day – 27 September – Saint Bonfilius of Foligno OSB (1040-1125) Bishop of Foligno, Benedictine Monk and Abbot – born in 1040 in Osimo, Italy and died 0n 27 September 1125 of natural causes. Patronage – Foligno, Italy. Additional memorial – 28 September in Folgino, so as not to clash with the feast of St Vincent de Paul on 27 September.

Bonfilius was born in 1040 in Osimo, in the Marche, of a noble family. He entered the Abbey of Santa Maria di Storaco of which, later, he became Abbot.

He was Bishop of Foligno and succeeded Azzo around 1070. His life was written by San Silvestro Guzzolini, Founder of the Benedictine monastic congregation of Silvestrina and his first biographer, a century after the saint’s death.

Bonfilius, as Bishop, took part in the crusade in the Holy Land, where he remained from 1096 to 1104, leading a penitent life in perfect solitude.

Returning to Italy, he went to Rome, then returned to his Diocese of Foligno but found it occupied by the young Bishop Andrea, appointed by the Pope at the request of the people, who for a long time had received no news from their Bishop. Bonfilius humbly recognised the new Bishop’s election and retired to the Abbey of Storaco.

Here, some of his Monks made his life impossible and he was forced to flee to the hermitage of Nostra Signora della Fara, in the Diocese of Cingoli and died, worn out by austerity and penance, on 27 September 1125.

The Roman Martyrology states: In Fara near Cingoli in the Marche, St. Bonfilius, who, after being Bishop of Foligno, spent ten years in the Holy Land. He then returned to Italy, lived as a monk in the Monastery of Storaco, of which he had been Abbot in the past and finally died in solitude.