Saint of the Day – 12 March – Blessed Jerome of Recanati OSA (Died 1350)

Saint of the Day – 12 March – Blessed Jerome of Recanati OSA (Died 1350) Priest, Friar of the Hermits of Saint Augustine, peacemaker. Died on 12 March 1350 in Recanati, Piceno, Italy of natural causes.

The Roman Martyrology reads : “In Recanati in the Marche, Blessed Girolamo Gherarducci, Priest of the Order of the Hermits of St Agustine, who worked for peace and harmony between peoples.”

Blessed Jerome of Recanati lived in the Augustinian Convent in his hometown, where he died on 12 March 1350. Very little is known about his life. Certainly he lived in a period of flowering of holiness in the Marches, just think of his most famous example: St Nicholas of Tolentino (1254-1305).

In addition to the life of prayer, a peculiar characteristic of his apostolate, was the fact that he was a man who devoted himself to the pacification of souls in times of fratricidal struggles. As part of his ministry, he mediated numerous disputes between families and the City. It is said that he brought peace to the Cities of Ascoli and Fermo, which had been at war with each other for many a long year.

To remember and imitate him, as early as 1369, the Town of Recanati was publicly celebrating the Feast of the blessed Jerome on the Second Sunday of Lent. On this occasion, until recent times, it choose twelve peacemakers from among the populace, six men and six women, whose responsibility it was, to settle disputes among the citizens.

Pope Pius VII confirmed the cult of Jerome in 1804. His mortal remains are venerated in the Church of St Augustine in Recanati.