Saint of the Day – 17 September – Blessed Cherubino Testa OSA (1451-1479) Priest, Friar of the Hermits of St Augustine, Miracle-worker. Cherubino had a great devotion to the Passion of Christ, spending many hours in devout mediation on our Crucified Saviour. Born in 1451 in Avigliana, near Turin, Italy and died there, at the Augustinian Convent in 1479, aged just 28. Also known as – Cherubino of Avigliana, Cherubim… Querubin… He is also remembered on 16 December on the Augustinian Calendar.
Cherubino was born into the noble Testa family of Avigliana. From his early life he was inclined towards a religious life and he joined the Hermits of St Augustine at the Convent established by Blessed Adrian Berzetta in his hometown of Avigliana.
There he led a life free of vanity but full of mortifications and holiness, always ready to obey and to be of service wherever he was needed. He was known for his serenity and for his great devotion to the Passion of Christ’s. Frequently he spent an entire day weeping in sorrow during his contemplations of the Crucified Jesus.
Cherubino died when he was only 28 years of age on 17 September 1479 in the same Convent at Avigliana. It is said that, as his soul was leaving his body, the locality’s bells started ringing on their own as though they were announcing his entry into Heaven.
In a painting which hung near the entrance of the old Convent of Tolentino in the Marche, Blessed Cherubino was shown with a halo, with lilies emerging from his heart and, with a Crucifix held in his right hand.
There are some Augustinian writers, who said that the lilies emerging from his heart emitted the same fragrance as that which could be discerned coming forth from his grave. When it was decided to translate his remains, a lily flower miraculously emerged from his heart.
These miracles were studied after his death and were confirmed when Pope Pius IX declared him Blessed on 21 September 1868.
AnaStpaul 