Saint Bernardine of Siena, Confessor
S. Bernardini Senensis Confessoris
Saint Bernardine of Siena was a Franciscan friar and tireless preacher who travelled the towns of Italy proclaiming the holy Name of Jesus, and who is honoured as a great apostle of his age.
Saint Bernardine was born at Massa Marittima, near Siena, in 1380, of the noble family of the Albizeschi. Orphaned young and raised by devout kinswomen, he became a Franciscan friar and the most celebrated preacher of fifteenth-century Italy. The Church honours him on the twentieth of May as a Confessor, and remembers him above all for his ardent devotion to the holy Name of Jesus.
His life and preaching
As a young man Bernardine distinguished himself by his charity, serving the sick during a plague that struck Siena and giving himself to works of mercy. About the age of twenty-two he entered the Order of Friars Minor, embracing its poverty with joy, and was ordained priest. For some years he lived in quiet and study, until he was sent out to preach.
From then he became an apostle on foot, crossing Italy again and again, preaching in the open squares to vast crowds with a power that moved cities to penance and reconciled long-standing feuds. At the heart of his preaching he set the holy Name of Jesus, which he caused to be written in golden letters — the sacred monogram IHS — and held up for the people to venerate, that they might turn from sin and superstition to the love of the Saviour.
He laboured also for the renewal of his own Order, drawing many to the stricter observance of the Franciscan rule, and he wrote and preached on the spiritual life with warmth and clarity. Though offered the office of bishop more than once, he humbly declined, choosing to remain a simple friar and preacher. Worn out by his journeys, he died at Aquila in the Abruzzi on the twentieth of May, 1444.
His veneration
Saint Bernardine was canonised by Pope Nicholas V in 1450, only six years after his death. In the calendar of the 1962 Missal his feast is kept on the twentieth of May. He stands before the faithful as a model of zealous and charitable preaching, and as a herald of the holy Name of Jesus, in which, as Scripture says, there is salvation.
The Collect
O Lord Jesus, who didst bestow upon blessed Bernardine, Thy Confessor, a surpassing love of Thy holy Name: by his merits and intercession, we beseech Thee, graciously pour into us the spirit of Thy love.
Dómine Jesu, qui beáto Bernardíno Confessóri tuo exímium sancti Nóminis tui amórem contulísti: ejus, quæsumus, méritis et intercessióne, spíritum nobis tuæ dilectiónis benígnus infúnde.
Patronage
He is invoked as a patron of preachers and of those devoted to the Holy Name of Jesus, and is associated with the sacred monogram IHS.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar his feast is observed on 20 May as an optional memorial.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Bernardine of Siena?
His feast is kept on 20 May in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Third Class feast. The modern calendar keeps the same date as an optional memorial.
Who was Saint Bernardine of Siena?
He was an Italian Franciscan friar (1380–1444) and the most famous preacher of his time, who travelled throughout Italy proclaiming the Gospel and the holy Name of Jesus. He helped renew the Franciscan Order and declined the office of bishop several times.
What is the IHS symbol associated with him?
Saint Bernardine promoted devotion to the holy Name of Jesus using the sacred monogram IHS, often shown within a blazing sun. He held it up in his preaching so that the people might honour the Name of the Saviour.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
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