Saint Philip Benizi, Confessor
S. Philippi Benitii Confessoris
Saint Philip Benizi, a learned physician who became a humble servant of Mary, was a propagator and superior of the Servite Order, renowned for his preaching, his peacemaking, and his profound humility.
Saint Philip Benizi was born in 1233 at Florence, in Tuscany, of a respected family. Gifted in mind, he studied at Paris and Padua and became a doctor of medicine and philosophy; yet, in the midst of his promising career, he felt himself called to leave the world and to serve God in poverty and lowliness. Moved by grace, he entered the recently founded Order of the Servants of Mary — the Servites — not as a learned man seeking honour, but humbly as a lay brother, content to serve in the most menial offices.
A servant of Mary
In time his learning and holiness became known, and against his own wish he was ordained priest and called to wider service in the Order. He proved a preacher of great power, drawing many to penance and reconciliation, and he laboured untiringly for peace in an age torn by the strife of factions and cities. So highly was he esteemed that he was chosen superior general of the Servites, an office he bore with humility and zeal, doing much to spread the Order and to confirm it in fervour. He is venerated as one of the chief propagators of the Servite family.
The depth of Saint Philip’s humility is shown in an episode long remembered in his honour. Such was his reputation for holiness that, at the death of a Pope, some thought of him as worthy of the supreme office; but Philip, dreading such an honour, withdrew and hid himself until another had been chosen, esteeming the lowest place far above the highest. In all things he sought not himself but the glory of God and the honour of our Lady, whose servant he gloried to be.
His holy death
Worn out by his labours, Saint Philip Benizi died on the twenty-second of August, 1285, at Todi. The account of his death relates that, as he lay dying, he asked for his “book” — and was understood to mean the crucifix, in which he had ever read the lessons of divine love. He was afterward canonised, and his feast is kept on the twenty-third of August.
The collect of his feast asks that we who keep the heavenly birthday of blessed Philip may, by his example and intercession, be raised to higher things. In Saint Philip Benizi the Church honours a man who turned from worldly learning and honour to the humble service of God and his Mother, and who joined to great gifts of mind and eloquence a deeper greatness of humility and charity.
The Collect
O God, who didst will that blessed Philip, the propagator of the Order of the Servants of the most holy Virgin Mary thy Mother, should embrace humility and despise the honours of this world: grant unto us, his servants; that, being raised on high by following his example, we may attain to the rewards thou hast promised to the humble.
Deus, qui beátum Philíppum, Ordínis Servorum sanctíssimæ Genitrícis tuæ Maríæ semper Vírginis propagatórem, humilitátem amplecti et mundános honóres declináre voluísti: præsta nobis famúlis tuis; ut, eius vestígiis inhaeréntes humiliáti in terris, superéxaltari mereámur in cælis.
Patronage
He is venerated as one of the propagators of the Servite Order and is honoured among the saints of the Servants of Mary; he is invoked as an example of humility.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar he is no longer kept on the universal calendar; on 23 August the modern calendar keeps the optional memorial of Saint Rose of Lima.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Philip Benizi?
His feast is kept on 23 August in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Third Class feast.
Who was Saint Philip Benizi?
He was a thirteenth-century physician of Florence who left a promising career to enter the Servite Order as a humble lay brother. Later ordained and made superior general, he became a noted preacher and peacemaker and a chief propagator of the Servites. He died in 1285 and was later canonised.
Why is Saint Philip Benizi remembered for his humility?
Above all because, when after a Pope’s death some considered him worthy of the papacy, he fled and hid himself rather than accept such an honour. His whole life was marked by a preference for the lowest place and a desire to serve God and our Lady in obscurity.
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