Letter of Pope John Paul II for the 700th Anniversary of the Birth of St Andrew Corsini - Carmelite

To the Venerable Brother

LUCIANO GIOVANNETTI
Bishop of Fiesole
on the occasion of the

VIIth CENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF
ST ANDREW CORSINI

1. I learned with joy that this year, the VIIth Centenary of the birth of St. Andrew Corsini, bishop from 1349-1374 is being celebrated in the Diocese of Fiesole. On such a happy occasion, I wish to unite myself with the entire diocesan community, in giving thanks to the Lord for the blessings by which it was enriched through the testimony and the intercession of your notable Predecessor. While I greet you, venerable Brother, and the Christian people entrusted to your pastoral care with affection, I would like to take the opportunity to highlight some aspects of the multifaceted personality of such an illustrious son of your region.

In 1349, when Andrew Corsini, then Provincial of the Order of Carmelites in Tuscany, was named Bishop of Fiesole, his reputation for charity and for piety was already well known in the area around Florence, where he was born on November 30, 1301, into one of the most distinguished families and where, at age 15, he was clothed in the religious habit in the Monastery of the Carmine. After he was ordained priest, he held numerous important jobs, and distinguished himself by the fervour with which he lived the Carmelite ideal and for the profound zeal he had for the formation of his brothers. The love of God and of neighbour, constantly placed at the centre of his life, shone with particular splendour on the occasion of the terrible plagues in Florence in 1348, when, together with his brother Carmelites, he placed himself at the service of the plague victims with heroic dedication.

2. In the Bull naming him to the Diocese of Fiesole, published in Avignon on October 13, 1349, my venerable predecessor, Clement VI, underlined St. Andrew’s “zeal for religion, culture, and the purity of his life and habits, as well as his ability to lead souls” and “his circumspection in temporal things and the other merits of his many virtue.” St. Andrew immediately confirmed such a favourable judgment by his acceptance of the position with a spirit of faith and placing his mission in the hands of the Mother of God, who was so tenderly loved by him.

The years that followed brought out new proofs of the singular virtue of the Prelate. He chose to live in Fiesole, renouncing the comfortable palazzo in Florence, seat of his predecessors beginning in 1225, and he showed uncommon zeal in his preaching, in his faithfulness to prayer, in the austerity of his life, in visiting the parishes, in the abolition of abuses and in the defence of the liberty of the Church against abuses of power and unjust interference. He also welcomed with love the humble and the poor who came knocking at the door of his house.

3. St. Andrew Corsini dedicated special care to his priests, whom he asked to live lives of holiness in accordance with the responsibility of their state. For them, he founded a confraternity named in honour of the Holy Trinity, which, anticipating the decrees of the Council of Trent, gave precise norms regarding the recruitment and the cultural and spiritual preparation of candidates to the priesthood.

He was called to fill several important offices in the service of the Holy See. On the occasion of the legation to Bologna in 1369, he revealed himself as a man of peace, capable of settling discord, mediating disputes, and pacifying people who were embittered by hatred. His gifts were fully recognized, and they made him a valued and profoundly spiritual servant of the Church.

Constant union with God, the dominant theme of his life, did not hinder St. Andrew Corsini from dedicating himself with diligence to the administration of the ecclesiastical property. He spent vast sums in the construction and restructuring of monasteries, churches, and chapels, and above all in the cathedral and the episcopal residence, which had been in a state of ruin for centuries.

The saintly Bishop died on the evening of Epiphany in 1374. His remains, buried in the Cathedral of Fiesole, were later transferred to the Basilica of the Carmine in Florence. There the Corsini family had a magnificent chapel built in 1386, no less great than that which would be dedicated in 1734 by Clement XII, of the same Corsini family, in the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

The reputation for holiness that surrounded his life, rapidly spread throughout Italy and Europe after his death. Popular cult, developed in the first years of the 1400s, throughout the Carmelite monasteries, was confirmed by Pope Eugenio IV, who proclaimed him “Blessed” and by the Florentine Pope, Urban VIII, who declared him a saint on April 22, 1629.

4. Beginning on November 30, 2001, his mortal remains will be in the Cathedral of Fiesole for a few days. May this “pilgrimage”, with which the celebrations of the centenary of his birth open, offer to the entire diocesan community the opportunity to meet with this great saint in order to rediscover one’s own vocation and to announce to others with renewed fervour the Good News that “God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, so that anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16).

Sustained and encouraged by the example and by the teachings of this ancient pastor, this community, perceiving in the signs of holiness of St. Andrew Corsini important pointers for the present times, is called to a renewed apostolic zeal and a more intense spiritual fervour, as was underlined also in the recent diocesan synod.

Looking at the ardent zeal, which drove St. Andrew Corsini to consecrate himself to the human and spiritual development of the People of God, this community is invited to re-evaluate, in light of the centrality of the Eucharistic mystery, the importance of the ordained ministries for a vibrant liturgical life and a penetrating proclamation of the Word of God. It is important also to highlight other forms of service, relevant to the area, especially attention towards the emerging challenges, and the solicitude for those who are far away and for the poor.

5. Following the example of the ancient Pastor, the Diocese of Fiesole will continue to emphasize the formation of the clergy and will take every care so that the diocesan seminary may always be more than equal to the preparation of candidates to the priesthood, in the context of a wide and well-planned vocation ministry, a required aspect for every authentic ecclesial program.

How can we fail to see in the patience and generosity of St. Andrew Corsini in his smoothing over of disputes, an encouragement to seek for harmony and justice, in the promotion of dialogue between diverse cultures, which must be a permanent element of the Christian life?

What more need we say about the importance of diligence and wisdom in the administration of earthly goods, and in particular those of the Church? Such diligence and wisdom oversee the pastoral needs and takes care of the needs of the poor, which are always part of the life of the community of disciples of the Lord (cfr Jn 12:8).

6. The entire life of St. Andrew Corsini is a testament to the changed relation between Church and society. Far from the taking the believer away from the problems of the world, he or she is driven to courageously proclaim Jesus Christ in order to animate in a Christian sense civil society.

The Jubilee celebration of the birth of the son of the noble Corsini family, who became poor because of his love for Christ and, as Bishop of Fiesole, did his best to shape the hearts of his contemporaries to the evangelical ideals, can be an encouragement for the faithful of the same diocesan family to make themselves active and willing instruments of the religious and civil progress in their land.

With such wishes, I entrust you, venerable brother, and the entire diocesan community to the heavenly protection of St. Andrew Corsini and, from my heart, I impart to all a special apostolic blessing.

Given at the Vatican,

November 30, 2001

Johannes Paulus II