The celebration of the canonization of St. Jerome Emiliani in St. Peter’s Basilica
On July 16, 1767, Saint Jerome Emiliani was proclaimed a saint together with Saint Jeanne Fremiot de Chantal, Saint Serafino d’Ascoli, Saint Joseph Calasanzio, Saint Joseph of Cupertino, and Saint John Cantius. This was not a random date, because it was the feast of Our Lady of Carmel, which was very much felt by the people. It was the anniversary of the enthronement of Clement XIII as pope, which marked the beginning of his tenth year of pontificate, and with extraordinary pomp it was decided to assign this day to the solemn ceremony in St. Peter’s of the canonization of six saints, the only ones officially proclaimed after the regular canonical process during the pontificate of Clement XIII. For these three reasons, the feast of Our Lady of Carmel, the anniversary of the coronation to Pope, the proclamation of six saints, this date had been proclaimed “a feast of precept, and a memorable and happy day for all Christianity”.
Of this solemn celebration we have an official report, printed in Rome in 1767 and an illustration by the famous engraver Joseph Vases (1710-1787) representing the solemn apparatus of the Vatican Basilica in this circumstance, personally taken care of in every detail by the no less famous for his time Vatican architect Carlo Marchionni (1702 – 1786), who followed the execution of all the works and wanted to do the drawing of his hand, so that everything would fit together well.
The impression that one gets from reading the report is of a religious act that takes place in great sumptuous and theatrical setting, in accordance with the taste of the time, typical of the eighteenth century Roman and Italian: “Canonization celebrated with divine festival pumped by the Holiness of our Lord Clement XIII in the Vatican Basilica on July 16, 1767 with ceremonies and sumptuous apparatus”.
Criteria for being proclaimed saints
The report begins with a reflection on holiness and its heroes: they are required to have practiced for many years an uninterrupted exercise of Christian virtues to the highest degree, and to have done in life and death miracles. In short, they must possess “the miracles of virtue and the virtue of miracles”. These two goals are aimed at the canonical processes, which are interested in documenting the Christian virtues brought to the extreme (faith, hope, charity, humility, poverty, union with God through visions and ecstasy, spirit of penance, self-control, etc..) and the ability of the subject to work miracles in life and after death. This scheme was used to write the biographies of the various aspirants to the honor of the altars, leaving aside the biographical aspects that were most interesting to us or their insertion in the culture and spirituality of the time.
First moment: the procession with the banners of the Saints
The function of July 16 begins with a solemn procession that starts from the door of the Pontifical Palace, where the various groups previously gathered in the courtyard of San Damaso in the early hours of the morning. It includes our orphans, the regular and secular clergy (gathered instead in the large loggia above the porch of the Basilica), the Consultors of the Congregation of the Sacred Rites (gathered outside the gates of the Sistine Chapel). The procession goes through Bernini’s first colonnade, in a profusion of tapestries and ornaments. It crosses the square adorned with scaffolding that supports various decorative tapestries and it takes the second colonnade to the entrance of the Basilica. One after the other, the banners of the six saints, admirably painted, and decorated with silks and gold fringes around them, run off one after the other. On either side of each of them hung a total of four cords; six people preceded each banner with lit torches. The first banner is that of S. Giovanna Francesca Fremiot by Chantal, the second of San Serafino d’Ascoli, the third of San Girolamo Emiliani, the fourth of San Giuseppe da Copertino, the fifth of San Giuseppe Calasanzio, the sixth of San Giovanni Canzio.
The banner of San Girolamo Emiliani, painted by the Roman painter Teodoro Rusca, was brought by the members to the confraternity of the Guardian Angel; four Fathers of the Congregation held the strings of the banner and six other religious preceded with lit torches. Orphans also took part in the procession, all with lighted candles.
Second moment: the papal procession
Meanwhile, Pope Clement XIII moved from the Vatican palace to the papal sacristy. Here he is dressed in a precious cope, prepared with diligent skill for this occasion and decorated with the “triregnum”. Then he goes with his retinue to the Sistine Chapel and after having sung the “Ave Maris Stella” he sits on the “sedia gestatoria” (portable papal throne). He is presented with three large candles adorned with gold and silver, takes the smallest one of four pounds (about 1,400 grams), which has been lit and begins the papal procession through the royal staircase. The Pope, dressed in a very white mantle, on the “sedia gestatoria” and under a canopy, is preceded by a group of prelates of the Roman Curia, some of whom carry the thurible and 7 candlesticks, and hold the mitres and the triregni. Behind these follow Patriarchs, Cardinal Bishops, Cardinal Deacons, Cardinal Priests, Prelates of the Curia, all richly dressed in the liturgical garments of their degree. Beside the Pope there are the waiters with their flabella, the pontifical singers, then the knights with their steel armour and corselets, the mace bearers with silver clubs; moreover the Pope is escorted from one side and from the other by two wings of Swiss Guards. The procession goes through the two colonnades, enters the Basilica. The Pope comes down from the chair, adores the Blessed Sacrament, climbs up on the chair again and enters the solemn theatre arranged in the apse for the celebration. He descends again from the chair, prays in front of the high altar, climbs to the throne, receives the various obediences with the kiss of the hand of the Cardinals, of the knee of the Patriarchs, Archbishops and Bishops, of the foot of the other prelates.
Third moment: in the basilica the three instances of canonization
In the meantime, Card. Carlo Rezzonico, the Pope’s nephew, together with the lawyer of the canonization, who genuflects and in the name of the Cardinal makes the first request for the Pope to proceed to register the six blessed among the saints, saying aloud “Instanter” which means “urgently”. A senior curia officer in the name of the Pope praised the six blessed. Then the Pope stands up, kneels on the “faldistorio”, and the litanies of the Saints are sung; at the end he returns to the throne.
Once again the scene is renewed: Card. Rezzonico presented himself to the Pope and the lawyer, in his name, said: “instanter, instantius” or “with urgency, with greater urgency”; again with the same ritual, the Pope stood up, prayed on his knees on the faldistorio, to obtain the divine light in question so important. When he stands, the “Veni Creator” is sung and at the end His Holiness recites aloud the prayer “Deus qui corda fidelium”.
Finally with the same ceremonial aloud the third instance is given: “Instanter, instantius, instantissime” or “With urgency, with greater urgency, with the greatest urgency”. At this point the Pope, sitting with a mitre, while everyone is standing, pronounces the sentence of canonization of the six blessed. The request took place that the apostolic “bolla” be written and that more copies be made “ad perpetuam rei memoriam”, while Card. Rezzonico kisses the hand and knee of His Holiness.
Fourth moment: the exultation of the proclamation
Finally, the Pope stands up and sings the “Te Deum”. While the singers perform it, the trumpets ring in the basilica, the trumpets of the “Cavalleggeri” echo above the large loggia of the basilica, the drums roll, firecrackers and cannon shots are fired by the Swiss Guard, all the bells of Rome ring for an hour in a row with spiritual joy throughout the city.
In the meantime the first part of the rite ends with the prayers addressed to the new saints and with the solemn blessing of the Pope to the immense agreed people.
Fifth moment: the third hour, the celebration of Holy Mass with the presentation of the offerings
The Midmorning prayer follows and the celebration of the Holy Mass “Prout in Cathedra Sancti Petri” begins (According to the text of the Chair of St. Peter). After the reading of the Gospel, the indulgences are proclaimed: plenary for those present, and of seven years for those who visit the tombs of their respective saints.
Therefore, after the Offertory and wore an apron, the Pope receives the offerings of gifts and oblations. For each saint two candles of 60 pounds (about 25 Kg) are presented, illuminated and decorated with gold and silver and with the coat of arms of His Holiness, three similar candles of twelve pounds (about 5 Kg.), two large loaves, one gilded and the other silvered, always with the image of the papal coat of arms, two carved barrels, worked with gold, silver and coat of arms, three cages vaguely worked and gilded, the first containing two turtledoves, the second two doves, the third various species of birds.
For the oblation of San Girolamo Emiliani the two large candles are presented by gentlemen and three cardinals (The Card. of York, Boschi and Torregiani), the three minor candles by Fr. Gianfrancesco Nicolai, Provost of San Niccolò ai Cesarini and the three cages by Fr. Antonio De Lugo, Rector of the Collegio Clementino, by Fr. Giuseppe Bettoni, Consultant of the Sacred Rites and by Fr. Antonio Conti, Consultant of the Indulgences. After the delivery, the Fathers kiss the foot of His Holiness.
The Pope, after washing his hands, continues the Holy Mass with the assistance of the Cardinals, Patriarchs, Archbishops and Bishops. At the end of the Mass, he sits at the sedia gestatoria and he goes to the chapel of the Pieta, prepared to lay the papal robes on it.
The assembly was dissolved and everyone commented on the magnificence of St. Peter’s Basilica, covered in the most sought-after ornaments.
The medallions dedicated to the miracles of San Girolamo Emiliani
Eighteen medallions (three for each saint) are exhibited in St. Peter’s Basilica, painted in bright colors, over five meters high and over four meters wide, richly decorated and surrounded by festive angels and a rich marsh painted in white brocade, to illustrate the miracles of the six glorious saints.
The three large medallions illustrating the miracles worked by Saint Jerome are arranged as follows: the first is placed on the left arch of the transept with the inscription in Latin that says “The Saint brings back to perfect health in an instant Girolama Durighella, afflicted by several serious diseases, certainly doomed to death and in a very short time; the second is placed on the arch of the altar of San Gregorio and reads “The Saint heals Isabella Pocobella from a deadly ulcerative tumor in the tarsus of the left foot, when the flesh and bones are putrefying”; the third is above the arch of the choir chapel with the motto “The Saint suddenly restores health to Elisabetta Zandinelli affected by nephritic colic and other serious illnesses”.
Concluding remarks
The Somascan Congregation finally sees the realization of its commitment – to bring the Founder to the honor of the altars – which lasted more than two centuries: now there is a flourishing of devotion to our Saint, publicly venerated in all our places of worship, with the commissioning of valuable sculptural and pictorial works. All the communities of the Congregation have also contributed financially so that the desire to venerate as Saint Girolamo Emiliani throughout the Church might come true.
The ritual of the sumptuous and solemn canonization wanted by Pope Clement XIII aims to inculcate the idea, as well as the sanctity, the power, the splendor, the richness of the Church. The Pope was also the head of a state with a power not only spiritual, but also temporal. We must not therefore judge the rite repeatedly defined magnificent and sumptuous with our current sensibility, but insert it into the culture, political reality and ecclesiology of the time. The ceremonial defined in the smallest details, the order of precedence, the ranks of all the prelates, each clothed according to the flashy vestments of his degree, the profusion of gold, silver, damask, tapestries and candles, the ostentatious wealth that was to arouse the wonder in the people can upset our sensitivity accustomed to a religiosity and simpler celebrations. The report repeatedly points out the religious purpose: the Basilica of St. Peter barely managed to contain a large multitude of Romans and foreigners for this “so magnificent Canonization, which greater glory gave to God and the faithful people stimulated to imitate the rare examples of virtue to posterity transmitted by the six new saints and to praise incessantly the highest goodness of God Optimus, Maximus, Most Beneficial”.
Written by Father Giuseppe Oddone, CRS
