n obscure Benedictine saint is liturgically honored by the Church today.

Saint
Bernard Tolomei, (1272-1348) the founder of the Benedictine Congregation of the
Blessed Virgin of Monte Oliveto (near Siena) in 1319. He was beatified in 1644 but
not canonized until 2009, though he was revered as a saint for a long time before
Pope Benedict canonized him.
The Olivetan monks have an intense devotion to the Virgin Mary due to the
founders attribution to the healing of his blindness by the intercession of the Virgin;
their life has been one of penance and silence. Hence, Saint Bernard is called the
hero of penance and martyr of charity. And this is our desire today.
Saint Bernard Tolomeis brief biography can be read here and a set of photos can
beviewed here.
Bernardo Tolomei
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Saint Bernardo Tolomei

Blessed Bernardo Tolomei, by Stefano

Bolognini
Born

1272
Siena in Tuscany

Died

1348

Venerated Roman Catholicism

in
Beatified

1634 by Pope Urban VIII

Canonized April 26, 2009, St. Peter's

Square by Pope Benedict XVI
Feast

August 19 (Order of St.

Benedict)

Saint Bernardo Tolomei (12721348) was an Italian theologian, the founder of

the Roman Catholic Congregation of the Blessed Virgin of Monte Oliveto. In
the Roman Martyrology he is commemorated on August 20,[1] but in the
Benedictine calendar his optional memorial is celebrated on the previous day.

[2] Bernardo Tolomei was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday, April 26,
2009.[3]
Life[edit]
Giovanni Tolomei was born at Siena in Tuscany on the May 10, 1272.[4] He was
educated by his uncle, Christopher Tolomeo, aDominican, and desired to enter the
religious life, but his father's opposition prevented him from doing so, and he
continued his studies in secular surroundings. After a course in philosophy and
mathematics he devoted himself to the study of civil and canon law, and of
theology. For a time Bernardo served as a knight in the armies of Rudolph I of
Germany. While studying law in Siena, he became a member of the Confraternity of
the Disciplinati di Santa Maria della Notte dedicated to aiding the sick at
the Hospital della Scala.
In 1313, Giovanni, together with two companions, Patrizio di Francesco Patrizi and
Ambrogio di Nino Piccolomini, noble Sienese merchants and members of the same
Confraternity, retired to Accona on a property belonging to his family. He had taken
the name of "Bernard" (in its Italian form Bernardo) out of admiration for the Abbot
of Clairvaux. It was Here they lived a hermitic penitential life characterised by
prayer, manual work and silence.[4]
Towards the end of 1318, or the beginning of 1319, while deep in prayer, he is said
to have seen a ladder on which monks in white habits ascended, helped by angels,
and awaited by Jesus and Mary.[4]
Upon his return he founded the congregation of the Blessed Virgin of Monte Oliveto
(the Olivetans), giving it the Rule of St. Benedict. The purpose of the new religious
institute was a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin. Guido, Bishop of Arezzo,
within whose diocese the congregation was formed, confirmed its constitution in
(1319), and many favours were granted by Popes John XXII,Clement VI (1344),
and Gregory XI. Since the Benedictine rule did not prescribe the colour of monastic
dress, the Olivetans wore white habits.[5]
During the Plague of 1348 Bernardo left the solitude of Monte Oliveto for the
monastery of San Benedetto a Porta Tufi in Siena. The disease was particularly
virulent in the city. Bernardo and his monks devoted themselves to the care of the
sick. On the 20th August 1348, while helping his plague-stricken monks, he himself,
fell victim of the Plague. Eighty-two monks likewise succombed to the plague.[5]
His last days were depicted in a painting by the 18th-century Italian
painter Giuseppe Maria Crespi. His work was entitled: 'The Blessed Bernard Tolomei
Interceding for the Cessation of the Plague in Siena' (1735).[5]

After having ruled the religious body he had founded for 27 years Bernardo died, at
the age of 76. In 1634 he was beatified by the Congregation of Rites, but was often
referred to as "Saint Bernardo" even before his canonization in 2009.

Saint Bernard Tolomei, founder of the Archabbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore , Italy,
was born in Siena 1272. He was educated as a nobleman of the Tolomei family and
had a distinguished career as a lawyer. At around the age of forty, he felt called to a
radical living out of his Christian vocation.
With some companions, he retired to a remote place to the Southeast of Siena,
known as the Desert of Accona . The first monks lived a eremetical lifestyle in the
caves of the hillside. Gradually they evolved into a more organised community.

When later a monastery was founded on the site, it was given the name of Saint
Mary of Monte Oliveto . According to the tradition,
one day, while Bernard was praying in the place where the church was later to be
built, he saw a silver stairway rising eastwards, to Heaven.Jesus Christ and his Holy
Mother, dressed in white, were standing at the top. A group of monks, all dressed in
white, were climbing the stairs helped by angels.
(Chron. by Antonio da Barga).
Bernard and his companions received the Benedictine habit and the Rule of the
Father of western monasticism. Since the time of their founder Olivetans have been
clothed in white. A special characteristic of the Olivetan reform is its emphasis upon
the spirit of communion uniting all its houses, called to form unum corpus one
body.
When, in 1348, the plague was spreading in Siena, Bernard returned to the town to
care for his fellow monks at the monastery of St Benedict. According to tradition, he
died a victim of the plague on the 20th of August among his spiritual sons. He
was subsequently venerated as a Saint. He is officially celebrated on August 19th .
The Congregation of St Mary of Monte Oliveto
To foster the monastic movement which spontaneously developed around the Abbey
of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, Clement VI canonically erected the Benedictine
Congregation of St. Mary of Monte Oliveto on January 21, 1344. Although it was
confined to Italy, the Congregation quickly developed and flourished particularly
during the 14th and 17th centuries.
Suppression began in the late 18th century. However, the Congregation did not
disappear. It developed again in the late 19th century (1875), in a small monastery
at Settignano (Florence).
At present, the Congregation has a variety of abbeys and prioral churches in Italy,
France, United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Switzerland, Israel, Korea, USA, Mexico,
Guatemala, Brazil and Ghana.