December 1 - Feast Day of Blessed John of Vercelli

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SIGNIFICANT DATES IN THE LIFE OF BLESSED JOHN OF VERCELLI

1230 Received into the Dominican Order by Blessed Jordan of Saxony, successor to St. Dominic who founded the Order

1245 Prior of Vercelli (Prior is an officer or chief)

1255 Vicar General of Hungary (Vicar General is a priest deputized by a bishop to assist in administration)

1256 Prior of San Nocolo in Bologna (St. Dominic is buried in Bologna)

1257-1264 6th Master General of the Dominican Order. As Master General of his order, he personally visited on foot, almost all of the houses of the Order, except those in Spain.

1271 After the death of Pope Clement IV (Close friend of the Dominicans) we have two stories that have come forward: 1) Two factions developed in the College of Cardinals: one led by Cardinal Hubert of Coconato and the other led by Cardinal John Orsini. Neither faction had enough votes to sway an election for Pope, but Cardinal Hubert was an admirer of John of Vercelli. Cardinal Hubert canvassed his brother Cardinals and determined that he had enough votes to elect Blessed John Pope. Therefore, he sent someone to the Dominican House, to tell Blessed John to stand ready. One of the Dominicans received the information at the door, and ran through the town, shouting that Blessed John was elected before the vote. Cardinal Orsini found out about it and threw his support to Pope Gregory X who was
elected. 2) The other story is that Blessed John of Vercelli was elected but declined.

Nov 2, 1274 At the Council of Lyons - The Holy Name Society was founded. Blessed John of Vercelli is considered the world wide patron and founder of the Holy Name Society. At that time, heretics stated that JESUS was not God, but only a man.

1280 Blessed John of Vercelli was appointed by the Pope as Nuncio to the courts of France and England. He visited Normandy, England, Scotland, Ireland, Holland and Switzerland during that time.

Nov 30, 1283 Blessed John died and was buried in Montpelier, France

1562 Blessed John's body was destroyed in a religious war, and was never found.

1564 Digeo of Victoria, Dominican Friar, wrote the first constitution of the Holy Name Society, and Pope Pius IV raised the society to the canonical status of a
confraternity, endowing it with privileges and indulgences. The Holy Name Society is probably the most indulgenced body in the Church.

Dec 1st Feast Day of Blessed John of Vercelli

September 7, 1903 John Garbella was beatified, at the request of the Bishop of Vercelli, and his Cultus or Devotion was approved at that time.

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NOW, WHO WAS THIS MAN, BLESSED JOHN OF VERCELLI, AND WHAT DID HE DO?

• He was born John Garbella, around 1205, near the city of Vercelli. He was the son of a dairy farming family; they had lots of land and sheep, and the wool of the sheep was turned into "wealth" of one form or another.
  
• Vercelli is approximately 350 miles north of Rome, and just about equally distant between Milan and Turin, as can be seen by looking at a map of Italy.
  
• Above the city of Vercelli, on the side of the mountain, is a town called "Mosso Santa Maria", and above the town is a hamlet called "Capa Mostro", and this is where John Garbella was born.
  
• John Garbella received his elementary education in the school right next to the church at the bottom of the mountain where the city of Vercelli is located.
  
• He enrolled as a student at the University of Paris at the age of 14; by age 25, he had received his Doctorate in Civil and Canon Law, and left Paris, to start a school in Vercelli. By the standards of his time, his was a "delayed vocation" to the religious life.
  
• He taught school, until he met Blessed Jordan of Saxony. Blessed Jordan was a dynamic preacher, and received Blessed John into the Order of Preachers.
  
• St. Dominic had founded the Order, and Blessed Jordan himself was 30 years old when he was received into it, just two years before St. Dominic died.
  
• More specifically, St. Dominic had founded the Order in 1216, and recruited Blessed Jordan in 1221.
  
• Blessed John of Vercelli was one of the greatest peacemakers in the history of the world. He was the 6th Master General of the Dominican Order. He has been given credit as the founder of the Holy Name Society. Now, in 2002, the Dominican Order has its 85th Master General.
  
• Description of Blessed John of Vercelli: Rather short in stature, pointed chin, Northern Italian features, blue eyes, lame. He walked barefoot, and had a limp on his right side; some would say that he was a cripple. Therefore, he carried a walking stick everywhere he went, and his walking stick became his symbol.
  
• The National Association of the Holy Name Society has a relic, which is two inches of the back of the walking stick. Another portion of the walking stick is in a shrine in New Orleans, Louisiana, a small "splinter" is in a Church in Pittsburgh, PA, and the balance of the walking stick is located in a monastery in Vercelli, Italy.
• He was a contemporary of St. Thomas Aquinas. He was obedient to all the Popes under whom he served, and nearly became Pope himself.
  
• He presided at 20 General Chapter Meetings of the Dominican Order.
  
• Blessed John took a vow not to ride any type of animal, and walked everywhere. If you laid end to end, every mile that he walked in the last nine years of his life, he walked around Europe three times.
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History of Blessed John of Vercelli - Founder and Promoter of the Holy Name Society

John Garbella was born in the year 1200 in Mosso, Santa Maria, Lombardy, Italy. He grew up in a strong Catholic family and studied as a child in Vercelli, close to his home. Because of his brilliant intellect, he was able to study at the University of Paris, the greatest center of learning in the Middle Ages. After graduation, with a Doctorate in Civil and Canon Law, he became a professor in Paris. He soon returned to Vercelli, where he was invited to open a Law School.

At Vercelli, John came under the influence of Jordan of Saxony, who replaced St. Dominic as the Master General of the Order of Preachers, or, as they are popularly known, the Dominicans. After his postulancy and novitiate, John took the vows of the Order. His first position was as Master of Studies at the new Dominican University and Convent. The Dominicans established schools in all of their convents. In a few years, he became Superior of the Convent in Vercelli.

It was here that John started his calling as a great peacemaker, making peace with the Tartars in Hungary, and then, as the mediator between the Guelfs and Ghibellines in Italy. For several years, John was Prior of the men's convent, and the nun's convent of St. Agnes. So successful was John in this dual capacity that, in 1257, he became Provincial of the Province of Lombardy. As Provincial, John became very active in visiting all the priories and convents in his province, and his walking stick became the symbol of his apostolate. He also expanded the Province, by founding new Priories in Turin, Chieri and Tortona.

During John's tenure as Provincial, the Holy Father, Pope Urban IV, ordered John to preach the Crusades throughout the Province. He became still more famous for his peacemaking qualities, and this led to his election as Master General in 1264.

John Garbella, as successor to St. Dominic, revised the Constitution of the Order, and it has been a master plan for centuries. In 1274, at the Council of Lyons, the Dominican Order was appointed by Pope Gregory X to carry out the Papal Bull "Nuper in Concilio" of 1274, to establish veneration, honor and respect of the Holy Name of Jesus. This was the origin of the Holy Name Society. John, as Master General, devoted himself to this from his 74th year to his death at 83 years of age, walking Europe, and establishing devotion to the Holy Name.

Until his death on November 30, 1283, John of Vercelli preached reverence for the Holy Name of Jesus, and directed all Dominicans to do the same. The heroic degree of his holy life was attested by Pope Pius X, who beatified him, in 1903, BLESSED JOHN OF VERCELLI, O.P..