Alexander Sauli

Early life Sauli was born in Milan, on February 15, 1534, to an illustrious Lombard family. His parents were Dominic and Tommasina Spinola Sauli. His father was Marquis of Pozzuolo in the territory of Tortona and an assistant to Duke Francesco II Sforza. The marquis was esteemed by the emperor, who was then president of the High Court of Milan. Both of his parents were from ancient and noble families of Genoa. This social status offered Alexander a great opportunity for a prestigious and brilliant career. He was well-educated at Pavia. In 1551, at the age of 17, Sauli became a page at the court of Emperor Charles V in Milan.

Religious formation

At the age of seventeen, Alexander asked to be admitted to the Congregation of the Barnabites. At this time the congregation was experiencing the precariousness of its beginnings, extreme poverty, and harsh trials. It had been expelled from the Republic of Venice only two months before. The Fathers advised Alexander to consider other religious congregations, such as the Dominicans, the Franciscans, and the Capuchins, rich with members outstanding in holiness and wisdom.

On Saturday, 17 May 1551, the Vigil of Pentecost, the Barnabites asked young Sauli to carry a large cross through the streets of Milan, dressed as an imperial page, and to preach in public about the love for God and the renunciation of the world. This would give them an indication whether or not his choice was authentic. With the heavy cross on his shoulders, he crossed the city. When he reached the square called Piazza dei Mercanti, he asked a vendor for his stand. He erected the cross on it, and with great fervor he addressed the crowd about the worship of God and the love of neighbor. When Sauli returned to the Barnabite residence after performing this charge, he was received as a postulant. teaching philosophy and theology. He was also entrusted with teaching in church the Pauline epistles. He attracted a vast audience, including noted preachers of the day, but Sauli did not follow the career of the pulpit.

Three years later he became dean.

Instead of a permanent job at the university, Sauli preferred to concentrate on the private school of the Order. The Bishop of Pavia, Ippolito de' Rossi had made him his private theologian, examiner of the clergy, lector for the cases of conscience, and an associate for pastoral visits. At the University he participated in the meetings of the professors of theology, gave special lectures and worked on the revision of books.

In the house of studies, Sauli concentrated on the preparation of a complete curricula. He had the gift "for easy explanation. In few words he could present his thought very well. It did not matter how intellectual or difficult they might be", Bellarmino testified at the Apostolic Process. Books at the time were very scarce, so he republished Savonarola's "Confessionale," adapting it to the documents of the Council of Trent, published a treatise on Marriage, an Enchiridion for professors and for those to be ordained, a manual for "Moral Decisions". He published all of them anonymously, but in the second edition De Rossi revealed the name of the true author.

One of Sauli's unique gifts as a professor was that he allowed room for new and fresher minds. In 1563, he gave his philosophy chair to Basilio Bonfanti, a young cleric who already spoke perfect Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Two years later Sauli was his mentor in Bonfanti's public defense of his 200 philosophical and theological theses, which Bonfanti dedicated to Alexander's father, Dominic Sauli, who, from his house in Pavia, was following with great pride his son's progress. The year before, he had donated to the Barnabites his rich and private library.

Superior General (1566–1569)

In 1567 Sauli was elected superior-general of the congregation. Orazio Premoli, in the biography he wrote in 1904, when Sauli was canonized, said: "As he was, at the young age of 33, elected Superior General of a Religious Congregation, whose members were somewhat elderly, he understood right away that ...To be superior meant for him first of all to lead in the rigorous observance of the Rule, and to be heroically faithful to the vows."

On August 5 he had an unpleasant surprise as Attilio Gritti, a gentleman from Novara, presented himself with pontifical documents claiming possession of the Church and House of St. Barnabas. Sauli immediately contested the claim and the validity of the documents, since Gritti's uncle had donated the church and the house to the Barnabites at the time of Pope Paul III. He entrusted the case into the hands of Charles Borromeo, the Archbishop of Milan, who obtained from Pope Pius IV the resolution of the case.

As a good canon lawyer he made sure that all regulations would comply with the new guidelines emerging from the Council of Trent. In 1568 he called an extraordinary Chapter to deal with the Divine Office. The congregation had adopted the Quinones version of the breviary to be sung in recto tono. In 1568 Pope Pius V published the new breviary eliminating all previous editions. The Chapter (September 10–15) adopted the new breviary, keeping the recto tono recitation.

He wrote rules for the novices and gave guidelines for the curriculum of sacred and profane studies, and for preaching. Sauli was in charge of the monastery of the Angelic Sisters of St. Paul, and of the "Submitted to the Crucified Lord," to whom he gave regular conferences, and with whom he kept regular correspondence even from Corsica. When in 1554 the Countess Torelli left the Angelics, taking with her whatever benefits had been given to the monastery, they survived through the generosity of Julia Sfondrati, but with great tension between the two ladies. Borromeo asked Sauli for the Angelic Sisters of St Paul, and the Jesuit Leonetto Clavonio for the Torelli, to resolve the controversy.

In April 1569, the Bishop of Vicenza, through the recommendation of Borromeo, tried to convince the Barnabites to return to his city for the reformation of the monasteries. Sauli answered, "Yes, on condition that the Serenissima (Venice) will revoke the ban of 1552." Venice's answer was that by now the whole thing had been forgotten, so that they were welcomed back to the Republic. Alexander did not accept those conditions, but in deference to the bishop, he sent over Berna for a few months.

Sauli's term as Superior General was a period of true renewal for the order, renewal to be carried out fully by Charles Borromeo. After the shock of 1552 everything was renewed: better structures, rekindling of the original fervor, the members were reinforced with much better quality. Some of those who had left came back to St. Barnabas. The apostolate expanded to new foundations. Sauli is regarded as the "second Founder" because he gave new vigor to the Order.

The co-operator of Charles Borromeo Sauli was invited by Charles Borromeo to preach at the cathedral in Milan, where he made a great impression on both Borromeo and the future Pope Gregory XIV.

They sought Cardinal Borromeo's help to avert such a disaster. He wrote to his man in Rome, Ormaneto: "Having notified the Superior of St. Barnabas about the decision of Our Lord to give him the care of the Church ofAleria in Corsica, he, for the humble esteem of himself, has stated not to be qualified: which I do not agree with, as I know very well his qualifications.... Meanwhile I cannot avoid to present to His Holiness the great worry of the old Fathers of this Congregation, whom I have notified about it.... because of the great damage coming to their Congregation with the loss of this man, as it relies on his prudent government with great help from his knowledge, in which, truthfully, there is no equal... Then, I know too how the city at large will suffer because of it, since the Superior is very useful to it in so many ways, such as conferences and confessions, and other spiritual services, and his prudent counsel, of which I avail myself regularly. If, then, Our Lord believes that he will render greater service to God in his new vocation, he is a son of obedience."

To prepare himself to follow God's will, together with Charles, Sauli went to the Carthusian abbey in Carignano for a retreat. Writing to his father, Alexander stated: "The effort I have endured here as Superior General seems to me like roses in comparison with what I am starting to experience as a Bishop."

The ceremony took place in the Cathedral of Milan on March 12. Sauli was consecrated bishop by his friend, Cardinal Borromeo of Milan, with Ippolito de Rossi, Bishop of Pavia, and Federico Comer, Bishop of Bergamo, as concelebrants. One individual made an attempt on his life. Due to his efforts to end the violence, the people called him "The Angel of Peace". A sculpture, The Blessed Alesandro Sauli, made by Pierre Puget can be found in the Santa Maria Assunta church in Carignano, Genoa. A terra-cotta copy can be found at the Cleveland Museum of Art or the Saint Louis art museum.