Marco da Montegallo

Marco da Montegallo (1425 - 19 March 1496) was an Italian religious priest from the Order of Friars Minor. He was born to a nobleman and served as a doctor in Ascoli Piceno before he was pressured into marriage in 1451 - the couple annulled their marriage after both entered the religious life. Father Marco is best known for establishing pawnshops for the poor across various Italian cities and for being a preacher of love.

His beatification received ratification on 20 September 1839 after Pope Gregory XVI confirmed the late priest's local 'cultus' - or a spontaneous and enduring popular devotion on the part of the faithful. His feast is celebrated on 20 March rather than his death date of 19 March due to it being the feast of Saint Joseph.

Life

Marco da Montegallo was born in 1425 in Montegallo - in the province of Ascoli Piceno - to a nobleman from the Marches of Ancona. Marco founded stores in Fano in 1471 and in Arcevia in 1483. He knew Blessed Domenico da Leonessa.

He preached across various Italian cities and in 1494 in Florence published a book while issuing another edition in Siena in 1495 while preaching for Lent. The plague ravaged Camerino and he assured the people that it would cease if all the people repented from their sins and confessed in a move that prompted them all to flock to him and confess - this caused the plague epidemic to stop. In 1480 he became a promoter and collector of tithes for the crusade against the Ottoman Empire after Pope Sixtus IV appointed him to that position.

The priest decided to fast in Lent in 1496 and in the middle of the Lenten season grew ill. On his deathbed he asked a companion to provide him with the sacraments for the final time and asked another to read him the words: "He bowed His head and gave up the ghost" at which point the ailing Marco died from his illness on 19 March 1496 in Vicenza.

His remains were interred though later relocated in 1522 in the church of Saint Biagio but were later interred in a chapel in the church of San Giuliano in 1797.

Beatification

The ratification for the late Franciscan's local 'cultus' - or popular devotion - allowed for Pope Gregory XVI to issue a decree that conferred beatification on the late friar on 20 September 1839. His feast is not celebrated on the date of his death as is the norm but rather on 20 March because 19 March is the feast of Saint Joseph.