| Saint Antoninus | |
|---|---|
 Bust outside the home of Saint Antoninus, Torre dei Pierozzi. Florence, Italy. |
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| Born | March 1 1389, Florence |
| Died | May 2 1459 (aged 70) |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Canonized | 1523 by Pope Adrian VI |
| Feast | May 10 |
| Patronage | Moncalvo, near Turin |
 Saints Portal |
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Saint Antoninus (Anthony of Florence, Antonio Pierozzi, also called De Forciglioni) (March 1, 1389-May 2, 1459), archbishop of Florence, was born in the city of Florence. He entered the Dominican order in his 16th year, and was soon entrusted, in spite of his youth, with the government of various houses of his order at Cortona, Rome, Naples and Florence, which he laboured zealously to reform. He was consecrated archbishop of Florence in 1446, and won the esteem and love of his people, especially by his energy and resource in combating the effects of the plague and earthquake in 1448 and 1453. He died on May 2 1459. Antoninus had a great reputation for theological learning, and sat as papal theologian at the council of Florence (1439). Of his various works, the list of which is given in Quétif-Echard, De Scriptoribus Ord. Praedicat., i. 818, the best-known are his Summa theologica (Venice, 1477; Verona, 1740) and the Summa confessionalis (Mondovi, 1472), invaluable to confessors. His writings reflect a pronounced awareness of the problems of social and economic development. He argued in them that the state had a duty to intervene in mercantile affairs for the common good, and the obligation to help the poor and needy. Because of his small stature, he was also called 'Little Antony' (Antonino). He is also the patron saint of Moncalvo, near Turin. He was canonized as a saint by Adrian IV, who himself held ideas of radical and drastic church reform similar to Antoninus's. Antoninus' feast day is May 10 on the Traditional Western calendar, and on May 13 in the current calendar.
External links
- Saint Antoninus in The Lives or the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints
- Saint Antonius in the Catholic Forum
- Saint Antonius in the Catholic Encyclopedia
References
- Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-140-51312-4.
- Bolland, Acta Sanctorum, i.
- U. Chevalier, Rep. des. s. hist. (1905), pp. 285-286.
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
