Bl. John of Vercelli

Posted on December 1, 2018 by admin No comments

Born: c. 1205 Mosso Santa Maria Biella, Italy

Died: 30 November 1283 Montpellier, France

Venerated: in Roman Catholic Church (Dominican Order)

Blessed John of Vercelli, O.P. (Giovanni da Vercelli) (c. 1205 – 30 November 1283), was the sixth Master General of the Dominican Order (1264-1283).

Early life and education

John was born in 1205 to the Garbella family in Mosso Santa Maria in the Province of Biella, in the Piedmont region of Italy. He did his initial studies in Paris (one could not graduate in the Arts before the age of 21, and only after a minimum of six years of study), and then studied canon law in Paris, Pavia, and Vercelli before he joined the Dominican friars during the 1240s.

The Emperor Frederick II, that stupor mundi and “malleus Italiae Regionis”, died on December 13, 1250. Pope Innocent IV’s exile was over. He left Lyons on April 19, 1251, and arrived in his home town, Genoa, on May 18. From Genoa he began the difficult task of getting back the territories of the Church lost to the Emperor Frederick, and reconstructing the effective operation of the Church hierarchy in northern and central Italy. One of his problems was the rise and flourishing of heresy in the Po Valley. On June 11, 1251, the Pope issued instructions from Genoa to Vincentius of Milan and Joannes of Vercelli, to undertake the office of Inquisitor, jointly or severally, in Venice and other parts of Lombardy. These were not the only Inquisitors appointed. On the same day, and with the same form letter (“Misericors et Miserator”), the Pope also appointed Peter of Verona and Vivianus of Bergamo to the same task in the area of Cremona and other cities of Lombardy. No doubt there were others, now unattested. The Pope was also prepared to take on Frederick’s sons Manfred and Enzo (Ezolino) of Sardinia, as he indicated in a letter to the Dominican Bishop of Treviso and the Prior of Mantua.

Umberto de Romans, the fifth Master General, elected in 1253, held the General Chapter in Buda, Hungary, on May 31, 1254. At the conclusion of the meeting, he appointed John of Vercelli as the Master General’s Vicar to Hungary. Later (1255-1257) he was appointed Prior of the Dominican monastery in Bologna.

Prior of Lombardy

In 1257, at the Provincial Chapter for Lombardy held at Novara, he was elected Prior Provincial of Lombardy. At that time the province contained thirty convents of the Order. During his administration three new convents were founded, at Turin, Chieri and Tortona. He served as Prior of Lombardy for seven years. One of the major and continuing problems in his province was the rise and spread of heresy, especially Catharism. The inquisitorial machine was being constructed, as John’s own service in Venice a few years earlier indicates. These new inquisitors were directing one question after another to Rome, and were overwhelming the Curia with their concerns. Alexander replied, urging them to act boldly and independently, against any manner or quality of person, but to continue to consult the Holy See in difficult cases. On March 23, 1262, the new pope, Urban IV, sent a mandate to John of Vercelli, authorizing him, in consultation with other discreet members of his Order, to appoint up to eight Dominican friars as Inquisitors in the Province of Lombardy and the March of Genoa. He was also authorized to remove Inquisitors from office who proved inadequate and to replace them; he could delegate this task to his Vicar.

As Prior of Lombardy he was expected to see to the election of a delegate (diffinitor) to the annual General Chapter, and to preside over the Provincial Chapter in Lombardy. In 1258, the General Chapter was held at Toulouse, and the Provincial Chapter at Milan. He took part in the General Chapter at Valenciennes, on April 13, 1259, and held the Provincial Chapter in Bologna. In 1260 the General Chapter was in Strasbourg, and Prior John presided over the provincial General Chapter, which was held at Ferrara. In 1261 the General Chapter was held at Barcelona, and the Provincial Chapter at Milan. In 1262, both meetings took place in Bologna. In 1263 the General Chapter was held in London, and the Provincial Chapter at Venice.

Master General

On June 7, 1264 he was elected as Master General by the General Chapter, held in Paris, under the presidency of Pierre of Tarentaise, OP, the future Pope Innocent V. John held the post of Master General until his death. Known for his tireless energy and his commitment to simplicity, John made personal visits—typically on foot—to almost all the Dominican houses, urging his fellow friars to observe faithfully the Rule and Constitutions of the Order.

In 1267, an event of paramount importance for the Dominican Order took place in Bologna. Already in 1262, under the fifth Master General, the decision had been taken by the General Chapter to provide a more imposing resting place for their Founder, Saint Dominic Guzman, than his remains currently enjoyed. John of Vercelli and the members of the Order carried that plan to completion, providing a new shrine for Dominic’s body in the apse of their church. Already on March 15, 1267, Pope Clement IV provided a bull, granting a series of indulgences for those visiting the shrine during the week centered on the Saint’s Feast Day. On May 27, 1267, Pope Innocent sent his blessing with his best wishes for an agreeable assembly to the General Congregation which was about to meet. On June 5, 1267, the translation actually took place in a grand ceremony, with Master John and the delegates assembled for the General Chapter taking part, with the attendance of Archbishop Filippo of Ravenna, Bishop Ottaviano de’ Ubaldinis of Bologna, Bishop Tommaso de’ Ubaldinis of Imola, and other bishops. Before being placed in the shrine, the head and relics were shown publicly.

Master John is known to have consulted Thomas Aquinas officially on several occasions on matters pertaining to theology and the teaching of Pierre de Tarantaise.

During his administration, Pope Gregory X entrusted the Dominican Order with the task of trying to establish peace among the warring States of the Italian peninsula. Additionally, John was also given the task of preparing a framework for the Second Council of Lyons, held in 1274 in an attempt to unify the Eastern and Western Churches. In the course of this work, he met and worked with the Minister General of the Friars Minor, Jerome of Ascoli (who would later become Pope Nicholas IV). Both were later sent by the Holy See to negotiate a disagreement with King Philip III of France.

1276-1277-Five popes

Following the Council, Pope Gregory again looked to the Dominican friars, this time to spread devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus. John took the task to heart, requiring that every Dominican church contain an altar dedicated to the Holy Name. The Society of the Holy Name was formed to combat blasphemy and profanation of this name. Pope Gregory returned to Italy at the end of 1275, but illness ensured that he never reached Rome. He died at Arezzo on January 10, 1276. His new regulations for conclaves “Ubi Periculum”, promulgated at the Council of Lyons, were applied for the first time, and a one-day Conclave (January 20–21, 1276), produced a new pope, the Dominican Innocent V. The General Chapter that year met in Pisa in May, and the Pope sent his greetings to his bretheren, but he died suddenly on June 22, 1276. The Conclave to elect his successor began on July 2, and lasted ten days. Cardinal Ottobono Fieschi was elected on July 11, 1276, and took the name Adrian V. In August, even before his consecration and coronation, he travelled to Viterbo, partially to escape the Roman summer, but also because he wished to meet with the Emperor-elect Rudolf. He died in Viterbo only thirty-seven days after his election, on August 18. At some point during this whirlwind of disasters, John of Vercelli reached the Papal Curia. This was not surprising, since, after a General Chapter, and this one in Pisa, the leaders of the Order of Preachers would have business of all sorts to do with the Curia; the decision to go to Rome was much happier, since one of their own had been elected Pope. After his death, they had no alternative but to wait until the new pope was willing and able to do business with them. The death of Adrian V at Viterbo meant that the Dominican leaders were in Viterbo for the third Conclave of 1276. It should have begun on August 29 or 30, but there were disorders in the town, caused, it seems by curial agitators who wanted a quick election. The Cardinals were forced to remonstrate with the disorderly mob, and they sent three Dominicans, the Archbishop of Corinth (Petrus de Confluentia), the Master General of the Dominicans (John of Vercelli), and the Procurator General (Ioannes Vereschi), to carry their reproof to the citizens of Viterbo and the unruly Curia. Insults were hurled at the messengers, and stones were thrown. Once order was restored, however, the Conclave began, and in one day, on September 8, produced a new pope, Cardinal Peter Julian of Lisbon, who chose to be called John XXI.

On October 15, Pope John XXI appointed John of Vercellae, OP, as well as Hieronymus, the Minister General of the Franciscans, as Apostolic Legates to go to France to arrange a peace between King Philip and King Alfonso X of Castile. The urgency of their mission was repeated in a letter from the College of Cardinals, written during the Sede Vacante following the death of Pope John XXI on May 16, 1277. Pope Nicholas III repeated the same urgent wish for peace directly to King Philip III of France and King Alfonso X of Castile, with a recommendation for John of Vercellae and Hieronymus Masci. On March 12, 1278, Fr. Hieronymus Masci was named a cardinal, but the legates had their orders reinforced by a letter from Nicholas III dated April 4, 1278. Another letter was sent to Cardinal Masci on April 23, urging him to conclude the embassy as soon as possible, since his services were urgently needed in the Roman Curia.

Later Years, 1278-1283

Late in his life, on May 15, 1278, John was appointed by Pope Nicholas III to the position of Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem,. It was a promotion to the prelacy which he did not welcome and which he wished to decline. After consideration and with considerable reluctance, the Pope wrote Master John a long letter (October 1, 1278) rehearsing the reasons why he should not ask to be released from the episcopal office, addressing him in the letter as Joannes electus Hierosolymitanus, quondam Ordinis Fratrum Praedicatorum Magister (John, Bishop-Elect of Jerusalem and former Master of the Order of Preachers). The Pope was still firm in his refusal to release Bishop-elect John, in letters to King Philip of France and King Alfonso of Castile on November 29, 1278. It was finally after the intervention and persuasion of Nicholas III’s nephew, Cardinal Latino Malabranca Orsini, OP, that the Pope finally relented and restored John of Vercelli to the office of Master General of his Order.

The General Chapter of the Order of Preachers was held in Montpellier in 1283. The Chapter decided that the next Chapter would be held in Bologna. But John of Vercelli died on 30 November 1283 in the convent of the Dominicans in Montpellier, France.

General Chapters held by John of Vercelli as Master General

John of Vercelli insisted on the rule instituted by S. Dominic himself that Friars of the Order should travel on foot, never using a horse or a wheeled vehicle. The table below demonstrates the peripatetic nature of John’s life as Master General, never staying in one convent for very long, but constantly pursuing his visitations of one province after another, one convent after another. The site of each General Chapter had been decided at the General Chapter the year before (with the proviso that emergency circumstances might allow the Master General to choose another site), and therefore John’s itinerary every year would include the goal of reaching the chosen site at the appropriate time each Spring.

Prayer to Blessed John of Vercelli for Canonization

O God, Who has willed that Blessed John of Vercelli shine with wondrous prudence and strength, grant that through his intercession, our families may always and everywhere be governed and blessed by your salutary rule, through Christ our Lord.

O God, we humbly beg You, should it be Your holy will that Blessed John of Vercelli, Your glorious apostle of the Holy Name, be raised to the honors of the altar, to make known Your will by heavenly favors through his intercession.

O God, grant that all members of the Holy Name Society who make ardent petition for the canonization of Blessed John of Vercelli, may be filled both with zeal for honoring the most Holy Name of Your Divine Son and with perseverance in living according to the Holy Name Pledge.

Blessed John of Vercelli, promoter of devotion to the most Holy Name of Jesus, pray for us!

Prayer to Blessed John of Vercelli

God our Father, You raised Blessed John of Vercelli to leadership in Your church and made him an apostle of the Holy Name of Jesus, Your divine Son. We ask of you, through the intercession of Blessed John, a renewal of devotion to Your son among ourselves and our fellow men. May all men come to know, to love and to reverence the most Holy Name of Jesus — “So that at Jesus’ name every knee must bend in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth, and every tongue proclaim to the glory of God the Father: JESUS CHRIST IS LORD.” Amen.

Prayer to Blessed John of Vercelli

Father, I abandon myself into your hands; do with me what you will. Whatever you may do, I thank you; I am ready for all, I accept all. Let only your will be done in me. I wish no more than this, O Lord. Into your hands I commend my soul: I offer it to you with all the love of my heart, for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself, to surrender yourself into your hands without reserve and with boundless confidence, for you are my Father. Amen

Blessed John Vercelli, Pray for Us

Prayer to Blessed John of Vercelli

O God, you willed that the blessed John of Vercelli should shine with wonderful prudence and constancy; grant, through his intercession, that your family may always and everywhere be governed by beneficial rule. Amen.

Novena to Blessed John of Vercelli

Day 1

John Garbella was born in Vercelli, a town of northern Italy, in 1205. He was a very bright, studious boy, and because of his great promise, he was sent to the University of Paris where he eventually gained the Doctorate in law. He remained there as a teacher, and later returned to Vercelli to begin a university in his home town. His love of learning and constant study prepared him well for his future as a leader in the Church.

  Let us pray

Heavenly Father, source of all Truth, You sent your divine Son into the world to share with us the truth that makes us free – free to seek You with quiet minds and joyous hearts. Through the intercession of Blessed John of Vercelli, grant us a deep love of sacred truth, and a growing desire to know You more clearly and love You with greater ardor. We ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Day 2

When Blessed John was about 25 years old, and busy at his teaching in Vercelli, there came to that town the head of the newly-founded Order of Preachers, or Dominicans, as they were called because of Dominic, their founder. This successor of the great preacher, Dominic, preached so movingly that the young professor, John Garbella, was touched by God’s grace to ask for admittance to the new Order of Preachers. Blessed Jordan of Saxony, the Dominican Master General, gave him the habit of the Friars Preachers, and sent him to the city of Bologna to begin his preparation for the priesthood, and for an outstanding career in the history of the Order and the Church.

Let us pray

Lord, our God, You have planted deep in the heart of man a thirst for the truth, and a desire to attain union with You in love. As the young John of Vercelli sought the truth, and surrendered himself lovingly to your vocation to a great apostolate, grant that we, too, may seek You with constancy, and serve You with all our hearts. Through the intercession of Blessed John, we ask in particular that You attract the hearts of many young people to your gospel, your love, and a vocation of service in your Church as priests and religious. We ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Day 3

After 15 years of sacred study and very successful preaching in the university city of Bologna, John was sent back to his home town of Vercelli to establish a Dominican priory there. He was made its superior. The small states of those times were wracked with war between the Germanic emperor and the papal states. John’s remarkable gift of peace-making became evident, and he was sent to Venice to reconcile that city-state with its former enemies. He succeeded so well at this, that for the rest of his life, the Popes made use of his sanctity, prudence, and diplomacy to establish peace between warring rulers and states.

Let us pray

Heavenly Father, You have revealed yourself to us as a God of peace, justice, and unity. Through the grace of your divine Son, the Prince of Peace, bring peace to our divided world, justice for all men, unity to the human family. Through the intercession of Blessed John, help us root out of our own hearts the pride, selfishness, and indifference to others that lie at the root of discord and disunity. Make us truly peacemakers, as befits those who call themselves Christians. We ask this in the most Holy Name of Jesus, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Day 4

God’s grace continued to bear much fruit in the life of Blessed John. His religious superiors sent him as official visitator to the newly established houses in Hungary; he was elected Prior of the large priory in Bologna; he was likewise appointed spiritual guide of the Dominican nuns in that city. At the age of 52, he was elected Provincial of the province of Lombardy, and in that position, had to fight the heresies that had sprung up in northern Italy. In all of his works, he turned to God through prayer and the sacraments as his source of remarkable success in the vineyard of the Lord.

Let us pray

Heavenly Father, You gave to each of us a mission – a task in your kingdom. And you likewise prepare for us the graces we need to accomplish our tasks with success, so as to contribute to the extension of your kingdom, and our own sanctification. Let us imitate Blessed John in turning constantly to You, for the strength, the wisdom, and the resources to do your holy will and thus attain our salvation. We ask this in the most Holy Name of Jesus, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Day 5

In the year 1264, at the age of 59, Blessed John was elected Master General of the Dominican Order, the fifth successor of St. Dominic himself. He did not believe himself worthy of the great trust. He wrote to his brethren: “My fears at my inability should be yours as well, wherefore I beg you to give me the help of your prayers so that divine mercy may supply that which I lack in my own strength”. As Master General, he combated the growing spirit of competition between the nations, so as to establish a truly catholic spirit within the spreading Order. He provided a uniform way of celebrating the sacred liturgy for the entire Order, thus ensuring the dignity and beauty of divine worship, and he counseled his priests and brothers constantly to be men of prayer and penance.

  Let us pray

Heavenly Father, Your divine Son commands us to “seek first the kingdom of God and His holiness”. Make us truly men and women of prayer, frequenting the sacraments, loving God and our neighbor, and conforming ourselves to Christ, our savior. Through the intercession of Blessed John, grant that we may always give to you the first priority in our lives, and love You with our whole heart, our whole mind, our whole strength. We ask this in the most Holy Name of Jesus, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns, with You and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.

Day 6

Pope Clement IV had such admiration for Blessed John, and depended so heavily upon his wisdom and counsel that the Pope requested that John go to live in Viterbo, where the papal court was then located. Blessed John remained with the Pope until Clement died. A number of cardinals wished to elect Blessed John, but he had no such ambition, and was destined to govern his own Order, until his death. Again, he was called upon to make peace between the feuding states of Venice and Genoa, and between France and Castille. He wrote to his priests and brothers: “Watch the little things. He who grows careless in little things, little by little falls. He who does not push himself to make progress, goes backward.”

  Let us pray

Lord, our God, grant us the generosity to seek opportunities for doing good; the prudence to do it wisely and well; and the humility to rely upon God for all that we need, and to trust in Him unquestioningly. In imitation of Blessed John, help us to be true apostles of Jesus, our Lord, and faithful followers of His gospel of peace and humility. We ask this in the most Holy Name of Jesus, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Day 7

In April, 1273, Pope Gregory X announced an ecumenical council to be convoked in May, 1274, in the city of Lyons in southeastern France. Among the acts of that council, in which Blessed John actively participated, was a decree that greater reverence, should be paid to the Holy Name of Jesus by all Christian people. Pope Gregory entrusted Blessed John with the leadership of this renewed devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus throughout Europe. In his letter to Blessed John, Pope Gregory wrote: “Let them honor with special reverence that Name which is above all names, the only Name given by heaven to men for their salvation, which is the Name of Jesus, who saved His people from their sins”.   

Let us pray

Heavenly Father, by the message of an Archangel, You instructed both Mary, the Mother of the Savior, and St. Joseph, his foster-father, that his name was to be JESUS, meaning “God is Savior”. Grant us a deep reverence for this HOLY NAME of JESUS, and a constant gratitude to our Divine Savior for the graces of redemption, which He has lavished upon us by his life of sufferings, death, and resurrection. We ask this in that Most Holy Name of Jesus, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Day 8
Upon receipt of Pope Gregory’s commission to spread devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus throughout Europe, Blessed John immediately wrote to all Dominicans as follows: “Desirous of protecting the honor of God, of obeying this apostolic command, and of promoting in our neighbor an increase in devotion, we beseech you to stir up your zeal to the end that you personally see to it that this request of the Holy Father receives full compliance by having your subjects preach with convincing arguments and with scrupulous diligence the need for reverencing the Holy Name”. Confraternities of the Holy Name were founded in every Dominican church; altars were dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus. As the movement spread and gathered momentum, it coalesced into the Holy Name Society as we know it today, brought into being by an ecumenical council and nurtured and spread by Blessed John of Vercelli.   

Let us pray

Heavenly Father, give to all of us a warm, loving reverence for the Holy Name of Jesus, your divine Son, our Lord. Bless and prosper the work of the Holy Name Society throughout the world. As it has existed and functioned for seven centuries, grant that its purpose of spreading reverence and respect for the Name of Jesus may continue and grow to your glory and the good of souls. We ask this in that most Holy Name of Jesus, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns, with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Day 9
In the year 1276, Blessed John had the great happiness of seeing one his own brethren, Peter of Tarentaise, elected as the first Dominican Pope. Two years later, when John was 73 years old, Pope Nicholas III appointed him to be Archbishop of the city of Jerusalem. Besides his basic modesty which shied away from the honor of the episcopacy, his prudence dictated that a man of his years and declining health was not up to the job of governing a diocese wracked by war between Christian crusaders and Moslems. He begged to be released from that appointment, and to be allowed to retire as Master General of his Order. The Pope acceded to his first request, but left to the Dominican brothers the decision as to his retirement. They would not hear of it, and he thus served his brethren as their General until his death in 1283, at the age of 78.

His Dominican brothers, and all who know him, realized that a saint had gone to his eternal reward. In 1903, Pope St. Pius X officially inscribed the name of John of Vercelli among the Blesseds of the Church; we await the day when he will be accorded the full recognition of canonization.

Let us pray

Heavenly Father, we give you thanks and praise for the life, the accomplishments, and the virtues of Blessed John. Through his intercession, we commend to your love and your protection the Order of Preachers to which he devoted his life, the Holy Name Society, which he is the patron, and the devotion to the most Holy Name of Jesus, which he promoted with such great zeal. We pray in that most Holy Name of Jesus, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.