GANDOLF OF BINASCO, BL.

Franciscan hermit; b. village of Binasco, near Milan, Italy, late 12th century; d. Polizzi Generosa, Sicily, c. 1260. He joined the franciscans during the lifetime of francis of assisi, and his observance of the rule was so perfect that he advanced rapidly in holiness of life and the practice of virtue. His food was coarse, his dress rough; he spent long night vigils in prayer, and he severely disciplined his body. His quest for solitude took him from Palermo to a hermitage near the small town of Polizzi Generosa, where, even during his lifetime, his conspicuous sanctity, his inspired eloquence, and his reputation for miracles won him the enthusiastic veneration of the people of the town and surrounding countryside. He had great devotion to the Passion, as well as to the Blessed Mother, and as he lay dying, he embraced the crucifix, punctuating his sobs with the ejaculation "Ave." A vita, in dialogue form, written not long after his death by James of Narni, bishop of Cefalù (d. 1324), was published in 1632 in the Processus pro canonizatione, and his cult was confirmed by Pope gregory xv in 1621.

Feast: April 3 (Franciscans).

Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum September 5:701–728. Bibliotheca hagiographica latina antiquae ct mediae aetatis, 2 v. (Brussels 1898–1901; suppl. 1911) 1:3261–64. o. bonmann, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 4:513. l. wadding, Scriptores Ordinis Minorum (3d ed. Quaracchi-Florence 1931–) 4:165–170.

[t. c. crowley]