Torello, Bl.
TORELLO, BL.
Hermit; d. March 16, 1282. He lived at Avellaneto near Poppi in Tuscany and was buried in what was at one time the Vallombrosian monastery of S. Fedele. Both the vallombrosans and Franciscans claim him as one of their members, but their claims are without historical foundation. He is invoked as a protector of children and of women in childbirth. His cult was approved by Pope Benedict XIV. He is usually represented in art as a hermit with a wolf and a small child.
Feast: March 16.
Bibliography: Acta Sanctorum March 2:493–499. a. m. zimmermann, Kalendarium Bendictinum: Die Heiligen und Seligen des Benediktinerorderns und seiner Zweige, 4 v. (Metten 1933–38) 1:337–338. a. zimmermann, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. m. buchberber, 10 v. (Freiburg 1930–38) 10:209. l. berra, a. mercati, and a. pelzer, Dizionario ecclesiastico, 3 v. (Turin 1954–58) 3:1155. Enciclopedia de la Religión Católica, ed. r. d. ferreres et al., 7 v. (Barcelona 1950–56) 7:257. g. gorettiminiati, Vita di S. Torello da Poppi (Rome 1926).
[k. nolan]