BARTOLOMEO da SALUTÍO, venerable. – Orator, mystic, and Franciscan poet, in the world B. Cambi, born at Socana in the Casentino on 3 April 1558, called “da Salutio” from the place of origin or residence of his father when he entered religious life. A Friar Minor at the age of 18, he studied in the Order’s finest schools and, while still very young, began preaching and teaching with success. After a brief period of waywardness outside the convent, which he expiated with harsh penances, he went about preaching with apostolic fervour, often in an apocalyptic tone and sometimes accompanied by miracles, throughout Italy, arousing such enthusiasm that the authorities became concerned and prohibited him from preaching. He spent the final 15 years of his life devoted to contemplation, and died in Rome, reputed holy, on 15 November 1617.
Of his sermons, which constituted genuine public events, with work suspended, shops closed, etc., echoes remain in the archives and chronicles of the period, as well as a reflection in his spiritual works, in which he also reveals himself as one of the greatest Italian mystics of the 17th century. His spirituality is Franciscan, but marked by the Counter-Reformation and by his own ardent and impetuous character.
As a mystical prose writer and poet (here he recalls Jacopone), he possesses undeniable merit. Not entirely free from the defects of his age, he transcends them through his strong personality and the abundance and sincerity of his feeling.