CAIMI, BERNARDINO, Blessed
Born in Milan in the second half of the 15th century. Having entered the Order of the Observant Friars Minor at a young age, he served as guardian in various convents of Lombardy. From March 1477 to April of the following year, he was sent as temporary guardian of the Holy Sepulchre on Mount Sion. Upon his return to Italy, he conceived and carried out the project of building a sanctuary that would reproduce the image of the Holy Places, with various chapels representing the life and passion of Jesus. He chose for this purpose the hill of Varallo, and in April 1493 he solemnly took possession of the new convent. As provincial vicar of Milan, he was entrusted with missions in Spain (1483), Calabria (1484), Croatia, and Bosnia (1495). A skilled preacher (many of his sermons are still preserved in manuscript), he devoted himself to aiding the poor and destitute, maintaining relations with prominent figures of his time, as evidenced by the numerous letters preserved in the State Archive of Milan and partly published by E. Motta. The date of his death is uncertain; however, we know that he was still alive in 1507. The cause for the confirmation of his cult is underway.