CLEMENTE DA S

CLEMENTE da S. ELPIDIO, blessed. - He is also called by biographers C. da Osimo, but was born in the village of S. Elpidio, near that city. In 1274 he was prior general of the Hermits of S. Agostino, as appears from the registers of the ancient Chapters of the Order. At Pentecost in 1284 he was re-elected superior general at the Chapter of Orvieto, and governed his institute with skill and firmness. The Augustinian family, established in 1256 as a formal and fully constituted Order, had encountered in its development difficulties arising from the heterogeneous elements that had formed II. But little by little the Order was consolidated, and C., by means of suitable constitutions, which were definitively approved at the general Chapter of Ratisbona, gave it the unity it needed. C. also concerned himself with the crusades and, complying with the wishes of Niccolò IV, charged many of his religious with preaching them. Under him the province of the Holy Land was founded. This active and intelligent general of the Augustinians died in the repute of holiness on 8 Apr. 1291. Clemente XII approved his cult on 16 Sept. 1762. Feast day: 8 Apr.