Clemente da Sant'Elpidio, Blessed

CLEMENTE DA SANT'ELPIDIO, Blessed. - He is also called C. of Osimo by biographers, but he was born in the village of S. Elpidio, near that city. In 1274 he was prior general of the Hermits of St. Augustine, as appears from the registers of the ancient Chapters of the Order. At Pentecost in 1284 he was reelected superior general in the Chapter of Orvieto, and he governed his institute with ability and firmness. The Augustinian family, born in 1256 as a formal and fully constituted Order, had encountered difficulties in its development owing to the heterogeneous elements that had made it up. But little by little the Order consolidated, and C., with suitable constitutions, which were definitively approved in the General Chapter of Regensburg, gave it the unity it needed. C. also concerned himself with the crusades, and, seconding the wishes of Nicholas IV, he 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 odor of sanctity on 8 April 1291. Clement XII approved his cult on 16 Sept. 1762. Feast on 8 April.