CORRADO CONFALONIERI of PIACENZA, saint. - Hermit and Franciscan tertiary, b. in 1290, d. 19 Feb. 1351. Devoted to hunting in his youth, one day he set fire to a bush in order to flush out game; when the fire spread, a poor commoner was arrested and condemned as the culprit. Moved by remorse, C. freed the alleged offender by confessing his imprudence, and compensated for the damage by selling all his own and his wife’s possessions (1315). By mutual consent they then separated: his wife became a Poor Clare nun at Piacenza, while he emigrated to Sicily where, near Noto, he led an eremitical life for 36 years, being also endowed with the gift of miracles. His cult was extended to the Franciscan Order by Urban VIII in 1625. Feast on 19 Feb.
BIBL.: P. M. Campi, Vita di s. C. eremita, Piacenza 1614; Acta SS. Februarii, III, Anversa 1658, pp. 159-68; L. da Clary, Aureola Serafica, I, Quaracchi 1898, pp. 436-41; L. Wadding, Annales Minorum, VI, ivi 1931, pp. 270-72; VIII, ivi 1932, p. 74 ff. Alberto Ghinato