CRISPINO da VITERBO, blessed. — Capuchin lay brother of the Roman province, in the world Pietro Fioretti, born at Viterbo on 13 November 1668, died at Rome on 19 May 1750. He served as nurse, cook, and gardener in various convents; from 1702 to 1748 he was the alms collector of the convent of Orvieto.
Of serene and cheerful disposition, and fond of poetry, he became dear to people of every class; he inspired love of virtue, of which he was an austere exemplar and an effective advocate, particularly of devotion to Mary Most Holy. Favored with extraordinary charisms, he was sought for counsel by prelates, nobles, and scholars. He wrote cordial little letters exhorting people to do good and offering consolation. Weakened by penances and illnesses, he spent his final years in the infirmary of the Roman convent of the Most Holy Conception (in present-day Via Vittorio Veneto); his remains are venerated in a chapel of the church. He was beatified by Pius VII on 26 August 1806; the cause of canonization was resumed on 28 February 1923. Feast day: 23 May.
C. da V., beato dell'Ordine dei Cappuccini (with the blessed man’s correspondence), 3rd ed., Tivoli 1923; Giorgio da Riano, Il b. C. da V. in un processo della polizia napoleonica, in L'Italia Franc., 4 (1929), pp. 225–30; id., Massime e preghiere del b. C., 2nd ed., Vicenza 1931; Isidoro da Alatri, Il prediletto da Maria: frate C. da V., Viterbo 1932. Ilarino da Milano