FILIPPO BENIZI, saint. — Born in Florence on 15 August 1233, he pursued his higher studies at the Universities of Paris and Padua, where he took a degree in medicine. Having entered the recently founded Order of the Servants of Mary, he became its superior general, legislator, and distinguished propagator. Out of humility he refused the bishopric of Florence and the papacy. He travelled through almost all of Europe preaching, founding convents of his Order, and reconciling peoples divided by factions. Among his pupils were many disciples distinguished for holiness and learning. He died at Todi on 22 August 1285. He was canonized by Clement X on 12 April 1671. Feast day: 23 August.
BIBL.: Acta SS. Augusti, IV, Venice 1754, pp. 665–710; A. Morini-P. Soulier, Monum. Ord. S.S. Mariae, I, Brussels 1897, pp. 53–108; II, ibid. 1898–99, pp. 65–83; P. Soulier, Vie de St Philippe, 2nd ed., Nancy 1913; P. A. Wimmer, Der heilige Ph. B., Freiburg im Breisgau 1932; Martyr. Romanum, p. 334. Gabriele Roschini