PELLEGRINO delle ALPI, saint. - A Scottish prince, born toward the end of the 7th century. At the age of fifteen, having been orphaned of his father, he refused the crown offered him and, having distributed all his possessions to the poor, made a pilgrimage to the Holy Places. He then went to Egypt, where he is said to have remained for several hours in a pyre without being burned, in order to prove to the Muslims the truth of the Christian faith, but in vain.
He then came to Italy to serve the sick at Ancona. From there, passing through Rome, he went to the sanctuary of S. Michele on Monte Gargano. After some time, prompted by heavenly inspiration, he withdrew to an eremitical life on the border between the Modenese and Lucchese Apennines (the Leto pass), where his church later arose. He died at the age of ninety-seven, leaving his history written upon beech bark. The people canonized him; his cult spread widely in Tuscany and Emilia, and around him flourished a rich literature, popular and humble, yet full of feeling. His sanctuary is the destination of continual pilgrimages, often even from distant lands, such as Scotland. His feast is celebrated on 2 August.
(fol. Alinari)
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PELLEGRINO – St. P. with St. Frediano. Detail from a triptych of the Tuscan school (1487) – Lucca, Pinacoteca.
1916; The Legend of St. P. of the Alps, illustrated by G. Mazzoni with a preface by G. Bertoni and G. A. Bianchi, Florence 1919; B.<<
BIBL.:
Paoli Catalani, S. P. dell'Alpe nella leggenda, nell'arte, nella vita, Lucca 1923; A. Mercati, S. P. delle Alpi in Garfagnana. Note agiografiche e storiche, Roma 1926; U. Monti, Il santo Pellegrino delle nostre Alpi, Genova 1927.