PELLEGRINO of the ALPS, saint. — A Scottish prince, born toward the end of the 7th century. At the age of 15, after his father’s death, he refused the crown offered to him, distributed all his goods to the poor, and went on pilgrimage to the Holy Places. He then traveled to Egypt, where, according to tradition, he stood unharmed in a burning pyre for several hours to prove to the Muslims the truth of the Christian faith, but in vain.
He then came to Italy to serve the lepers at Ancona. From there, passing through Rome, he went to the shrine of St. Michael on Monte Gargano. After some time, inspired by a heavenly vision, he withdrew to an eremitical life on the border of the Apennines between Modena and Lucca (at the Leto pass), where his church later arose. He died at the age of 97, having written his own life story on a beech bark. The people canonized him, his cult spread widely in Tuscany and Emilia, and a rich, popular, and humble but deeply felt literature grew up around him. His shrine is a continual pilgrimage destination, often from distant lands such as Scotland. His feast is celebrated on August 2.
PELLEGRINO — St. P. with St. Frediano. Detail of a triptych by a Tuscan school (1487) — Lucca, Pinacoteca.
Some ancient writers, anachronistically, would have him received into the Order by St. Philip Benizi (d. 1285). Returning to his homeland at the command of his superiors, he led a penitential life, enduring with heroic patience a painful ulcer on his leg, which was miraculously healed just as amputation was about to be performed. At his death he immediately received public veneration, later approved by Paul V in 1609; the cause was regularly introduced, and Benedict XIII canonized him on December 27, 1726. Feast on May 1.