PINI, MICHELE, blessed. - Camaldolese recluse, born in Firenze in 1442, died at Camaldoli on 21 Jan. 1522. Raised at the court of the Medici, he was a favourite of Lorenzo il Magnifico, who had him ordained priest and granted him ample freedom to devote himself to a life of piety, provided that he remained close to him.
Having fallen in love with the eremitical life, after a visit to the Holy Hermitage of Camaldoli, he became a monk on 24 March 1502. After three years he became a recluse and remained so for 17 years until his death. He attained high degrees of mystical union in a life of uninterrupted prayer and severe penance, tempered by such cheerfulness as to make him greatly beloved by all his fellow brethren. Among other things, he predicted the supreme pontificate of cardinals Giuliano de' Medici and Alessandro Farnese. He wrote a short treatise on the Most Holy Sacrament and another on prayer. By divine inspiration, he instituted the «Crown of the Lord», immediately approved (14 Feb. 1616) and enriched with numerous indulgences by Leone X.
BIRL.: S. Razzi, Vite dei santi e beati dell'O. di Camald., Firenze 1600, p. 115; I. Fiori, Vita del b. M. P., Roma 1732; J. M. Mitterelli-A. Costadoni, Anual. Camald., VIII, Venezia 1764, pp. 29-33; A. Pagnani, Storia dei Camald., Sassoferrato 1905, p. 181; A. Giabbani, Menologio Camald., Roma 1950, p. 6. Anselmo Giabbani