Machine translation of the 1948–1954 Italian original. The original text is authoritative.
SALVATORE DA HORTA, saint. — Professed lay brother of the Friars Minor. Born to poor parents at S. Colomba de Farnés in the diocese of Gerona (Spain) in December 1520, after having been a shoemaker, a shepherd boy, and in service with the Benedictines of the sanctuary of Montserrat, on 3 May 1541 he donned the Franciscan habit at Barcelona, in the convent of S. Maria di Gesù.
Simple and illiterate, he immediately distinguished himself in every kind of virtue through the humblest services of the convent. He suffered persecution from his superiors who, seeing him endowed with the gift of miracles, believed him to be possessed, to the point of involving the authority of the Inquisition and frequently transferring him from one convent to another in order to prevent the crowds of sick people, coming from every part of Spain and from France, from going to see him. In 1560 Philip II summoned him to Madrid, to his Palace, to recommend his family and the Spanish dominions to his prayers.
(courtesy of Dr Alberto Averini) SALVADORI, GIULIO — Portrait.S. Francesco Borgia, then duke of Gandía, likewise wished to have him as a guest in his Palace for several days. In November 1565, almost driven out of Spain by the blindness of his superiors, S. was sent to Cagliari in Sardinia, where, in the convent of Gesù-Maria, he spent the last 18 months of his life, surrounded by the affection and veneration of all. He died on 18 March 1567.
The cult soon spread, especially in Spain and its territories, in Sardinia, and throughout the Franciscan Order. Paul V granted S. the title of blessed on 15 February 1606, ratified by Clement XI on 29 January 1711. S. was canonized by Pius XI on 17 April 1938. Feast day: 18 March.
BIBL.: F. Gonzaga, De origine seraphicae religionis, Roma 1587; F. Spinelli, Vita e miracoli del b. S. da H., Firenze 1615; S. Vitale, Madreperla serafica, ossia vita del b. S. da H., ivi 1640; anon., Vida y milagros del b. Salvador, Perpignano 1662; Wadding, Annales, XVI, pp. 542-43; XIX, p. 136 ff.; XX, pp. 15 ff., 101 ff., 167 ff.; P. Guiso, Historia del b. Salvador de H., Cagliari 1732; F. Sequi, Vita, miracoli dopo la morte e culto del b. S. da H., ivi 1882; V. G. Berchialla, Vita compendiosa del b. S. da H., ricavata dai processi autentici, ivi 1887; J. Collett, Vida del b. Salvador de H., Gerona 1906; P. Foguet, El taumaturgo catalan, Vich 1927; A. Cass, Il cuore incorrotto del b. S. da H. (Note storiche), Cagliari 1934; E. Diotallevi, Vita di s. S. da H., ivi 1938; P. Paoli, S. S. da H., Roma 1938. Alberto Cogoni
Cite this article
“SALVATORE DA HORTA, SANTO.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. X (1953), p. 1017. Azione Romana digital edition, https://azioneromana.com/article/salvatore-da-horta-santo.
