TOMMASO da Cori, Blessed. - Franciscan, secular name Francesco Antonio Placidi, born at Cori on 4 June 1655, died at Bellegra on 11 January 1729.
He donned the religious habit on 7 February 1677 at Orvieto, taking the name T. He completed his philosophical and theological studies at the convent of S. Maria del Paradiso in Viterbo and was ordained priest in 1683. On 19 July of that year he obtained his preaching license. At the end of 1683 his superiors sent him to Orvieto as vice master of novices. In 1684 he was at the convent of S. Francesco near Bellegra, established the previous year as a retreat for the Roman province. From that year, T.’s name and work were bound to that retreat, where the friars, according to his vision, were to “strive more earnestly in the ways of the spirit for the salvation of their own souls and of their neighbor.” T. drafted the statutes for the retreat to foster individual religious perfection and to promote apostolic work among the people; these statutes were imposed on all retreats by the General Chapter of the Order held at Murcia in Spain at Pentecost 1756. The retreat at Bellegra attracted friars from various provinces, so that in 1703 a second retreat had to be founded in the same Roman province at Palombara Sabina, and later others were established throughout Italy, especially through the efforts of his disciple St. Teofilo da Corte (v.).
T. exercised widely the priestly ministry, traveling through the Subiaco, Tiburtine, and Prenestine regions, particularly through sacred preaching and hearing the confessions of the faithful. Though of delicate health, he practiced continual penance, intensified by the strictest poverty. On 3 September 1786 Pius VI declared him Blessed, and in 1827 the City of Rome enrolled him among its heavenly patrons. Feast day: 11 January.