Blessed Giacomo Illirico

James of Sclavonia (Croatian: Jakov Zadranin; c. 1400 – 27 April 1485 or 1496), also known as Giacomo Illirico, Giacomo of Bitetto or Jakov Varingez, was a Croatian friar of the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans). He assumed the religious name "Giacomo". He was beatified on 29 December 1700 by Pope Clement XI and was proclaimed to be Venerable on 19 December 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI. He is patron of the town of Bitetto in Bari, Apulia, Italy. James was born in Zadar around 1400 to a Croatian family of Leonardo and Beatrice Varinguer. At the age of 20 he joined the Franciscan order as a brother assistant. In year 1438 his Franciscan deputy-provincial was requested to partake in the general chapter of the Franciscan Order in Bari, and chose James to accompany him. After they arrived James decided to stay. He lived in various Italian monasteries for 12 years, serving as a cook, before settling in one in Bitetto. James was specially devoted to the Passion of Christ and Virgin Mary, he was carrying by a penitential act, delivering the long-term prayers and contemplation, and even fell into raptures few times. James was also in charge of collecting alms, and this led him to numerous travels. During a plague epidemic of 1482 he cared patients infected with the plague. He relocated to Bari in the Kingdom of Naples in order to escape Turkish invaders of Croatia between the ages of 18 and 20. It was there that he felt a deep call to religious life and thus decided to join the Order of Friars Minor in Bitetto. He spent his time there as a cook as well as a sacristan and gardener. He was known for his devout and simple life and was prone to ecstasies. He was also noted as being a miracle worker and for his skill of levitation. He worked with victims of the plague in 1482. James died in Bitetto and was buried in a chapel built for him. He died on 27 April 1496 at the age of 96 and was exhumed two decades after his death in which it was found that he was incorrupt.