Saint Humilis of Bisignano

Humilis of Bisignano (Italian: Umile da Bisignano) (1582 – 26 November 1637) was a Franciscan friar who was widely known in his day as a mystic and wonderworker. He has been declared a saint by the Catholic Church. He was born Luca Antonio Pirozzo in 1582 in the city of Bisignano in the region of Calabria, the son of Giovanni Pirozzo and Ginevra Giardino. He grew up a very religious child and was known to be often at prayer, attending Mass daily and receiving Holy Communion as often as was permitted, a rare practice during that era. He was noted during his youth as an exemplar of humility, in keeping with the religious name he later adopted, as a result of his literally turning his cheek after being brutally slapped in the face in the city square. About the age of 18, Pirozzo felt called to enter a religious order, but, for various reasons, did not do so until 1609. In that year, aged 27, he felt called to enter the Reformed Friars Minor, a branch of the Order following a more severe way of life, who had a community at the medieval Convento di Riforma (Friary of the Reform) in his city. He was admitted that same year as a lay brother into the novitiate of those friars which was located at Mesoraca in the Province of Crotone, at which time he received the religious habit and was given the name by which he is known. After overcoming various difficulties during that year of probation, he was allowed to profess religious vows as a full member of the Order on 4 September 1610. Humilis had been known to experience religious ecstasy since his childhood. After his admission to the Friars Minor, he was assigned the various domestic tasks entrusted to the lay brothers among the friars. His superiors in the Order also repeatedly subjected him to many tasks and challenges to determine his character and the validity of these supernatural experiences.