Saint Vincent Strambi

Vincenzo Strambi, CP (in religion Vincenzo Maria di San Paolo; 1 January 1745 – 1 January 1824) was an Italian Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Macerata-Tolentino from 1801 until his resignation in 1823. He was a professed member of the Passionists. Strambi became a Passionist despite the order's founder, Paul of the Cross, refusing him several times due to Strambi's frail constitution. He practiced Passionist austerities, which continued after his appointment as a bishop, including him favoring his religious habit rather than the usual episcopal garb. Strambi was known for his charitable projects that included the care of the poor and the reduction of diocesan expenditures in order to provide for them; he took special interests in the education and ongoing formation of priests. Strambi was exiled from his diocese 1808 after he refused to take an oath of allegiance to the First French Empire under Napoleon, who had annexed Macerata. Strambi spent that time in Novara and Milan before he managed to return to his see in 1814. He served as bishop for the remainder of the pontificate of Pope Pius VII before his successor Pope Leo XII accepted Strambi's resignation and summoned him to Rome as his advisor. A sudden illness of the pope—which seemed to be mortal—prompted Strambi to offer his own life to God so that the pope could live. Leo XII rallied to great surprise but Strambi died of a stroke within the week. Strambi's canonization cause was opened after his death on 25 June 1845 and he was named Venerable on 1 April 1894. Pope Pius XI beatified Strambi in 1925 and Pope Pius XII later canonized him a couple of decades later in 1950. Vincenzo Strambi was born in 1745 in Civitavecchia as the last of four children to Giuseppe Strambi and Eleonora Gori; his three elder siblings all died in childhood. His father served as a pharmacist known for his charitable works and his mother was noted for her piety.