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Biography

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Felix of Cantalice, known in Italian as Felice da Cantalice and in Spanish as Félix de Cantalicio, was a Capuchin lay brother of the sixteenth century and the first member of the Capuchin reform of the Franciscan Order to be canonized. He was born in 1515 at Cantalice, a hill town in the Sabine country of central Italy (today in the province of Rieti, Lazio), to a family of peasant farmers. His parents are named in the tradition as Santi and Santa Porri; he was one of several sons. From childhood he worked as a shepherd and farm labourer, first near his birthplace and later in the service of a landed family at Cittaducale. He received little formal schooling, but contemporary accounts describe a simple and fervent piety, regular attendance at Mass, and a habit of prayer while at work in the fields.

In his late twenties he sought admission to religious life. After at least one refusal elsewhere, he was received as a lay brother by the Capuchins, a recently founded strict reform of the Friars Minor, at their house of Anticoli (now Fiuggi) around the mid-1540s. After novitiate and profession he was assigned to houses of the Roman province and, from about 1547 until his death, lived at the Capuchin friary in Rome. There he held the office of questor, going daily through the streets with a sack to collect food and alms for the community. Romans came to know him as Brother Deo Gratias, from the thanksgiving he offered at every gift. Children gathered around him; he taught them short hymns and the elements of Christian doctrine, and he was often seen carrying his sack while reciting the rosary or singing lauds.

Though unlettered in the scholarly sense, he acquired a wide reputation for spiritual discernment. Prelates, cardinals, and ordinary Romans sought his counsel. He formed a close friendship with Saint Philip Neri, founder of the Oratory; the two visited one another, and contemporary witnesses describe both serious conversation on the spiritual life and moments of holy playfulness. Felix practised severe penance, slept little, and observed long fasts, yet he was remembered for cheerfulness and for charity toward the poor. Marvels of healing and of knowledge of hidden things were already attributed to him in his lifetime. He remained a simple unordained brother and never sought office.

Felix died in Rome on 18 May 1587, the same calendar day traditionally given for his birth. Large crowds attended his funeral. Devotion to him spread quickly among the Capuchins and among the people of Rome and of his native region. He was beatified by Pope Urban VIII in 1625 and canonized by Pope Clement XI on 22 May 1712. His relics are venerated in the Capuchin church of Santa Maria della Concezione in Rome. His feast is kept on 18 May.

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