Sebastian Maggi
{{Short description|Dominican priest}}
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix=Blessed
|name=Sebastian Maggi
|honorific_suffix=O.P.
|birth_date= 1414
|death_date= 1496
|feast_day= 16 December
|venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church
|image= Sebastian Maggi.jpg
|imagesize=
|caption= Depiction by Francesco Zignago (1793)
|birth_place= Brescia, Duchy of Milan
|death_place= Genoa, Republic of Genoa
|titles= Priest
|beatified_date= 15 April 1760
|beatified_place=Saint Peter's Basilica, Papal States
|beatified_by= Pope Clement XIII
|canonized_date=
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes=Dominican habit
|patronage= }}
Sebastian Maggi (1414–1496) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Dominicans. Maggi also served as the confessor to both Girolamo Savonarola and Catherine of Genoa.[http://acta-sanctorum.blogspot.com/2009/12/blessed-sebastian-maggi.html Blessed Sebastian Maggi] (Acta Sanctorum)
Pope Clement XIII beatified him on 15 April 1760.[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02760a.htm Brescia]. The Catholic Encyclopedia. NewAdvent.org.
Life
Sebastian Maggi was born in Brescia to nobles in 1414. He is related to Bishop Berardo Maggi who was also the Duke and Count of Brescia.[http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmaggib.html Bishop Berardo Maggi]. Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
Maggi began his work in 1429 when he joined the Order of Preachers. His intelligence was noticed and he later received a master's degree in theological studies. He rose through the ranks and became the superior of several religious Dominican houses. He practiced corporal mortification and was strict in discipline. He would often tell his subordinates: "When you have committed a fault, come to me, not as prior, but as your father. If you will not have me as a father, you will find me a severe judge."[http://www.dominicanfriars.org/news/dominican-saints-101-bl-sebastian-maggi Dominican Saints 101: Bl. Sebastian Maggi] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20141022185252/http://www.dominicanfriars.org/news/dominican-saints-101-bl-sebastian-maggi |date=2014-10-22 }}
He appointed the monk Girolamo Savonarola to the position of novice master and set that famous Florentine friar on his own path to fame. In his time he was regarded as one of the greatest preachers in the Italian state.
Pope Alexander VI chose Father Maggi to investigate revelations that Savonarola claimed were given to him directly from God. Savonarola appealed the choice and believed that Sebastian - as Vicar-General of the Lombard Congregation - would be biased and try to take over his recently emancipated "San Marco" facility in Florence. Alexander VI, however, had already decided to give the facility back to the Congregation, making Sebastian Savonarola's canonical superior.Michael de la Bedoyere, The Meddlesome Friar and the Wayward Pope, p. 150-153
He died in 1496. He is buried at the Dominican "Santa Maria di Castello" complex in Genoa. In 1963 his remains were still found to be incorrupt.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://saints.sqpn.com/blessed-sebastian-maggi/ Saints SQPN]
- [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/76550 Santi e Beati]
{{Dominican Order}}
{{Canonization}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maggi, Sebastian}}
Category:15th-century venerated Christians
Category:15th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests
Category:Beatifications by Pope Clement XIII
Category:Dominican beatified people
Category:Italian beatified people