Blessed Gentilis of Matelica

He seized every opportunity to announce the word of God to the people; and the people were always eager to hear him. The eloquence of his preaching, supported by an austere life and a zeal that nothing could discourage, brought back many victims of vice to the paths of virtue. With miracles also supporting his word, he was able to make the truth known to souls that error had enveloped in its thick darkness. After having evangelized various regions of Italy for several years, our Blessed one obtained permission from his superiors to go and preach the faith in the Levant. Before leaving, he went to say goodbye to his father. The latter, infirm and advanced in age, complained bitterly that his son was abandoning him at the decline of his life: "My son," he said to him, "do you not wish to stay to close your father's eyes and lay him in the tomb?" — "My father," replied the Blessed one, "I promise you before God to return to assist you in your final moments and to render you the last duties." — Consoled by this promise, the old man blessed his son and let him go.

Gentile traveled successively through Egypt and Palestine, then he ventured into the interior of Pe rsia. Perse The primary location of their final mission and martyrdom. However, despite all his efforts and all his good will, he had not been able to speak the Arabic language. Thus, discouraged, he thought of taking the road back to Europe. It was a trial through which God was putting his servant; soon He made His holy will known to him.

He who gives, when He pleases and to whom He pleases, the apostolic vocation, the Savior Jesus, appeared to him one day, and said to him, as once to the Prophet: "Behold, I have placed my word upon your lips; wherever I send you, you shall go; and all that I have revealed to you, you shall say on my behalf to these infidel nations." At the same instant, filled with the Spirit of God, the Blessed one received the gift of tongues, and spoke Arabic and the Persian idiom with the greatest ease.

The conversions he was then able to effect were truly prodigious; the number of infidels and Jews to whom he conferred baptism is estimated at at least fifteen thousand. The holy missionary neglected nothing that could strengthen his dear neophytes in the faith; his fasts were continual, his clothing rough and poor, and, out of love for Jesus Christ, he despised all the things of the earth as mud. An exact observer of evangelical poverty, he took from the alms given to him only what was strictly necessary for his subsistence for the present day, and, without worrying about the morrow, he had all the rest distributed to other poor people.

Thus, the trust that these peoples had in their apostle was boundless. When they were asked what their belief was, they replied: "We believe the faith of Brother Gentile." Heaven, moreover, confirmed the missionary's preaching with numerous wonders. Thus, many times, while he was preaching, multitudes of birds of different species would gather around him; and, to the sight of the amazed audience, they appeared to listen to him with attention.

The gift of prophecy was not lacking in our Blessed one. The Shah of Persia having arrested and thrown into prison all the Venetian merchants trading in his states, the Republic of Venice sent an embassy to this prince, at the head of which was the famous Marco Cornaro. These amb assadors met Marc Cornaro Venetian ambassador and future Doge of Venice. our Blessed one on their way and took him with them. Along the way, Cornaro fell ill and was, in a few days, reduced to the point of death. Gentil did not cease to predict his prompt recovery, the vicissitudes and trials that awaited him, and he finally announced to him that one day he, Cornaro, would be Doge of Venice. Everything happened as the servant of God had predicted.

Gentil undertook the pilgrimage to Mount Sinai, where the relics of Saint Catherine, virgin and martyr, rest. He went there with the entire Venetian embassy. Now, one day, he suddenly disappeared from the midst of his traveling companions; his absence lasted eight days, after which he reappeared in the midst of the astonished pilgrims. His demeanor was as calm as if he had not moved from his place. Cornaro pressed him with all sorts of questions to reveal to him where he had gone and what he had done during those eight days. The servant of God could not help but confess confidentially to his interlocutor that he had gone to Italy to assist his father in his final moments, that he had presided over the funeral, and then taken part in the family council for the settlement of affairs.

Upon his return to Italy, Cornaro went to make inquiries, and all the inhabitants of Matelica attested t o him th Matelica Birthplace of Blessed Gentil. at indeed Gentil had come to spend eight days in his native city, that he had attended the last illness of his old father, and that he had only left after the funeral. The presence of the Blessed one in his homeland coincided exactly with the time and duration of his disappearance on Mount Sinai.

Gentile then traveled as an apostle through Arabia and Persia, winning new victories every day over the impious sect of Muhammad. He came as far as Trebizond and Sarmastro, which he evangelized, as well as the surrounding regions. His zeal shone there with more brilliance than ever, authorized by an infinity of miracles and rewarded by numerous conversions of infidels.

However, God wished to crown the labors of his faithful servant with the halo of martyrdom. As he was preaching in Tori ngia, a Toringie City in northern Persia where Gentilis was martyred. city in northern Persia, the fierce followers of Muhammad, irritated by the numerous spiritual conquests he was making over them and the brilliant wonders he was performing, cruelly put him to death on September 5, 1340.

The precious relics of the holy martyr, obtained for a price by a Venetian nobleman named Nicolas Querini, were transported to Venice and deposited in the church of the Conventual Friars Minor, where they remain to this day. Numerous miracles accompanied their translation.

The immemorial cult of the servant of God was solemnly approved by Pope Pius VI; and, since then, his feast is celebrated by the Fri ars Minor, Obs Frères Mineurs Religious order founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. ervants and Conventuals, and by the clergy of Matelica, on September 5, the anniversary of his precious death.

Taken from th e Franciscan Annals, Annales Franciscaines Biographical source cited in the text. volume VI.