Saint Daniel

He would most usually go to the Camaldolese monas tery, call ed Sai nt Matthias, either to pray with fewer distractions in solitude, or to have the happiness of the conversation of these holy religious, and to stir himself, through their pious discussions, to the contempt of worldly things and to the love of his Creator. Indeed, he felt so drawn to retreat and touched by the desire to give himself entirely to Jesus Christ, that he begged the prior and the community of that house to allow him to have a room prepared at the bottom of the cloister where he could retire to think even more seriously about the salvation of his soul. As he was very fond of the Order, and had already done much good for this monastery, there was no difficulty in granting him what he asked.

The servant of God, having thus obtained this grace, made his will on the last day of March in the year 1392: he disposed of his goods in favor of the Camaldolese. He then retired to his dear solitude, not to take the religious habit, as some have believed, but to live there only as a guest and as a secular friend, while always continuing his ordinary trade in moderation. He thus passed his life peacefully in great holiness, until the year 1411, when he was murdered at night, in his room, by thieves who believed they would find considerable riches there. The religious were extremely affected by this accident, and, after mourning his death, they honorably buried his body in a stone tomb, opposite the chapter house.

A long time later, when they wished to bury the body of Paul Donat, a senat or of the Republic of Venice, in the same place, they found that of the blessed Daniel entirely whole, exhaling a pleasant odor and without any mark of corruption. All the people flocked to this pious spectacle, and judging by such a great wonder the holiness of the servant of God, they regarded him henceforth only as a martyr: this body was carried with great solemnity to the church; then an altar was erected in his honor, where a quantity of miracles took place; but as in the course of time it became necessary to destroy this chapel to enlarge the church, he was placed in a large reliquary, where he has remained until the present. Augustin Fortinius, in the History of the Camaldolese Order, assures that he is still whole and as he was found the first time, and that he had the good fortune to see and revere him in this state.

It is from the History of the Camaldolese Order that we have drawn this short acco unt. Gaspard Bu celin, in his Nucleus of the Order of Saint Ben edict, also makes honorable mention of the blessed Daniel, and the devotion of the people continues still towards his holy relics.