Simon Fidati

Although endowed with remarkable intelligence and vast culture, Simone Fidati refused out of humility any academic title and declined positions of authority or episcopal distinctions within his Order, preferring to remain a simple brother (simplex frater). He devoted the essential part of his ministry to itinerant preaching and spiritual direction throughout central Italy, preaching in Rome, Siena, Perugia, Pisa, Bologna, Gubbio, and Foligno. It was in Florence, where he stayed for a long time, that he acquired immense influence, earning the nickname 'Apostle of Florence.' His pastoral action was particularly oriented toward the spiritual accompaniment of women and the structuring of their religious life. In Florence, he was at the origin of the foundation of two monasteries placed under the rule of Saint Augustine: The monastery of Santa Elisabetta (known as 'delle Convertite'), founded around 1330, intended to welcome repentant women (the converted) desiring to lead a life of penance and prayer; The monastery of Santa Caterina in San Gaggio, founded around 1345 on the outskirts of Florence, for contemplative nuns. Simone Fidati also established himself as one of the greatest spiritual writers of the 14th-century Italian scene. His major works are: De gestis Domini Salvatoris (The Acts of the Lord Savior), begun in 1338, this monumental commentary on the Gospels in 15 books, written in Latin, proposes an affective and Christocentric theology. Widely circulated in Europe (notably printed in Strasbourg in 1480), this work sparked significant theological debates, with some historians believing it may have influenced the thought of his Augustinian confrere Martin Luther. L'Ordine della vita cristiana (The Order of the Christian Life), written in Florence in 1333 in the vulgar tongue (vernacular Italian), this treatise is considered one of the very first catechisms for adults in Italian. Its pure and vigorous style earned it a classification by the Accademia della Crusca among the reference texts of the Italian language (testo di lingua). A rich Epistolarium (collection of spiritual letters) through which he guided his many disciples and spiritual daughters (such as his 1338 letter to Madonna Cella of Florence).

The life of Simone Fidati is characterized by strict evangelical poverty, rigorous asceticism, and a deep devotion to the Eucharist. A defining event of his priestly life is intimately linked to the Eucharistic Miracle of Siena (or Cascia) which occurred in 1330: A priest from the Siena region, called to bring the viaticum to a sick peasant, placed the consecrated Host directly between the pages of his breviary out of carelessness or lack of respect. Upon arriving at the sick man's side, he opened the book and discovered with horror that the Host had liquefied into blood, deeply staining the two adjacent pages. Filled with remorse, the priest went to Simone Fidati, who was preaching in Siena at the time. Simone absolved him and kept the two pages stained with the precious blood. Simone brought one of the pages to the Augustinian convent in Perugia (lost during the Napoleonic era) and the other page, to which the Host had remained attached, to the convent in Cascia. This distinguished relic is still venerated today in the Basilica of Cascia. Simone Fidati died of the Black Death on February 2, 1348, in Florence (some historians mention Rome, but the majority agree on Florence). In 1361, his mortal remains were transferred to Cascia, where they rest today in the crypt of the Basilica of Santa Rita, near the relic of the Eucharistic miracle.

The cult of Simone Fidati developed spontaneously upon his death due to his reputation for holiness and the graces obtained through his intercession. His cult ab immemorabili (equivalent beatification) was officially confirmed on August 23, 1833, by Pope Gregory XVI. Historical note on a confusion of dates: Several modern directories and lists of pontificates erroneously mention the year "1883" under the pontificate of Leo XIII for his beatification. This erroneous attribution stems from a simple chronological typo (1883 instead of 1833) which shifted the blessed from the pontificate of Gregory XVI to that of Leo XIII in certain digital catalogs, whereas the official documents of the Order of Saint Augustine and diocesan notices confirm the decree of Gregory XVI in 1833.

The spirituality of Simone Fidati is a "theology of the heart," affective and practical, which opposes the rigid scholasticism of his time and foreshadows the currents of the Devotio moderna. Influenced by Saint Augustine and by the ideal of poverty of Angelo Clareno, he insists on humility, fraternal obedience, and interior transformation: "to form Christ in everyone." His literary legacy deeply marked the nascent Italian language, while his memory remains alive in Cascia, alongside Saint Rita, of whom he was one of the great spiritual inspirers through the Augustinian order.