CHRISTOPHER OF ROMANDIOLA, BL.

Companion of St. Francis, known also as Christopher of Cahors or of Romagnola; b. Romandiola, Italy, c. 1172; d. Cahors, France, Oct. 31, 1272. When francis of assisi was passing through Romandiola in 1215, Christopher, a country parish priest, decided to become his disciple, and he was a member of the first group of franciscans sent to Aquitaine. The lives of these early Franciscan missionaries, who spent their time in prayer and the service of the sick and outcast, especially lepers, made a profound impression. They made many converts, and numerous houses were built for them. Christopher was a simple, devout man, not a preacher in the official sense of the word—non erat officio praedicator —and it seems certain that he was never minister provincial of the province of Aquitaine. He was present at the provincial chapter of Arles held in 1224 by John Bonnelli. The cult of Bl. Christopher was confirmed by Pope pius x in 1905.

Feast: Oct. 25.

Bibliography: l. de cherancÉ, Le Bx. Christophe de Cahors (Paris 1907). a. bÉguet, "Provincialat du Bx. Christophe de Cahors, " Archivum Franciscanum historicum 4 (1911) 619–621. Vita e culto del B. Christoforo di Romagna (Rome 1905). Analecta Franciscana 3: 161–173. w. forster, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 2:1168–69. a. butler, The Lives of the Saints, ed. h. thurston and d. attwater, 4 v. (New York 1956) 4:200.

[t. c. crowley]