Cherubin of Avigliana, Bl.
CHERUBIN OF AVIGLIANA, BL.
Augustinian friar; b. Avigliana (in Piedmont), 1451;d. Avigliana, Sept. 17, 1479. Of the noble Testa family, Cherubin entered the Augustinian monastery at Avigliana in his youth and from the beginning gave evidence of great holiness. He had ardent piety (which expressed itself particularly in devotion to the crucified Savior), a deep spirit of obedience, and a purity that impressed itself sensibly on those with whom he dealt. The usual mirabilia, reported in medieval hagiography, contributed to the development of his cult: at the time of his death, it is said, the church bells rang unaided by human hands; his body continued to give off a sweet odor long after he died. Perini identifies a sermon printed c. 1477 as probably his. He was beatified in 1865.
Feast: Dec. 17.
Bibliography: j. lanteri, Postrema saecula sex religionis Augustinianae, 3 v. (Tolentino-Rome 1858–60) 2:58–59. g. b. imperor, Cuor-Giglio ossia il beato Cherubino da Avigliana (Turin 1880). d. a. perini, Bibliographia Augustiniana, 4 v. (Florence 1929–38) 1:71.
[j. e. bresnahan]