Monday Musings - Think You Recognize This Man?

[This Pope] "insisted on walking about Rome unattended; he chatted with children and beggars as he chose. He walked in and out of hospitals unexpectedly, checking on the quality of food that was served to the poor, and making changes in administration when he thought it advisable.

He insisted upon going into the prisons to administer the sacraments and instruct the prisoners. One day, when no one could find him, he was discovered in one of the confessionals, where he had been hearing confessions for some time. 

One did not expect the pope to do such things…his term was marked by great charity and the Christ-like observance of all the virtues…"

Which Pontiff is Sister Mary Jean Dorcy, O.P. describing in her book, St. Dominic's Family - Lives of Over 300 Famous Dominicans?

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Our Dominican brother, Servant of God, Pope Benedict XIII. Peter Francis Orsini was born in 1730 and took the name of Vincenzo Maria Orsini, O.P. when he entered the Dominican Order. He would serve as archbishop of Benevento, Italy for thirty-eight years before becoming Pope in 1724. 

Even when the plague "was raging in Italy," Pope Benedict "continued his usual - or perhaps we should call it unusual program". Not surprisingly, he died from that dreaded disease in 1730 at the age of eighty-two "leaving," as Sister Dorcy writes, "the memory of a vigorous and Christ-like man, who walked amid corruption untouched".

Always a joy to discover another member of our Dominican family!
Want to learn a little bit about our clan? Visit here and here.