St Antoninus--1389-1459

Antonio was born at Florence in 1389 to noble parents of high standing. The name Antoninus, Little Anthony, was the affectionate nickname given him by his fellow citizens because of his short stature. Influenced by the sermons of Blessed John Dominic, a great Italian religious reformer of the period, Antoninus applied for admission to the Dominican Order at age 15, and was accepted a year later. With Fra Angelico and Fra Bartolommeo, the one to become famous as a painter, the other as a miniaturist, he was sent to Cortona to make his novitiate under Blessed Lawrence of Ripafratta. Later he was elected the Dominican Superior of Tuscany and Naples, where he zealously applied the reforms of his mentor. In 1445, when Pope Eugene IV was seeking an Archbishop for Florence, Fra Angelico, who was a friend of the Pope, suggested St. Antoninus. The Pope named him Archbishop of Florence and he entered the city in great pomp, as was the custom.

He strove energetically to wipe out public scandals and remedy the many abuses in his Diocese. Prince Cosimo de Medici used to say that everything good that the city had was due to the prayers of its holy Archbishop. He was called by Eugene IV to assist him in his dying hours. He was also frequently consulted by Pope Nicholas V on questions of Church and State. Feast Day: May 10.

His miter (bishop’s hat), and pallium, (archbishop’s “necktie”). The scales show the prudence of his ability to decide moral issues, to weigh them in the scales of justice. “May God reward you.”