Gospel Reflection for
The Sixth Sunday of Easter
St. Crispin of Viterbo Makes His Rounds
The lives of the saints exemplify the amazing things that can happen when normal Christians really do their best to put this battle plan into action.
St. Crispin of Viterbo [vee-TAYR-boh] is a prime example. He was a Capuchin friar who lived in Italy in the 1700s. He held many unglamorous posts in the monastery during his 57 years as a friar – cook, gardener, handy-man…
For the majority of his life, however, he was “questor” [QUAY-stohr]. Being questor entailed going on daily begging trips around the town in order to gather basic necessities for the monks, and also for the poor and sick who were under the monastery’s care.
He began his daily tours with heartfelt prayer, and accompanied them with an ongoing interior conversation with the Virgin Mary, with whom he had a close relationship. This daily begging duty put him in contact with everyone in town.
He got to know all the families, all the feuds, all the needs, all the talents – everything. And he took advantage of this unique position to work full-time as a peacemaker.
While he would ask them for physical donations he would give them spiritual donations: helping people solve their problems, mediating disputes, and ironing out antipathies. He even courageously chided greedy merchants, called corrupt politicians to task, and stirred the consciences of luxury-loving, powerful aristocrats.
Gradually his work transformed the entire city, spreading a true spirit of Christ-like love into every corner and every household. This humble beggar, simply by following Christ’s battle plan, ended up becoming, for all practical purposes, the town mayor, police chief, pastor, and lawyer, all rolled into one. His begging filled the mouths and clothed the backs of the friars and the poor and the orphans, and his peacemaking filled with Christian joy the hearts of all.
(From ePriest, May 2024)