Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we
celebrate the commemoration of Blessed Innocent V, one of the four Dominican
Popes. From “Short Lives of the
Dominican Saints” (London, Kegan Paul, Trench, and Trübner & Co., Ltd.,
1901):
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| Coat of Arms of Bl. Innocent V |
Blessed
Innocent V., known before his elevation to the Papacy by the name of Peter of
Tarantaise, was born of noble parents at that town, situated at the foot of the
Alps, on the confines of Savoy, a territory then dependent on the Dukes of
Burgundy, about A.D. 1225. Whilst still
quite a child, he was sent to study at the University of Paris, where he
received the Dominican habit from the hands of Blessed Jordan, the second
Master-General of the Order of Preachers, when only nine years old. He is believed to have been one of those
young postulants admitted on occasion of the General Chapter of 1234. To the remonstrances of the capitular
Fathers, who complained that these children were so ignorant of Latin as
scarcely to be able to read a lesson of Matins even after much previous
preparation, the holy Master-General gently replied: “Suffer these little onese
to come, and forbid them not. Know that
you will see many, yea, most of them, acquit themselves gloriously of the
office of preaching; and God will make use of them for the work of saving
souls, in preference to many others of cultured mind.” In none was this prophecy more brilliantly
fulfilled than in little Peter of Tarantaise.
To the extraordinary beauty of person he joined the highest gifts of mind
and heart; and in the shadow of the cloister, like the child Jesus in the holy
house at Nazareth, he daily “grew in wisdom, and age, and grace with God and
men.” When only twenty-eight, he was
judged capable of teaching theology in the University at the same time as his
intimate friend, Saint Thomas Aquinas; and we are particularly told that his
merit was not in the least eclipsed by that of the Angel of the Schools. He also composed Commentaries on the Four
Books of the Sentences of Peter the Lombard and on Holy Scripture, and other
learned works, which in their day were scarcely less prized than those of Saint
Thomas himself. Hence, in the year 1259,
he was chosen with [Saint] Albert the Breat, Saint Thomas, and two other
distinguished religious, to draw up a general plan of studies to be followed in
all Dominican schools.
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At the
age of forty, his rare prudence, his knowledge of men, his admirable meekness,
and his invincible firmness, caused him to be elected Provincial of his Order
in the Province of France, which then numbered dome fifty Convents. His journeys in the visitation of his Province
were always made on foot, with the simplicity of a poor Friar; he everywhere
diffused the good odor of his virtues and kept alive primitive fervor and zeal
for souls in the hearts of his Brethren.
Meanwhile, the masters and students at the University of Paris, who
deeply regretted his absence, earnestly begged to have him back among them. The General Chapter of the Order granted
their petition, and Father Peter returned to Paris where he took his doctor’s
degree and succeeded Saint Thomas at the head of the School. In the year 1269, however, he was re-elected
Provincial. Three years later, Blessed
Gregory X., who then filled the Chair of Saint Peter and who had formerly been
one of his pupils at Paris, appointed him Archbishop of Lyons and Primate of
France. A few months later, he raised
him to the dignity of Cardinal at the same time as the great Franciscan, St.
Bonaventure, and made him Bishop of Ostia and Velletri and Dean of the sacred College,
commanding him to continue the administration of the Archdiocese of Lyons until
the nomination of his successor in that see.
The saintly
Pontiff employed the new Cardinal to assist him in making preparations for the
General Council which he had convoked at Lyons, for the purpose of effecting a
re-union between the Greek and Latin Churches, and organizing a fresh Crusade
for the recovery of the Holy Land. The Council
opened on May 7, 1274. Cardinal Peter of
Tarantaise took a distinguished part in its proceedings and displayed an extraordinary
talent for business. He was especially
charged with all that concerned the re-union of the Greeks with the Latins, and
succeeded in inducing the ambassadors of the Greek Emperor to submit to the faith
and authority of the Roman Church. It
fell to his lot to preach the funeral sermon of his friend and colleague, Saint
Bonaventure, who died at Lyons during the Council; and he did so with a touching eloquence which
caused the whole of his audience to mingle their tears with his own.
In
January, A.D. 1276, Blessed Gregory X died, and Cardinal Peter of Tarantaise
was unanimously elected as his successor, assuming the name of Innocent V. The holy man immediately set himself to
labour zealously for the peace of Christendom, the repression of the Moors, who
were threatening a fresh invasion of Spain, the acceptance by the Greeks of the
adhesion of their ambassadors to reunion with the Roman Church, and the
undertaking of a fresh Crusade against the infidels. Such splendid beginnings excited the greatest
hopes for the new Pontificate, but it was doomed to be of brief duration. On June 22nd, and attack of
malignant fever closed the holy Pontiff’s career; he had sat in the Chair of
Peter only five months and two days. He
was laid to rest in the Lateran Basilica, and rendered himself illustrious by a
host of miracles. Pope Leo XIII, raised
him to the Altars of the Church, A.D. 1898.
From the
"The Martyrology of the Sacred Order of Friars Preachers"
(Tr. by Rev. W. R. Bonniwell, O. P., The Newman Press - Westminster, Maryland,
1955):
At Rome, Blessed Innocent V, pope. Previously he had been known as Friar Peter of Tarantaise, of the Order of Preachers. He excelled in both learning and sanctity. He was made Archbishop of Lyons and later Cardinal Bishop of Ostia; finally, he was elected pope. He labored with suave prudence to protect the liberty of the Church and to promote concord among Christians. His fame was spread by many miracles both in life and after death.
Prayer
O
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God, you enriched your bishop and confessor,
the blessed Innocent, with the gifts of knowledge and prudence, and made him a
promotor of peace and unity; grant, through his prayers, that we may relish
what is heavenly, and in perfect concord follow what is right. Through Our Lord…