SAINT FOR THE MONTH
Feast: May 31
(1715-1787)
FELIX OF NICOSIA was born of the
marriage between Filippo Amoroso and Carmela Pirro, in Nicosia,
Sicily, on November 5, 1715. He was baptized on the same day, and
was given the names Philip James. His father, a shoemaker by trade,
died on October 12, 1715, leaving his widow with three
children.
The family was poor but very religious. As a young boy, Felix
worked in the workshop of the shoemaker Giovanni Cavarelli, close
to the Capuchin friary, and so he often had opportunities to visit
the community, get to know the friars and admire their way of life.
Like most Sicilian boys in those days, he never attended school.
The more time he spent with the friars, the more strongly he felt
drawn to their life: their joyful austerity, their liberating
poverty, their penance and prayer, their charity and missionary
spirit.
At the age of 20 he asked the superior of the friary in Nicosia to
speak for him to the Father Provincial of Messina so that he could
be admitted to the Order as a lay brother. His request was repeated
for eight successive years, and was denied, but his desire was as
strong as ever.
In 1743, hearing that the Provincial of Messina was visiting in
Nicosia, Felix asked to see him and explained his cherished wish.
At last, the Provincial admitted him to the Order and sent him to
the friary at Mistretta for his novitiate year. On October 10, 1743
he began his novitiate, taking the name of Brother Felix. All his
biographers tell us that Brother Felix was distinguished for his
flair for obedience, his angelic purity, his love of mortification
and his truly seraphic patience. It was with these virtues that he
made his profession on October 10, 1744.
Immediately after profession his superiors sent him to the friary
of Nicosia. He was given the job of collecting alms. Every day he
would walk through the streets, knocking on the doors of the rich,
inviting them to share their prosperity, and of the humble
dwellings of the poor, offering them comfort in their daily
necessities. There was a tranquil serenity and discretion about him
as he moved through the streets, going from house to house.
Brother Felix was unable to read and write, yet full of Christian
doctrine. Whatever he could not learn by reading sacred Scripture,
he learned by heart and by being firmly resolved to nourish his
soul more and more. So he made every effort to absorb the passages
of Scripture and the edifying books that were read at table in the
friary, and listen to the sermons in the churches of Nicosia.
He was devoted to the crucified Christ. Every Friday he used to
contemplate the passion and death of Jesus. Each Friday in March he
fasted on bread and water and knelt with his arms outstretched in
the form of a cross, meditating before the Crucifix. He had
veneration for the Eucharist, spending hours in front of the
tabernacle. He showed tender devotion to the Mother of GOD.
At the end of May,
1787 he was overtaken by a sudden, raging fever while working in
the garden. His superior, Fr. Macario, ordered him under obedience
to lie down. Brother Felix told the doctor who prescribed medicines
for him that they were useless, because this was his final illness.
His earthly life came to an end at 2 a.m. on May 31, 1787. He was
beatified by Leo XIII on February 12, 1888.