Feast Day: February 25th
Fr. Dominic Vahling made the happy connection between last week’s St. Kuriakose, who’s name (derived from the Greek word “Kyrie”) means “of the Lord” and the name “Dominic”, which means the same thing (derived from the Latin word “Dominus”). So, I figured we should keep up that “Lordly” theme, and get to know Blessed Domenico Lentini this week.
Domenico was born on November 20th, 1770, in the Kingdom of Naples Italy, the youngest of five siblings, the son of a cordwainer (I must clarify that in researching his life I discovered that his father, a shoemaker, would not, technically, be called a cobbler. Cobblers “cobbled” things together, as in they only worked with old shoes: repairing, replacing broken bits, reinforcing, etc. Cordwainers, instead, fashioned new shoes out of leather, the term derived from “cordovan”, a leather from Cordoba, Spain. Needless to say, cordwainers don’t take kindly to being called mere cobblers, though hopefully Macario, Domenico’s dad, wouldn’t take too much affront to it.)
In any case, Domenico, along with his older siblings Dominique, Rosa, Nicholas, and Antoinette, grew up with few material comforts other than good shoes. Famines struck Italy throughout the 1760s, stretching and breaking previous political arrangements, all further upended as revolutions swept through America, then France, and Napoleon began his rampage around Europe. Still, this family lived a simple and faithful life as that hectic 18th century drew to its close. Dominic’s mother, before she died, consecrated the little Dominic to the Lord, a grace that was evident in his childlike piety, though he was also a very ordinary boy, taking delight in climbing trees, often in pursuit of terrified birds (he did repent of the harm caused them later on). At the age of 14 he received the call to be a priest. Perhaps inspired by an uncle who was already a priest, and a classmate who had entered the seminary just before him, the young man discovered a deeper delight than his boyhood shenanigans in studying to be a priest. That said, his path through seminary was also not without hurdles. The cost of the seminary which he started at was far too high for his family to pay, so he actually did much of his formation in his hometown where he received formation from his local priests. His father the shoemaker actually pawned off their home in order to pay for his schooling, a debt that Dominic would repay after his ordination, but also an indication of how much he was willing to help his son follow God’s call.
In 1793, Domenico was ordained deacon in Mormanno, and on the feast of Pentecost, June 8, 1794, was ordained a priest in the Cathedral of Marsiconuovo. He held fast to priestly holiness in the simplest manner: hearing confessions with generosity, offering the Mass with as much devotion as he could muster, teaching his flock theology and philosophy, preaching with integrity and humility (his parishioners especially recall his moving homilies during Lent), living a frugal and charitable life. He was said to have the gift of prophecy – not so much in predicting the future as helping his hurting or fearful parishioners hold fast to God’s healing Love. And so Fr. Dominic Lentini passed 36 years of priestly ministry, receiving the last sacraments three days before he died from that same priest-friend who had preceded him into seminary, Fr. Joseph Ielpo, one of his closest friends through all those years.
– Fr. Dominic can’t help but notice that Fr. Domenico became a saint by simply doing what a priest is supposed to do. Nothing fancy, no spectacular homilies, no amazing foundations or ministries, no surge of conversions or incredible miracles. He just offered the sacraments as best he could and kept the Love of God alive in his, and others’ souls. THIS ISN’T EASY! One cannot passively “do little things with great love”: our love wanes, our desire for God gets distracted, our zeal gets hijacked by worldly things … we must constantly recommit ourselves to loving the first things first, to prioritizing the pearl of great price, to being faithful to our duties (and not our distractions). Bl. Domenico Lentini challenges all of us to persevere in this, and perhaps Lent is a gift insofar as it always invites us back to receiving and giving God’s Love in the simple ways He asks us to.