Giovanni Vici

Who they were

Giovanni Vici, whose birth date is unknown, entered the Franciscans at the hermitage of Stroncone in 1373 under Blessed Paoluccio Trinci, founder of the Observant reform, which sought a return to the primitive simplicity of the Franciscan rule. A learned and persuasive preacher, he served as commissario generale of the Observant friars from 1390 and as vicar from 1415.

During his travels he founded several convents, including that of the Santissimo Salvatore at Lucera in 1406, where, as an enthusiast for antiquities, he recovered two stone slabs once used as a table by Emperor Frederick II and brought them to Lucera, where they still serve as altars. Known for miracles and prophetic gifts, he died at Lucera on 8 May 1418; his heart and bones were found intact when his tomb was opened in 1710, and his relics still rest in a pillar of the church he founded. He is commemorated in the Franciscan, though not the Roman, Martyrology.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as blessed since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

Franciscan Observant friar and commissario generale of the order, founder of convents including the Santissimo Salvatore at Lucera, where his incorrupt body has been venerated since his death in 1418.