Francesco Venimbeni was born in Fabriano (AN – Italy) on September 2, 1251, the first son of Compagno and Margherita, both devotees of St. Francis of Assisi, whose name they imposed on their son. Manifesting strong intelligence for a child his age, Francesco was able to apply himself to study with excellent profit, so much so, say the biographers, that at the age of 10 he knew the Latin language so well that he aroused wonder among the learned.
Very young, he went with his mother to Assisi, to the tomb of the saint, and there he met Blessed Angelo Tancredi of Rieti, who said of him: “This child will be one of us!” According to biographical tracts which we have – not many, actually – around the age of 16 Francesco heard a voice which repeated to him: “Go to Brother Grazia of the Order of Friars Minor and do what he tells you.” And so he did: after a period of discernment, he was welcomed into the Order of Friars Minor on September 29, 1267, by Brother Monaldo of St. Elpidio, Minister Provincial of the Marches of Ancona, and he was entrusted to the guidance of Brother Grazia for the year of novitiate.
In 1268 he had the obedience to go on pilgrimage to Assisi to obtain the Portiuncula Indulgence and on that occasion – as he himself relates in his Manuscript Chronicle, of which today there are only a few fragments – he was able to read a report authenticated by the seal of the bishop of Assisi, Teobaldo, on the origin of the Indulgence granted to the church of St. Mary of the Angels. At the sanctuary of the Portiuncula Francesco was able to meet Brother Leo, one of the first companions of St. Francis. The news is very valuable for Franciscan historiography, because Brother Leo was able to testify to Francesco “to have heard from the mouth of St. Francis regarding the Indulgence he implored” and also because he showed him the writings of the Poverello. His Chronicle also attests that, in that same year, Brother Raniero died, to whom St. Francis confessed when he passed through the territory of Fabriano.
Francesco was ordained a priest and initiated into preaching. He showed a remarkable balance in the use of material things and proved to be a lover of knowledge: not only to competently carry out the office of preaching, but above all to encourage his confreres in the study of divine disciplines and in doctrinal preparation and to help young people in formation. For this purpose he collected numerous works and created a library, which he asserted to be the best workshop of the convent to escape idleness, enemy of the spirit. For this reason Venimbeni is recognized as the first librarian of the Order of Friars Minor.
His father, aware of his son’s noble desire, acquired numerous books for him. Unfortunately, only a few vestiges of this rich library remain, such as the Vatican Latin Codex 1053 that he had received from Card. Giovanni Minio of Morrovalle, former Minister General of the Order.
Francesco also distinguished himself for the charity expressed towards the spiritual and material needs of his neighbor, for whom he worked hard with words of wisdom, with patient listening, with alms and meals for those who knocked on the door of his convent.
In 1319 the Provincial Chapter appointed him Visitor of the Province of the Marches. However, he did not feel up to it, because he needed first of all to “visit himself” and becaue he was unfit to correct the shortcomings of others; he therefore renounced the position.
The last months of his life were marked by physical pain and various diseases that he endured with strength of soul, combining them with the suffering of the crucified Christ. A retained autograph writing, found in his cell after his death, tells of a divine revelation regarding the exact day of his death, which occurred on April 22, 1322.
The veneration, which the people of Fabriano already acknowledged to him in life, grew after his death and his tomb was always honored. Therefore his cult was approved by Pope Pius VI on April 1, 1775.
Cf. Friars Minor Saints and Blessed, edited by Fr. Silvano Bracci, OFM and Sr. Antonietta Pozzebon, FMSC. Velar Publishing House, 2009, pp. 110-113.
