Blessed John of Fiesole, also called Blessed Angelico, Priest
Optional Memorial
Relying on strict fidelity to the duties of religious life, he painted the divine mysteries through prayer and art.
He humbly refused the Archbishopric of Florence, which had been offered to him by Eugene IV, advising that this dignity be given instead to St. Antoninus. In Rome, at Santa Maria sopra Minerva, he passed peacefully to the Lord on Feb. 18, 1455; there his marble tomb, raised above the ground and bearing his image, still remains.
Friar John was a simple and upright man, poor and humble; in his paintings he was devout and gentle, refined and accessible. For this reason, by a marvelous union of virtue and art, he has reverently been called Blessed Angelico, and the fame of his holiness and genius is widely celebrated everywhere.
In his honor, and for the advancement of sacred art, John Paul II, on Oct. 3, 1982, granted liturgical veneration to the whole Order of Preachers and declared him patron of artists, especially painters.
Proprium Officiorum Ordinis Praedicatorum ad Normam Decretorum Sacrosancti Oecumenici Concilii Vaticani II Instauratum Vincentii Couesnongle iussu editum, Editio typica, Sanctae Sabinae, Romae 1982.
