A Shepherd Chosen from the Desert
In the rugged mountains of the Abruzzi in the Kingdom of Naples, around the year 1215, was born Pietro di Murrone, the eleventh of twelve children to a pious peasant family. From his earliest years, Pietro displayed a marked inclination for prayer, solitude, and mortification. Having embraced the Rule of St. Benedict, he entered the monastic life while still a young man, seeking God with a soul inflamed by divine charity.
Longing for greater perfection, he withdrew into a cave on Mount Morrone, near Sulmona, where he lived as a hermit for several years, devoting himself to contemplation, fasting, and prayer. His sanctity attracted disciples, and he soon gathered around him a small community of hermits, which later developed into a branch of the Benedictine Order known as the Celestines, named after him.
Pietro’s reputation for holiness became widespread. He was known for the gift of miracles, his severe asceticism, and a profound spirit of prophecy. Despite his humble attempts to avoid notoriety, he was revered as a living saint during his lifetime.
The Reluctant Pope
Following the death of Pope Nicholas IV in 1292, the papal throne remained vacant for over two years due to political factions and strife among the cardinals. At last, in desperation and perhaps moved by divine providence, the Sacred College elected the hermit Pietro di Murrone in 1294, who at the time was nearly 80 years old. With great reluctance and trepidation, he accepted the office, taking the name Celestine V.
The aged hermit was ill-suited to the worldly demands of the papacy. Though filled with zeal for reform and personal sanctity, he lacked the political acumen and firmness needed to govern the Church amid the intrigues of the Roman court and the pressures of secular rulers. After only five months, in an act of profound humility and rare courage, he resigned the papal office, declaring that he desired to return to a life of solitude and penance. This act, though legitimate and canonically accepted, remains one of the most extraordinary in the annals of the papacy.
Captivity and Final Years
Fearing the political consequences of his presence, his successor, Pope Boniface VIII, ordered that Celestine be kept under watch. He was confined—though treated with some dignity—at various locations, ultimately at the Castle of Fumone. There, in a narrow and uncomfortable cell, he spent the last years of his life in prayer, wearing haircloth, sleeping on the ground, and preparing for death with angelic patience.
He died on May 19, 1296, uttering the words of Psalm 31: “Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.” His body was later transferred to the church of the Celestines in L’Aquila, where many miracles were wrought at his tomb.
Legacy and Canonization
Pope St. Celestine V was canonized in 1313 by Pope Clement V. Though some sought to view his resignation as a sign of weakness, the Church venerates it as a sublime example of holy detachment, self-knowledge, and submission to divine providence.
His life is a testimony that greatness in the Church does not always lie in reigning, but often in stepping aside for the greater glory of God. He is the patron of those who seek humility, detachment from the world, and the grace of perseverance in prayer.
Spiritual Maxims from His Life:
- “The silence of the cell teaches more than the wisdom of the world.”
- “To flee honors is the surest path to receiving them from God.”
- “He who humbles himself shall be exalted.” (Luke 14:11)