Domenico Lentini
| Blessed Domenico Lentini | |
|---|---|
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| Priest | |
| Born |
20 November 1770 Lauria, Potenza, Kingdom of Naples |
| Died | 25 February 1828 (aged 57) Lauria, Potenza, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 12 October 1997, Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II |
| Feast | 25 February |
| Attributes |
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| Patronage | |
Domenico Lentini (20 November 1770 – 25 February 1828) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest. He was ordained as such in 1794 and served as a life-long parish priest in his hometown of Potenza.
Pope John Paul II beatified Lentini on 12 October 1997 as an affirmation of his personal holiness and the manner in which Lentini conducted his duties as a pastor. A presumed second miracle attributed to his intercession is now under investigation for his potential canonization as a saint.
Domenico Lentini was born on 20 November 1770 in Lauria as the fifth of five children to Macario Lentini and Rosalia Vitarella of poor economic conditions. He was baptized mere hours after his birth.
At the age of fourteen he felt a call to become a priest and he commenced his studies after this in Salerno. Lentini was admitted into the diaconate in 1793 and was ordained to the priesthood on the Feast of the Pentecost on 8 June 1794; he was then assigned to work as a parish priest in his hometown. He was devoted to the Eucharist and gained a reputation as a noted homilist as well as his extensive pastoral work with the poor. He turned his home into a school where he taught theological studies and catechism to parishioners as well as other subjects such as literature.
Lentini often subjected himself to penitential practices and he sometimes deprived himself of nourishment in the spirit of living in total and constant penance with the corporal mortification of the flesh and sleeping of the floor. He did this for the atonement of sins and in the imitation of Jesus Christ.
He died at the beginning of 1828 with a reputation for saintliness. His funeral was held a week later in which his remains emitted a sweet scent noted to be the odor of saintliness. This led to calls for official recognition of sainthood.
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