About the holy man Brother Humile of Offida, priest and preacher

Brother Humile was from area situated in the Marches called Offida. His parents were not the lowliest of the land and when he was young they sent him to school. Within a short time he became a good grammarian. The kindness and physical charm of this youth were such that everyone judged that because of his good ways and fine bearing that he would become a Religious.

As it pleased the Lord God, he was in Rome when he was about seventeen years old when he saw the Capuchins going about Rome so devoutly, barefoot and poorly dressed. He was inflamed with an immense fervour to serve God in this Order. He understood that they lived in Sant’ Eufemia and went to find them. He so commended himself that Brother Louis of Fossombrone received him and he was made a cleric. When he came of age he became a Priest. Since he was such a good grammarian Brother Louis made him a preacher and he studied by himself so that he made himself familiar with quite good sermons.

He preached with so much fervour that it was inexplicable. Anyone who could get him as a preacher considered himself very blessed because he was so much in demand. In particular God gave him the grace to make peace. So there was no enmity so intricate and stubborn that he could not reconcile when he set to it. Truly his name agreed with his deeds for he was so humble that in this virtue he surpassed all the others. Such was his humble and gentle manner in bring about peace it seemed that no one was able to contradict him.

Because of his simplicity he was capable of high contemplation so when he was clothed in the habit, apart from the necessities of nature, for many years he exercised himself in holy contemplation. He divided the day in this way. After Matins he rarely went back to rest but persevered in prayer either in his cell or in the church until the hour of Prime. After he had heard Mass he usually did half an hour of manual work in order to wake up and to exercise nature. The he withdrew to his cell and spent the rest of the time until Terce either studying or praying. After Vespers until Compline he did the same. He was so careful about time that unless he was constrained by obedience he never spoke with the Friars. He had on his lips like a proverb, “The one who has things to do does not sleep. The one who serves a great Majesty with much solicitude tries to stay vigilant in order to please his master. The one who serves the Lord God should be all the more lively and vigilant. He never fails to give his servants different gifts, many of which are lost because they do not find us disposed.”

He had the grace of tears and many times the Friars heard him weep copiously over the Passion of the Lord. It was believed that the Lord God revealed many things to him. When he used to come from prayer he was so aflame with the love of God that it seemed that he had two roses on his cheeks. When the Friars asked him what it was, he answered more with gestures than with words rather than be taken up with them in order not to exhale the received spirit.

He was very zealous about holy poverty so that he seemed to be like another Saint Francis. He used nothing other than a simple habit and only what the Rule allowed. He was very austere, fasting almost continuously. He never missed the forty-days that our Father Saint Francis was accustomed to do, doing the one of Saint Michael on bread and water most times. He always went barefoot, dressed in only one habit both in summer and in winter.

As it pleased Our Lord God, since he was of a weak constitution, he lived a short time. Given Brother Anthony the Portuguese as his companion, he was to go to Naples and take the young man to visit his father who was in Naples. One night on the journey the servant of God was lodging in the Abbey of Monte Casino when he fell ill. He deteriorated and after receiving the most holy sacraments from that Reverend Fathers, that holy soul passed away to its creator. He was buried in the tomb of the Monks and for many years that holy body remained intact and fair, as if he had only just died. Those Fathers regarded this a great miracle and he was held in veneration. When they wanted to show something marvellous to the people who went to the abbey, they showed them that holy body.