HOLY ARTIST

 

Sometimes in reading Magnificat, I get ideas for this Blog. I like doing research on saints and holy people I do not yet know. I have made some great “friends” this way.

Last month’s issue of this lovely magazine featured artists who were saints.  One I had never heard of  is  BL CLAUDIO GRANZOTTO,  born in 19 , who was the youngest of nine children. His parents were peasants who required his help in working in the fields in order for them to survive and this increased all the more after the death of his father in 1909. His poor parents were devout, instilling in their children  a great love of their faith. With  the outbreak of World War I he was drafted into the Italian armed forces in 1915 where he served until 1918 when the war concluded.

 Once he was discharged from service he was able to begin his studies, developing his talents as an artist with a passion for sculpture. He enrolled in the Art Academy  in Venice and graduated there with honors in 1929. One of the major themes of his works was religious art, but he soon felt a call to the life after meeting the Franciscan priest Amadio Oliviero in 1932 (the two became good friends).  He entered the Order of Friars Minor  in 1933.

 In his letter of recommendation his pastor wrote to the friars that "the order is receiving not only an artist but a saint". He was given the religious name of "Claudio"  making his religious vows in 1936 and being sent to the monastery of San Francesco in Vittorio Venice. 

Bl. Claudio chose not to pursue ordination and lived his life as a professed religious at the Franciscan monastery of Santa Maria della Pieve in Padua. He dedicated his life to  living the Gospel, serving the poor and his art through which he hoped to express his faith.

Most of his works are depictions of Jesus Christ and the saints. One example of it can be found in the parish church of his hometown which is a sculpted figure of the Devil which supports the baptismal font of the parish. The pastor commissioned this particular work. Another version was later sculpted for the ancient shrine of the Madonna in the care of the Franciscan friars on the island of Barbana.

 He would often spend whole nights in silent adoration before the Blessed Sacrament,  which had a great devotion for. 

  Santa Lucia  with her eyes gouged out

In 1945 he developed a brain tumor, embracing the sufferings he endured from this disorder as an imitation of the Passion of Christ.  He died on the Feast of the Assumption on 15 August 1947. His remains were buried in Chiampo.

The sudden and inexplicable healing of a child was declared as the miracle attributed to his intercession. His liturgical feast is September 2 instead of the date of his death as is the norm.         

                                            

                                                               St. Bernadette in ecstasy