Jeremiah of Wallachia

Jeremiah of Wallachia, O.F.M. Cap., (7 June 1556 - 26 February 1625) was a Romanian-born Capuchin lay brother who spent his entire adult life serving as an infirmarian of the Order in Italy. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 30 October 1983, the first of his nation to be so honored.^[1][2][3]

Life

He was born Ioan (John) Costişte in a village in Oltenia to Margareta Bărbat and Stoica Costişte (Kostist),^[4] who were prosperous farmers. Few details have survived of his childhood and youth, other than that as a child he had developed the conviction that he wanted to go to Italy because that was where the best Christians were to be found. At the age of 19, Costişte left home with his parents' permission to carry out his dream. After a long journey during which he served as a physician's assistant, he arrived in Bari, Italy, where he settled at the age of 22. After five years of life there, he determined that he was not finding what he sought. Thus, on 8 May 1579 he was admitted into the novitiate of the Capuchin friars for the Province of Naples, where he was given the religious name of Jeremiah. After his profession of religious vows a year later, he was assigned to a number of friaries in the province.^[5]

In 1585, Jeremiah was assigned to the infirmary of the Monastery of St. Ephrem the Old in Naples, where he would live out the rest of his life. There he cared for the sick friars of the community, as well as for the poor and sick of the city. He seemed born for this task, becoming noted for his compassion for the suffering. For him, people were "part of the suffering Jesus and he saw them like Jesus himself." He came to serve even lepers, for whom he would prepare an herbal preparation to cover the stench of their decaying flesh. Miraculous cures began to be associated with his nursing and prayers. He also cared for the insane, becoming the sole caretaker of one friar who was so violent that he drove everyone else away. He cared for that friar for nearly five years, and later called him his "recreation". Jeremiah felt such a commitment to the poverty that is a hallmark of the Franciscan Order that he is said to have spent 35 years wearing the same habit. In a like manner, his ration of food generally went to others.^[5]

In 1625, Jeremiah, by then aged 69 years, was becoming aware of his approaching death. With that his spirit of self-sacrifice grew. On 26 February of that year, a great personage at the Spanish royal court was seriously ill, and summoned Jeremiah to care for him. Jeremiah did not understand why he was not sent a means of transport. On a long geroasă will walk 12 km to the shower and back to the mid-slope ajutorul. La give back to the monastery a woman tells him:

"We have to come Wednesday to the friary."

"You will have to find me."

"But where will you be?"

"I want to go to my homeland."

Jeremiah soon developed pneumonia which was to bring about his death. His final words were "Yes, Jesus, come! Thank you!"

Veneration

The cause for Jeremiah's beatification was started in 1687, but remained stalled until 1905, at which time a biography of his life was published in Naples, entitled Vita di Fra Geremia Valacco. In 1914 he became a topic of study by the Romanian Academy, and in 1944 Professor Grigore Manoilescu (who was an Orthodox Christian) released a short biography of him in the Romanian language, Români dăruiţi altor neamuri.

On 14 October 1947, Jeremiah was declared a Servant of God by Pope Pius XII and Venerable through a proclamation of his heroic virtues issued by Pope John XXIII on 18 December 1959. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 30 October 1983.^[6]

References