St. Homobonus (1111-1197)

Homobonus was a happily married layman and successful businessman in Italy . . .

St. Homobonus

Feast Day: November 13
Patron of businessmen, tailors, shoemakers

Homobonus, whose name translates from the Latin as “good man,” was born with the name Omobono Tucenghi in the northern Italian city of Cremona. He was the son of a wealthy tailor and merchant from whom he learned the family business.

Homobonus was a happily married layman and successful businessman. A devout Catholic, he understood the moral responsibility to use his blessings to elevate the poor. In addition to his own business success, he received a large inheritance from his father which he also used to assist the poor.

Homobonus’ reputation for kindness, charity and honest business practices grew rapidly throughout the region. He was a daily communicant, and on Nov. 13, 1197, Homobonus died while prostrating himself in the form of a cross as he attended Mass in the church of St. Giles in Cremona. His head is preserved in this church.

The people of Cremona were grief stricken and immediately petitioned the Holy Father for the canonization of their beloved citizen. Homobonus was canonized just over two years later by Pope Innocent III on Jan. 12, 1199. The Pope praised him for his dedicated service to the poor, calling him “a man good in name and in deed” and a “father of the poor.”

In art, he is depicted surrounded by the poor while holding a bag of money — or working with cloth while being assisted by angels. In Rome, a church named in his honor stands at the foot of the Capitoline Hill.

In 1997, Pope John Paul II praised the saint. “Homobonus urges us in a special way to be open to the entire horizon of charity in its various expressions, apart from material ones: the charity of culture, political charity, social charity, for the common good.”

This column is produced for Legatus by the Dead Theologians Society, a Catholic apostolate for high school age teens and college age young adults. On the web: deadtheologianssociety.com