St. Homobonus

Homobonus grew up in Cremona, a city of Lombardy in northern Italy, during the twelfth century. His father was a merchant and taught him the family business. Butler says that this practical training took the place of a school education. His father also taught him to regard truthfulness, justice, and religion as duties that belonged inside the shop as much as anywhere else.

He continued in commerce as an adult. Butler's account makes a particular point of his willingness to lose an advantage rather than gain it by dishonesty. He attended carefully to the business instead of treating religious devotion as a reason to neglect it. His work supported his household and gave him the means to relieve other people's needs. The story presents a working layman's responsibilities as the setting of his service to God.

At his parents' advice he married. Butler describes his wife as prudent and faithful in the care of their home. Their marriage was also the setting of a real difficulty: she sometimes feared that his generous almsgiving would leave the household without enough. The account records this concern rather than suggesting that his charity cost his family nothing. Homobonus answered by expressing confidence in God's care for those who helped the poor.

His dealings brought him into contact with people who were unreasonable, unjust, or bad-tempered. Butler especially praises his patient replies and refusal to answer malice with the same spirit. The challenges of his life were often those of the marketplace: the temptation to put profit first, resentment of others, and the pressure of difficult encounters. His example became known locally through the way he conducted those ordinary dealings.

After inheriting property and trading capital from his father, he increased his help to the poor. He sought people out in their homes rather than waiting for every need to be brought to him. Along with material relief he encouraged a Christian life. Butler also records stories of miraculous provision, which belong to the devotional testimony he transmits; the account's central portrait is of a man who repeatedly shared what his work supplied.

Prayer accompanied his business. He regularly attended the night office and Mass at the church of St. Giles, and turned his thoughts to God during the day's occupations. On November 13, 1197, he attended worship there as usual. Butler relates that he fell forward during Mass. At first those nearby supposed that he was praying; when he did not rise for the Gospel, they discovered that he had died.

Sicard, the bishop of Cremona, investigated his life and the miracles attributed to him, then went to Rome to seek his canonization. Pope Innocent III canonized him on January 12, 1199. Homobonus left no religious order or body of theological writings in this account. His enduring contribution is the example of a married merchant whose worship, business obligations, and concern for his neighbours formed one Christian life.