Pilgrim or Pilgrim

Biography

Saint Francis met him when he was preaching in the square of Bologna. «Like arrows launched by the divine archer, so his words pierced the souls. Many of those who listened renounced their sinful lives to embrace penitence. Among them were two students from noble families: Peregrino de Falerone and Ricerio de Mucci. Both confessed to the saint their desire to enter the Order. Enlightened by the Holy Spirit, Francis said: «You, Pilgrim, will lead a humble life; and you, Ricerio, will become superior to your brothers. And so it was. Brother Peregrino never agreed to be a clergyman, despite being a man versed in letters. This humility allowed him to reach a state of high spiritual perfection through the grace of repentance and the love of God. Devoured by the thirst for martyrdom, he left for Jerusalem to visit the Holy Places. He followed in the footsteps of God made man with the Gospels in his hand: seeing them with his own eyes and touching them with his own hands, he knelt on his knees and bathed the ground with tears, covering the land sanctified by the passage of the Lord with kisses. According to the testimony of Brother Bernardo, spiritual firstborn of Saint Francis, he was one of the holiest brothers in the world. Peregrino spent the rest of his existence in a hermitage.