Innocenzo Leonelli

Venerable Innocenzo Leonelli
Born	1592
Died	April 1625 (aged 32–33) Brescia
Other names	Tiburzio Lazzari
Occupation(s)	soldier, hermit
Parents	Giulio Leonelli (father) Virginia Leonelli née Fornari (mother)
Family	Mutatesia Leonelli, Ignatius of Jesus (born Carlo Leonelli), and three sisters

Innocenzo Leonelli (il Venerabile) (1592 – April 1625), also called "the hermit of Maddalena", was a soldier whose fierce religiosity led him to vow to fight only enemies of the Catholic faith. He was the son of a "wealthy and semi-noble family". His father, Giulio Leonelli, was a well-respected lawyer and onetime governor of Turin. His brothers were Mutatesia Leonelli, who was appointed as treasurer of the pontifical chambers by Pope Urban VIII, and the Discalced Carmelite missionary Ignatius of Jesus.

He first fought in Lombardy and later, in 1617 he served his faith by fighting Protestants in Bohemia and Hungary. In 1620 or 1622, after returning from his campaigns, he gave his wealth to the poor and renounced his name; seeking peace, he cloistered himself in the hermitage of Santa Maria Maddalena in Brescia, taking the name of Tiburzio Lazzari. He spent his time with the sick and destitute, providing them with conversation and consolation, and would leave the hermitage only to go begging for alms.

The life of a hermit sapped his health and he fell gravely ill. The wealthy of Brescia offered him succor in their palaces but he refused them. Rather, he asked to be taken to a hospital to die among the same people he had previously ministered to. Following his death in April 1625, the faithful considered him so holy the Bishop of Brescia had to protect his body from those wanting it for relics. The Bishop later convened a trial to examine his life and works, and thereafter Leonelli was referred to as il Venerabile.

Two years after his death, the regents of the hospital re-buried him in a tomb of fine marble. The tomb was relocated in 1733 as part of the restoration and improvements made to the temple of Santa Lucia at that time.

References

Bibliography

• Gargano, Sebastiano (1868). Manuale statistico amministrativo storico ed artistico della provincia di Pesaro e Urbino [Statistical and historical administrative manual of the province of Pesaro and Urbino]. Pesaro: Nobili.
• Lupieri, Edmondo F. (1 December 2003). "Friar of Ignatius of Jesus (Carlo Leonelli) and the First Scholarly book on Mandaeaism (1652)". ARAM Periodical. 16. Peeters Publishers: 25–46. doi:10.2143/aram.16.0.504670.
• Spreti, Marchese Vittorio (1968). Enciclopedia storico-nobiliare italiana: famiglie nobili e titolate viventi riconosciute dal R. g̊overno d'Italia compresi: città, comunità, mense vescovili, abazie, parrocchie ed enti nobili e titolati riconosciuti [Encyclopedia of Italian noblemen: noble families and living titles recognized by the R.government of Italy including: city, community, bishop's domains, abbeys, parishes and noble bodies and recognized titles]. Forni.
• Vernarecci, Augusto (1872). Dizionario biografico degli nomini illustri di Fossombrone [Biographical dictionary of the illustrious names of Fossombrone]. Monacelli.
• Vernarecci, Augusto (1903). Fossombrone dai tempi antichissimi ai nostri con illustrazioni e appendice di documenti [Fossombrone from ancient times to ours with illustrations and appendix of documents]. Vol. 2 pt. 2. Forni.
• Commentari dell'Ateneo di Brescia. Ateneo di Brescia. 1996.

Further reading

• Breve Racconto della Vita et Opere del Venerab. Servo di Dio Innocentto Leonelli della ctttd du Fossombrone [Brief Tale of Life and Works of the Venerable Servant of God Innocentto Leonelli of Fossombrone]. Fossombrone. 1679. Ms. in Fol., di carte 10, nel vol. 39 de' Mss. della Biblioteca Passionei. – Mentioned in Vernarecci (1903) p. 653