Illustration of Blessed Clement of Osimo by János Hajnal in Il fascino di Dio: Profili de agiografia agostiniana by Fernando Rojo Martínez, O.S.A. Copyright © 2000 Pubblicazioni Agostiniane Rome. Used with permission. Original art preserved in the Office of Augustinian Postulator of Causes, Rome
Blessed Clement of Osimo
May 19
Clement (died 1291) was a leader of the Augustinian Order known for his spirit of fraternal charity and life of poverty. He was considered to be a holy man and a worker of miracles.
He was born around the beginning of the 13th Century in the region of Marcas, Italy, probably in San Elpidio.
As a young man, he entered the Augustinians in Brettino. He was chosen Prior Provincial of the Province of Marche of Ancona in 1269. He was twice selected as Prior General of the Order, serving in that role from 1271 to 1274, when he resigned his office and returned to a more quiet way of life. But he was again elected Prior General in 1284, this time unanimously. He served in that office until his death in 1291.
He, along with Blessed Augustine of Tarano, helped revise the Regensburg Constitutions of the Order (the basic law by which the Order is governed). He encouraged formal studies on the part of the friars, and founded five schools where those studies could be undertaken. He supported the establishment of libraries. He insisted on proper observance of the Augustinian way of life. He promoted the foundation of Augustinian houses for women.
Clement died April 8, 1291. He was first buried at the Augustinian house in Orvieto. Later his remains were divided, with a portion remaining in Orvieto, and other portions sent for burial in Osimo and in San Elpidio. In the early 18th Century, most of his remains were gathered together and reburied at St. Augustine Church, Rome. Since 1970 his remains are preserved at the General Headquarters of the Order in Rome. Pope Clement XIII proclaimed him Blessed in 1759.
