Life

Luchesius Modestini (also Luchesio, Lucchese, Lucesio, Lucio) (ca. 1180-1260) was a native and merchant of the town of Poggibonsi

Poggibonsi

Poggibonsi is a town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, Italy. It is the main centre of the Valdelsa Valley.-History:The area around Poggibonsi was already settled in the Neolithic age, although the first traces of civilisation dates from Etruscan-Roman age, attested by a series of necropolises and...

 in the Province of Siena

Province of Siena

The Province of Siena is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Siena.It has an area of 3,821 km² , and a total population of 252,288 . There are 36 comuni in the province...

 around 1180-1182. His biographers state that, more than most merchants, he was so entirely and solely concerned with material success that he was generally reputed to be an avaricious man. His wife, Buonadonna, was said to be of a similar disposition.

At some point Luchesius had a moment of conversion and realized how foolish it is to strive only for worldly goods. He began to practice works of mercy and to perform his religious obligations with fidelity. After Luchesius had put on the gray tunic

Tunic

A tunic is any of several types of clothing for the body, of various lengths reaching from the shoulders to somewhere between the hips and the ankles...

 or attire

Religious habit

A religious habit is a distinctive set of garments worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognisable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anachoritic life, although in their case without conformity to a particular uniform...

 of a penitent, he rapidly advanced toward perfect holiness. He practiced ascetic

Asceticism

Asceticism describes a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from various sorts of worldly pleasures often with the aim of pursuing religious and spiritual goals...

 austerities: often fasting on bread and water and sleeping on the hard floor; at his work He bore God constantly in his heart.

With his wife joined him in following a life inspired by their faith, Luchesius and Buonadonna had the option of separating and each entering monasteries

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

. This was an ancient and respectable way for husbands and wives to develop their spiritual aspirations, commonly practiced by married couples who felt a deep desire to follow God. Clearly they chose to remain a married couple. In this they revived a way of sanctity for married couples.

Since they had no one to care for but themselves, and Luchesius feared that in conducting his business he might relapse into covetousness, he gave up his business entirely. He and his wife divided everything among the poor and retained for themselves only so much land as would suffice for their support. Luchesius tilled this with his own hands and used the bounty that was beyond their need to the hungry.

About this time Saint Francis of Assisi came to Tuscany. After his sermon on penance, many people desired to leave all and to follow his way of life. But Saint Francis admonished them calmly to persevere in their vocation, for he had in mind soon to give them a a guide by which they could serve God perfectly even in the world, without entering into Religious life.

At Poggibonsi Francis visited Luchesius, with whom he had become acquainted through former business transactions. Francis greatly rejoiced to find this avaricious man so altered, and Luchesius, who had already heard about the blessed activities of Francis, asked for special instructions for himself and his wife, so that they might lead a life in the world that would be pleasing to God. Saint Francis then explained to them his plans for the establishment of an Order for lay people; and Luchesius and Buonadonna asked to be received into it at once. Thus, according to tradition, they became the first members of the Order of Penance, which later came to be called the Third Order of St. Francis

Third Order of St. Francis

The Third Order of St. Francis is a third order within the Franciscan movement of the Roman Catholic Church. It includes both congregations of vowed men and women and fraternities of men and women living standard lives in the world, usually married...

, which name, in A.D. 1976, was changed to the Secular Franciscan Order

Secular Franciscan Order

thumb|rigth|Lapel pin of Secular Franciscan Order.The Secular Franciscan Order is a community of Catholic men and women, of any of the Rites in communion with Rome , in the world who seek to pattern their lives after Christ in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi. Secular Franciscans are...

.

If Luchesius and Buonadonna were really the first Tertiaries

Tertiary

The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...

 (members of a Third Order

Third order

The term Third Order designates persons who live according to the Third Rule of a Roman Catholic religious order, an Anglican religious order, or a Lutheran religious order. Their members, known as Tertiaries, are generally lay members of religious orders, i.e...

), they must have become so not long after St. Francis founded his First Order in 1209. The first simple rule of life, which St. Francis gave to the first tertiaries at that time, was supplanted in 1221 by one which Cardinal Ugolino prepared in legal wording. And in the same year Pope Honorius III approved this rule verbally. For this reason the year 1221 is often given as the date of the founding of the Third Order of Saint Francis.

Hagiography

According to legend, Luchesius' generosity to the poor knew no bounds, so that one day there was not even a loaf of bread for his own household. When still another poor man came, he asked his wife to look to see if there was not something they could find for him. That vexed her and she scolded him severely; his mortifications, she said, had well nigh crazed him, he would keep giving so long that they themselves would have to suffer hunger. Luchesius asked her gently to please look in the pantry, for he trusted that Christ, who had multiplied a few loaves for the benefit of thousands, would provide for them. She did so, and found that the whole pantry was filled with the best kind of bread. Thus he succeeded in winning his wife over to a similar outlook on life. From that time on, Buonadonna vied with her husband in doing good and performing acts of penance

Penance

Penance is repentance of sins as well as the proper name of the Roman Catholic, Orthodox Christian, and Anglican Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation/Confession. It also plays a part in non-sacramental confession among Lutherans and other Protestants...

.

When a plague raged in Poggibonsi and the surrounding places, Luchesius went out with his laden donkey, to bring the necessaries to the sick. When he did not have enough to supply all, he begged for more from others in behalf of the distressed. Once he carried a sick cripple, whom he had found on the way, to his home on his shoulders. A frivolous young man met him, and asked him mockingly, "what poor devil is that you are carrying there on your back?" Luchesius replied calmly. "I am carrying my Lord Jesus Christ." At once the young man's face became distorted, he cried out fearfully, and was dumb. Contritely he cast himself on his knees before Luchesius, who restored his speech to him by means of the Sign of the Cross

Sign of the cross

The Sign of the Cross , or crossing oneself, is a ritual hand motion made by members of many branches of Christianity, often accompanied by spoken or mental recitation of a trinitarian formula....

.

Death and veneration

When he lay very ill, and there was no hope for his recovery, his wife said to him, "Implore God, who gave us to each other as companions in life, to permit us also to die together." Luchesius prayed as requested. and Buonadonna fell ill with a fever, from which she died even before her husband, after devoutly receiving the Holy Sacrament

Sacrament

A sacrament is a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites.-General definitions and terms:...

s. Luchesius died on April 28, 1260.

At his grave in the Franciscan church at Poggibonsi it is claimed that many miracles have occurred. His continuous veneration as a Blessed

Beatification

Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...

 was approved by Pope Pius VI.