May 11th
Blessed Gregory Celli was born around 1225 in the village of Verucchio (Forli), Italy. At the age of fifteen he joined a monastery in that place, of the Augustinian Rule. He belonged to the “hermits of Blessed John the Good” (often called the “Giamboniti”). Blessed Gregory was an authentic witness to the life of the gospel, spending the great part of his life in rigorous asceticism, penance, and contemplation in a hermitage on Monte Carnelio near Fonto Colombo (Rieti).
He is reported to have died in 1343 at Rieti, at the age of 118 years. During his life time he would have been witness to the Grand union of monks and hermits who followed the Rule of Saint Augustine. (In 1256 these various autonomous monasteries, were banded together by the Church to form the Augustinian Order.) Blessed Gregory’s remains are preserved in Verucchio. The memory of Blessed Gregory is celebrated by the Augustinian Family on 11 May.