At Vienna in Austria, Blessed Mark of Aviano (Carlo Domenico Cristofori), priest of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, who, a wise preacher of the word of God, everywhere gave wonderful service to the poor and the sick, and especially stirred up the hearts of the powerful of the world, that they might set faith and peace before every interest and advantage.
Lifespan: 1631–1699
Beatified: 27 April 2003 by Pope John Paul II
Memoria liturgica: 13 August
He was moved by circumstances to commit himself actively to defending the freedom and unity of Christian Europe.
Mark of Aviano, born Carlo Domenico Cristofori, a Capuchin preacher of the Venetian Province, is one of the foremost religious figures of the seventeenth century: recognized as a herald of conversion and forgiveness, the animating spirit of a renewed practice of Christian life, and an apostle of the act of perfect contrition, he traveled the roads of Europe proclaiming the word of God and inviting the men of his time to faith and penance, his message confirmed and strengthened by the gift of conversions and healings.
Born in Aviano on 17 November 1631 to Marco Pasquale Cristofori and Rosa Zanoni, who belonged to the prosperous middle class of the town and whose marriage produced ten further children, he was baptized that same day with the name Carlo Domenico. He received his first spiritual and cultural formation in his native town, which was further developed during the years 1643–1647 at the Jesuit college in Gorizia: there the young Cristofori had occasion to broaden the foundations of his classical and scientific education and to deepen his life of piety, made more fervent by his membership in the Marian congregations.
The epic atmosphere generated by the War of Candia, fought in those years between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire, had a decisive influence on the life of the young man from Aviano. Animated by the desire to reach the theatre of military operations, ready even to shed his blood in defense of the faith, he left the college at Gorizia and arrived some days later at Capodistria, where, exhausted by hunger and the hardships of the journey, he knocked at the door of the Capuchins. The superior of the friary gave him not only food and shelter, but also the wise counsel to return home to his parents.
During his brief stay with the Capuchins at Capodistria, enlightened by grace, the young man from Aviano came to perceive the possibility of following his vocation to apostolate and martyrdom in a different way. This resolved itself into a firm decision to renounce the world and embrace the austere Capuchin life. In September 1648 he was received into the novitiate at Conegliano, and one year later, on 21 November 1649, he pronounced his religious vows under the name Marco d’Aviano. He subsequently completed the regular course of studies prescribed among the Capuchins — three years of philosophy and four of theology — during which, on 18 September 1655, he was ordained a priest at Chioggia.
His life was marked by a vigorous commitment to prayer and community life, lived in humility and hiddenness and animated by zeal and observance of the Rule and Constitutions of the Order. From September 1664, the year in which he received his preaching license, Father Mark devoted his finest energies to the apostolate of the word, proclaimed throughout Italy, especially during the penitential seasons of Lent and Advent. He was not without responsibilities of governance: in 1672 he was elected superior of the friary at Belluno, and in 1674 he was called to lead the fraternity at Oderzo.
The event that brought the friar from Aviano out of the humble hiddenness of his conventual cell and thrust him before universal attention occurred on 8 September 1676: sent to preach at the Paduan monastery of San Prosdocimo, through his prayer and blessing Sister Vincenza Francesconi, who had been ill and bedridden for some thirteen years, was instantly healed. Similar extraordinary events occurred a month later in Venice, drawing a remarkable crowd to his person and lending particular credibility to his apostolic ministry.
Undisturbed by the fame that spread ever more widely around him — and that soon brought requests for his presence outside Italy as well — the Servant of God continued his apostolic ministry, and especially his preaching, which was always incisive and focused. He urged his listeners in particular to grow in the life of faith and Christian practice, to repent of their sins, and to embrace penance: he led all in the act of perfect contrition and then imparted his blessing, which consistently brought forth abundant spiritual fruits and frequently also miraculous events and extraordinary healings.
It was precisely these miraculous events that prompted requests for the Servant of God’s presence everywhere and led him, in the last twenty years of his life, to undertake demanding apostolic journeys throughout Europe. These journeys were always made under obedience to the superiors of the Order or at the direct command of the Holy See, which frequently granted him — especially in view of the infirmities of age — the faculty of making use of appropriate means of transport. Continually sought out by sovereigns, rulers, and public authorities, he was received with great enthusiasm by large crowds eager to hear his word and receive his blessing.
Among the distinguished personages who earnestly sought his presence and offered him their friendship were: Charles V of Lorraine, Governor of Tyrol, and his wife Eleanor; Philip William, Duke of Neuburg, and his son John William; Maximilian Emmanuel, Elector of Bavaria, and his uncle Maximilian Philip; Anne Elisabeth, Princess of Vaudémont; Maria Anna Christina Victoria, Dauphine of France; Charles II, King of Spain, and his second wife Marianna of Neuburg; and, above all, John Sobieski, King of Poland, the Emperor Leopold I, and various members of the imperial court. His journeys during these years took him to Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Bohemia, and Austria.
Of particular importance are the relations between Father Mark and Emperor Leopold I. From their first meeting, which took place at Linz in September 1680, until his death, the Servant of God was for Leopold a friend, counselor, spiritual father, and confidant on every occasion and in every matter — familial, political, economic, military, and religious alike. Between the two there existed a deep complementarity of character: the insecure and irresolute Leopold met providentially on his path the strong and resolute personality of Father Mark, who, in addition to genuine friendship, offered his august contemporary courage, strength, decisiveness, soundness of judgment and action, assistance and direction in spiritual matters, confidence and counsel in questions of conscience, and guidance in all his responsibilities of governance.
It was in response to the emperor’s urgent insistence and to orders coming from Rome that Mark of Aviano was required to present himself at the imperial court — principally during the summer months — on no fewer than fourteen occasions, and to take an active part in the anti-Ottoman crusade: the Servant of God participated as pontifical legate and apostolic missionary. It is greatly to his credit that he contributed personally and in a decisive manner to the liberation of Vienna from the Turkish siege on 12 September 1683. From 1683 to 1689 he took part personally in the military campaigns of defense and liberation, his aim being to establish and foster mutual friendly relations within the imperial army, to exhort all to a genuinely Christian manner of life, and to provide spiritual assistance to the soldiers. Great military successes followed, among them the liberation of Buda on 2 September 1686, and that of Belgrade on 6 September 1688. In the years that followed, his efforts to restore peace in Europe — above all between France and the Empire — and to promote unity among the Catholic powers in defense of the faith, ever threatened by Ottoman power, were very active.
In May 1699 Mark of Aviano set out on his last journey to the imperial capital. His health, already fragile, underwent a progressive decline, so that he was obliged to cease all activity. On 2 August the imperial family came to visit him at the friary, followed in due course by the most illustrious personages of Vienna. On the 12th of the same month the Apostolic Nuncio Andrea Santa Croce personally brought the apostolic blessing of Pope Innocent XII to the sick friar, who received the last sacraments and renewed his religious profession. On 13 August 1699, attended by his august friend Emperor Leopold and Empress Eleanor, clasping the crucifix in his hands, Father Mark died peacefully. To allow the large crowds that had gathered from every quarter to see and venerate for the last time the mortal remains of the Capuchin from Aviano, the emperor ordered that the funeral be celebrated on the 17th, and arranged that he be buried in the friars’ cemetery, but in a separate tomb not far from the imperial sepulchres. The emperor was already thinking of promoting his cause of beatification; and to this end, four years later, arranged for the translation of the friar’s mortal remains to a chapel of the Capuchin church in Vienna, where they rest to this day.
If the message of Mark of Aviano, at the personal level, consists in a vigorous call addressed to every Christian to walk a constant path of conversion and faith, at a broader level it recalls and underscores the Christian identity of Europe, which is to be safeguarded and pursued through apostolate and prayer: in this perspective he himself adopted the title — which was the program of his life and remains ever timely — of “spiritual physician of Europe.”