CrucisSt. Robert Bellarmine
St. Robert Bellarmine was born on 4 October 1542 at Montepulciano in Tuscany, Italy, and died on 17 September 1621 at Rome. A nephew of Pope Marcellus II, he entered the Society of Jesus and became the foremost Catholic theologian of his generation, teaching at Louvain and Rome. He was later made a cardinal and briefly archbishop of Capua, serving the popes in the great controversies of the age.
His Disputations on the Controversies of the Christian Faith systematically expounded and defended Catholic doctrine against the Reformers, and his writings on the authority of the Church and the state remain influential. A man of personal simplicity who gave his wealth to the poor, he was also a spiritual director — famously a friend and, in the end, a cautious counselor to Galileo — and the author of devotional works. He was canonized in 1930 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1931.
Selected quotes
“Humility is the foundation of all virtue; where it is lacking, the entire spiritual edifice crumbles.”
“Where pride dwells, truth cannot be received, for pride insists on being the author of what it finds.”
“To know one's own sinfulness clearly and to trust in God's mercy fully — this is the beginning of holiness.”