Clerics Regular Minor - Founders - Venerable Augustine Adorno

Venerable Augustine Adorno

Venerable Augustine Adorno, born John Augustine Adorno, is considered the first founder and the first father of the Clerics Regular Minor. He was born in Genoa in 1551 to Michele Adorno, and Nicoletta dei Campanari. His father was a senator of Genoa and was a respected personage of this city. His father's family was very much involved in the political affairs of Genoa. His mother was a woman of virtue and religious piety.

Augustine received his education in diplomacy, commerce as well as classical studies. In 1573 Augustine Adorno was sent to the court of Philip II by his father, Michele, where he stayed for several years. Augustine was a kind of envoy of Genoa to the King of Spain while at the same time he attended to the financial affairs of the family in Spain. He was a banker in the court of Philip II, lending money to the King and his associates. It was in Valencia, Spain that Augustine met St. Louis Bertrand who prophesied that he would establish a religious order. Two events could be said to have contributed to Augustine's decision to abandon his career as a banker and financial manager of the family's business in Spain: he lost a big amount of money to gambling and the death of his father in 1578. These events led Augustine to the realization of the importance of the 'things in heaven' and that everything on earth soon 'comes to an end.'

Augustine resolved to abandon the world and decided to devote himself to spiritual matters. Upon his return to Genoa, Augustine had time to reflect on his vocation in life and in order to ascertain the fact that God was really calling him, he meditated and prayed over it with the help of his spiritual director, Don Giustino Barnaba. Augustine studied theology and petrology of the Church Fathers in the seminary of Genoa. It was also in Genoa that Augustine thought of establishing a religious order. At 36 years of age, Augustine was ordained a priest on September 19, 1587 in the Church of Saint Restituta. He continued to exercise his pastoral ministry as a member of the Confraternity of the While Robes of Mercy in Naples, reaching out to the prisoners. Augustine also frequented the Hospital of the Incurabili, where he ministered to the sick and the dying. It was in the course of Augustine's pastoral work in this hospital that he met Fabrizio Caracciolo, a relative of Saint Francis Caracciolo.