The Doge of God

Venice is sinking. Well, it has been sinking for some time and there are efforts to keep it afloat. The efforts are worthwhile because it is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and there is something intriguing about having a city sitting in a lagoon where canals are main thoroughfares. I'm not going to use the word 'romantic', it's overdone as a term for the city, but it is an intriguing city, and indeed it was an city of intrigue for centuries. If we use the expression as a metaphor, Venice has been sinking for centuries - all life is there and every sort of corruption found its place in the narrow calle of the city and in the palaces of the powerful. We can say Venice is a metaphor for the world; for all its beauty and wonder, it is no different than anywhere else.

That said, Venice has more than its fair share of Saints, but to be brutally honest, most of them were stolen from other places and brought back to the city by Venetian traders. St Lucy, who lies in the Church of St Jeremiah, was taken from Syracuse in Sicily - they are still looking to get her back - good luck to them there, their chances are slim. St Mark, Evangelist, now patron of the city, was swiped from his tomb in Alexandria in Egypt; I'm not sure how efforts to re-patriot him are getting on. The Sack of Constantinople also yielded a haul of Saints, and these now lie in some of the churches scattered throughout the city. But, to be fair to the Venetians, they have produced a few Saints themselves, and today is the feast of one of them: St Pietro Orseolo, a monk of the Camaldolese Order who was also a former Doge of Venice.

Pietro was a Venetian, though born in Udine in 928, his family was thoroughly Venetian. As such, he was up to his neck in politics and trade. He joined the Venetian fleet, the most powerful in the world at the time, and such was his ability, he was raised to the rank of commander at the age of twenty. He was a distinguished soldier and was involved in a number of successful campaigns. Thanks to his record of service to the Serene Republic, in 976, when Doge Pietro Candiano was ousted from power by a revolution, which some say St Pietro was involved in, he was elected Doge himself. The office of Doge, or Duke, was an elected monarchy and held for life. It was an office with considerable power and influence. He would reign as Pietro I Orseolo.

Once in office, he married a devout woman, Felicia Malipiero and they had a family; one of his sons, would also be elected as Doge, Pietro who would reign as Pietro II Orseolo; his grandson, Otto, son of Pietro II, would become the youngest Doge in history. Pietro proved to be a good Doge, he tried to bring order to the Republic which was in disarray at the time, and he had scope to exercise his charity for those most in need. He governed as a truly Christian ruler, his faith was the centre of his life - his wife was a welcome support. Together they founded a hospital and Felicia devoted much of her time to caring for the sick. He rebuilt the chapel in honour of St Mark, which had been damaged in the revolution - this would become the great Basilica of St Mark. Pietro spent a great deal of time in prayer, and it was there that he found the wisdom to govern justly. However, it was in those hours communing with the Lord that he heard the call to another life.

Pietro wanted to leave the world and find solace in a monastery. Whatever struggle he had to deal with in those hours, he could not resist the call, and so, on the 1st September 978, he left the city with some monks and began the search for a monastery. He settled among the Benedictine monks in Prades in France. It seems his wife did not object too seriously to his departure: she too had discerned a call to the religious life and entered the Benedictine nuns in the city. In the monastery Pietro lived a life of great austerity and edified those who knew him. He sought the lowest place and was content to do the most menial of tasks. In time, he discerned a call to a more contemplative life and with the help of St Romuald, founder of the Camaldolese monks, he became a hermit under their rule. He died in 987 and is buried in Prades. To date, the Venetians have not arrived to steal the body.

Pietro's life has significance to both lay people and religious. He was a sailor, soldier, a ruler, husband and father. As Doge he serves as an example for all Christians who work in politics and are entrusted with power. In his public life he never divorced himself from his Christian faith, he knew that he was in office so he could put into practice the principles of his faith for the good of his people. That example is badly needed today as many Catholics who now work in government try to put their faith aside as they carry out their duties. Indeed, some of them promote the most dreadful anti-Christian and anti-life positions and maintain that they are Catholic. St Pietro certainly challenges them - one cannot claim to be servant of God and yet be a servant of evil at the same time. 

Here is a Saint that needs to be rediscovered, he has great relevance for us today. Even in the area of prayer he has important lessons for us: he teaches us that we must take time, even when we are very busy, to commune with God in silence and solitude. The Ven. Fulton Sheen taught us the same lesson. God spoke to Pietro and guided him to the contemplative life - while it seems irregular for a married man to seek monastic life, it happened regularly at various points in the Church's history. Pietro's decision was affirmed by his wife as she too entered religious life. They remained married, but they lived their married life in a life of contemplative prayer - physically apart, yes, but united in heart and soul in the heart of God. Though this may seem like bliss to some of my married readers, it is not usually recommended nowadays.

Sadly, Venice no longer belongs to the Venetians; most of them had to move away because they could not afford to live there. Now the great palaces belong to outsiders who come for the season, and then leave. The locals travel into the city by train to work and look after the tourists and then go home. It is the tourists who are wafted on the dream of the city, the locals work to keep it afloat. That's reality, a reality St Pietro knew all too well, and it led him to seek solace and space to find the true City of God. We may not be able to find refuge in a monastery, but here too Pietro has a lesson for us. Before he left public life, he found the monastery in God's presence in his prayer, in front of the Tabernacle, in his daily duties as he sought to keep his whole being immersed in God's presence. Here, then, is the secret of the spiritual life: to foster recollection as the monastery in which we can dwell even when in the midst of the noise and turbulence of the world.