Giovanni Colombini

c.1300-1367. A wealthy Sienese merchant and magistrate converted to a life of service after reading a life of St. Mary of Egypt,* he cared for the poor and sick in his own house for almost a decade. When his son died and his daughter became a nun, he settled an annuity on his wife, disposed of his remaining property, and formed an association dedicated to poverty and service about 1360. Alarmed at their following, the magistrates banished the group, until an outbreak of plague led to their recall. Urban V constituted the group as Clerici apostolici S. Hieronymi (or Gesuati*) in 1367, and Gregory XIII beatified Colombini.