St. Francis Solano: Alter Franciscus of the new world

Abstract

Considering the increased interest that the history of colonial Hispanic America is gaining in the scientific community, the article focuses its attention on a topic that has been relatively disregarded: sanctity in the New World. This aspect has shown itself to be a wealthy mine with yet unexplored resources, such as the case of St. Francis Solano. He might be considered one of the most emblematic representatives of the Franciscan family in the mission of evangelization in America. Along with a biography guided by primary sources, the article offers a reading of Solano”™s life in the light of the image of St. Francis of Assisi proper to the colonial time. This parallel makes it possible to glimpse the historiographical effort of establishing similarities, as much as it is possible, between Francis Solano and the Poverello of Assisi. This latter was considered by his contemporaries to be a genuine alter Christus, due to his deep configuration with Jesus Christ. It was the common belief that the success of the Gospel message in America would be guaranteed only by its personification in the saints. Thus, without disputing the testimony of sanctity of the so-called ”˜Apostle of America”™, the article presents the hypothesis of the importance that it had for the catholic authorities of Solano”™s time the fact of introducing into the universal Church an authentic fruit of holiness ripened in the vineyards of the New World. If Europe could boast of a prestigious saint of the stature of Francis of Assisi, the other part of the Christian world could put itself under the patronage of another saint, himself highly exemplary: Francis Solano, the alter Franciscus.