Saint Homobonus, Patron of Businesspeople and Tailors. His Name Means “Good Guy”

Have you ever heard of Saint Homobonus?

Omobono  Tucenghi (also called “Homobonus”) was a 12th century tailor from the town of Cremona, on the bank of the Po River in northern Italy.  He inherited a large estate from his father, a successful tailor and merchant; but he was humble and generous.  He believed that God had permitted him to be successful in business, in order that he might donate a large proportion of his income to help the poor.

Homobonus was devout, and he attended Mass and received the Eucharist every day.  On November 13, 1197, he died while praying at Mass, lying prostrate on the floor with his arms spread out as on a cross.

Just fourteen months later, at the urging of the townspeople of Cremona, Pope Innocent III canonized the kindly tailor.  In the papal bull announcing the canonization, Pope Innocent called him “father of the poor”, “consoler of the afflicted”, “assiduous in constant prayer”, “man of peace and peacemaker” and “a man good in name and deed.”  

“This saint,” said the Pope, “is still like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in our time.”

Saint Homobonus is the patron saint of businessmen and businesswomen, tailors and clothworkers, and shoemakers.  He is also the patron of his native Cremona.

His feast is celebrated each year on November 13.

Sant’Omobono Church at the foot of the Capitoline Hill in the Ripa neighborhood of Rome is dedicated to his memory.

Photo credits:

SAINT HOMOBONUS:  “Omobono lianori”. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Omobono_lianori.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Omobono_lianori.jpg

CHURCH OF SANT’OMOBONO:  By Lalupa (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons