Blessed Pietro Tecelano
Also known as
- Pietro Pettinaio
- Peter….
- Pier….
- 4 December
- 10 December on some calendars
- 4 November on some calendars
- 11 November on some calendars
- 16 March on some calendars
Profile
Moved from Campi to Siena, Italy with his family as a child. He married and worked as a comb-maker. Widower. Franciscan tertiary, serving as a nurse in a Franciscan hospital. He continued making combs, living a simple, solitary life, giving any excess monies to the Franciscans, and spending his nights in prayer and meditation. He eventually moved from a layman‘s house to a cell in the monastery that ran the hospital. He considered himself too talkative, and worked to living in silence. Pilgrim to holy sites in various Italian cities. Known as a mystic and a miracle worker, he became a sought after advisor to priests and laity. The character of Pier the comb-seller in Dante’s Purgatorio may have been modeled upon him.
Born
- early December 1289 in Siena, Italy of natural causes
- buried at the Franciscan church in Siena
- his grave became a site for pilgrims and scene of miracles
- shrine built over his grave in 1326
- an annual local feast began to be celebrated in 1329
- shrine destroyed by fire in 1655
- remaining relics preserved by the Poor Clare nuns of Siena
MLA Citation
- “Blessed Pietro Tecelano“. CatholicSaints.Info. 6 February 2019. Web. 1 August 2021. <>