Peter (who, from the name he took as Pope, was called Celestine) was born in 1221 at Isernia in the Abruzzi, Italy, of respectable Catholic parents. When quite a boy, he retired into solitude that he might be out of the reach of the world’s vanities. There he nourished his soul with holy contemplations, bringing his body into subjection and wearing a hair-shirt and an iron chain next to his skin, taking Saint John the Baptist as his role model. Peter was ordained a priest in Rome and on his way back received the Benedictine habit from the Abbot of Faizola who allowed him to resume his solitary life. He founded, under the Rule of Saint Benedict, the Congregation which in 1274 was approved by Pope Gregory X and became known later as the Congregation of Celestines after his papal name. The Roman Church having been for a long time widowed of its Pastor after the death of Pope Nicholas IV, Celestine was chosen, unknown to himself, to occupy the Chair of Peter, and was therefore compelled to quit his solitude, for he was a lamp that was set upon a candlestick and could not be hid. All men were filled with joy, as well as with surprise, at this unexpected choice. But thus exalted to the Pontificate, and finding that the multiplicity of cares rendered it almost impossible for him to continue his wonted contemplations, he resigned of his own accord the onerous honours of the Papal throne. He therefore resumed his former mode of life and slept in the Lord by a precious death, which was rendered still more glorious by the apparition of an exceedingly bright cross which hovered over the door of his cell. He was celebrated for many miracles, both before and after his death in 1926, which being authentically proved, he was canonised 11 years after his departure from this world by Pope Clement V in 1313.
Dom Prosper Guéranger:
Our Paschal Season which has already given us the admirable Doctor, Saint Leo, brings before us today the humble Peter Celestine — Sovereign Pontiff, like Leo, but who was no sooner throned on the Apostolic See than he left it and returned to solitude. Among the long list of sainted men who compose the venerable series of Roman Pontiffs our Lord would have one in whose person was to be represented the virtue of humility — that honour was conferred on Peter Celestine. He was dragged from the quiet of his solitude, compelled to ascend the throne of Saint Peter and made to hold, in his trembling hand, the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. The holy hermit whose eyes had been ever fixed on his own weakness had then to provide for the necessities of the whole Church. In his humility he judged himself to be unequal to so heavy a responsibility. He resigned the tiara and begged to be permitted to return to his dear hermitage. His Divine Master, Christ, had, in like manner, concealed his glory first in a thirty years of hidden life, and then, later on, under the cloud of His Passion and Sepulchre. The sunshine of the Pasch came. The gloom was dispersed and the Conqueror of Death arose in all His splendour. He would have His servants share in His triumph, but their share is to be greater or less, according to the measure in which they have, here on Earth, imitated His humility. Who then could describe the glory which Peter Celestine receives in Heaven as a recompense for his profound humility which made him more eager to be unknown than the most ambitious of men could be for honour and fame? He was great on the Pontifical throne and still greater in his solitude. But his greatness, now that he is in Heaven, surpasses all human thought.
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You obtained, Celestine, the object of your ambition. You were permitted to descend from the Apostolic throne and return to the quiet of that hidden life which, for so many years, had been your delight. Enjoy, to your heart’s content, the holy charm of being unknown to the world, and the treasures of contemplation in the secret of the face of God (Psalm xxx. 21). But this life of obscurity must have an end and then, the Cross — the Cross which you have loved above all earthly possessions — will rise up in brightness before your cell door and summon you to share in the Paschal triumph of Him who came down from Heaven to teach us this great truth — that he that humbles himself, will be exalted (Matthew xxiii. 12).
Your name, O Celestine, will for ever shine on the list of Roman Pontiffs. You are one of the links of that glorious chain which unites the Holy Church with Jesus, her Founder and her Spouse. But a still greater glory is reserved for you — the glory of being forever with this same Risen Jesus. Holy Church which, during the short period of your holding the Keys of Peter, was obedient to you, has now for centuries paid, and will continue, to the end of the world, to pay you the tribute of her devotion because she recognises in you one of God’s elect — one of the Princes of the heavenly court. And we, O Celestine, we also are invited to ascend where you are and contemplate, together with you, the most beautiful among the children of men (Psalm xliv. 3), the Conqueror of sin and Hell. But there is only one path that can lead us there. It is the path you trod — the path of humility. Pray for us that we may be solidly grounded in this virtue and desire it with all our earnestness, that we may change our unhappy self-esteem into an honest contempt of ourselves, that we may despise all human glory and be courageous and cheerful under humiliation, and that thus having drunk of the torrent as did our Divine Master, we may one day, like Him, lift up our heads (Psalm cix. 7) and cluster round His throne for all eternity.
