Monteprandone - S. Giacomo della Marca

San Giacomo della Marca, whose real name was Domenico Gangale, was born in Monteprandone, in the province of Ascoli Piceno, on 1st September 1393. During his youth, he studied in Ascoli Piceno and later in Perugia, where he graduated in civil and ecclesiastical law. He practiced first as a notary in Florence and later as a judge in Bibbiena, but the environment of the courts of justice, far from his spiritual aspirations, led him to leave the judicial world and enter the convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Assisi .On 13th June 1420, he was ordained priest and soon distinguished himself for the effectiveness of his sermons that attracted many pilgrims in every place he went. The preaching of St. James, which treated the basic themes of the Christian faith, spread against heretical groups, mainly the Fraticelli, who repeatedly attempted against his life. Pope Eugene IV gave him special assignments for preaching against heresy over the Adriatic and for diplomatic missions in Central and Eastern Europe.He was a staunch supporter of the Crusades and, thanks to his intervention as a peacemaker, the cities of Fermo and Ascoli, eternal enemies, made two historical reconciliations between them in 1446 and then in 1463. In the same year, he solved once again a question about the border between Monteprandone and Acquaviva. The Saint strove to give Civil Statutes to eleven cities and created pawnshops, to fight usury. He wrote eighteen books and he instituted, in the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, which he founded, a rich library for religious education and for those who loves learning. He died in Naples on 28th November 1476. His body was buried in the church of Santa Maria la Nova in Naples.