FLAGS ON THE BELL TOWER

TUESDAY 2 FEBRUARY 2016

Feast of the Consecration of the Church in San Donato

 

Today we remember the day when our Church was consecrated to God in honor of St. Donato, by Bishop Gerardo, Patriarch of Ravenna on February 2, 1188 ; at that time it was called San Donato alla Torre.

On that day many people gathered in the plain, because Gerardo delivered the crusader vestments to the Florentines, for the departure from here of the third crusade. The prior Bono delivered to the crusaders the banner of San Donato that was flying on the church.

To commemorate the historical event, four banners fly on the bell tower:

1. that of the crusaders who left our church;

2. in antithesis to it, the one that bears the olive branch, symbol of peace (the symbol was wanted by Don Bencini to remind us that peace is the most important good and that wars are not waged in the name of God, as current events also show us);

3. the one that bears the coat of arms of the monastery of S.Donato, in homage to the Cistercian nuns who adorned the church with frescoes,

4. the one with the coat of arms of the Demidoffs, who lived in San Donato for about 60 years and at least partially saved the church. 

The Demidoff coat of arms, which has undergone various versions over the years, consists of a large shield surmounted by a crown, a Russian noble symbol. In the center of the shield there are three rods (a tool used for metal prospecting), a miner's hammer (as a symbol of the Ural mines owned by the Demidoffs, sources of their enormous wealth also bestowed on the city of Florence) and a golden band (also a symbol of the noble dignity of the Demidoffs). 

On the sides of the shield there are two large Greek crosses (coat of arms of the city of Florence) and two silver lilies (symbol of the municipality of Florence). The title of Princes of S. Donato was granted to the Demidoffs by the Grand Duke of Tuscany Leopold II for the great charitable works carried out by them in favor of Florence, so much so that they received the placement of a small panel on the facade of the Cathedral of Florence for the economic contributions given for the works carried out on it.

Today's frenetic way of life makes us so hasty and distracted that we do not even remember that we own such a precious bell tower: small, but so significant for its history. We pass under it and often do not look at it.

Today, a church holiday, it is not possible to ignore it: we want to remember its value, starting from the times when it represented a vital sign of reference among the few in this area.

Every day, with the ringing of bells or when it is enhanced by the lights and colors of the festive flags, it calls us and makes us feel its living presence.

We can be proud of it!

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 DON FRANCO BENCINI

A MAN, A COMMUNITY BUILDER, A FAITHFUL SHEPHERD

 

 

Testimony of Cardinal Silvano Piovanelli:

Don Franco Bencini was a singular priest. You hardly saw him around. Even in the meetings of priests. But he was always there in the parish.

The parish was his home, his family.

I remember the impression it always made on me every time I've been to celebrate for the sacrament of Confirmation in its church, so beautiful in its pure lines and in its fourteenth-century frescoes, which remind us of ancient monastic splendors.

Don Franco had prepared everything with great precision and everything took place in the bare essentiality of the rite and in the attentive participation of those present. I realized that he looked at the young confirmands with pride, as a father looks at the children he is happy with. I had the clear impression of a long and above all accurate and precise preparation process. Beyond external forms, Don Franco was interested in the substance of faith. 

He worked all his life - a very long life if you think that he was in San Donato in Polverosa as a parish priest since 1964 - for his church to return to that beauty, simplicity and freedom of forms it had in ancient times. And in this field, Don Franco has come a long way. Even the latest restorations, the latest liberations of the sacred building, made after his departure, are the result of his work and his passion.

But above all Don Franco did that pastoral work that does not stand out in the eyes, you do not measure by meters: Don Franco loved his people. And the people of him understood. Especially when he left due to age and illness, people felt the emptiness, they realized how important he was in San Donato in Polverosa. After all, this San Donato was reborn with him. Card. Ermenegildo Florit signed the decree that reconstitutes the parish after a centuries-old abandonment on June 1, 1963.

From every point of view - juridical, material, spiritual - what the community of San Donato in Polverosa is, it owes to Don Franco.

People rightly have it in their hearts and Don Franco, with his gruff and direct way, continues to tell everyone to continue to grow to be sincere men and women, committed to walking seriously on the paths of history and men and women of faith who they walk in the light of the Gospel and thus offer in their lives the luminous witness of the Risen and Living Jesus ”(25 March 2010).

 

 

Testimony of some early parishioners:

In the summer of 1963 Don Bencini (DonBe for those who frequent him) enters the Church of San Doanto for the first time, divided into two parts at the transept level. The only room available for Mass is the fuel oil deposit, which is cleaned and covered in the roof with jute fabric with the help of various boys who follow him from San Gervasio. In this period the DonBe bedroom is a transept colonnade where bats have free access every night. Financial aid is modest, but some friendly priests help him as they can (first among them, is Don Bensi). On Christmas '63 the Church is open to worship. During the winter the only source of heat are the floorboards of the library into which the central nave of the Church has long since been transformed: every evening whoever wants to saw with him progressively all the boards and set up a bedroom under the bell tower. The bell tower no longer has bells, but the DonBe begins collecting all the available copper which is pulled out of the sheath and will serve as a bargaining chip for the first bell.

The "mason" priest continues his work in the company of the first boys of the parish, the "old" of San Gervasio and many parishioners who observe the work of the new parish priest and are progressively involved in his zeal. In 1966, after the flood in Florence, a kindergarten was set up in the Fiat area, consisting of a canteen, two classrooms and services (complete with central heating) thanks to the donation of the municipality of two large metal sheds lying without use; all the setting up of the kindergarten, almost unique in the area, is ensured by the parishioners who manage it (together with the soccer field) until the withdrawal of the permit in '69 -'70 by the management of Fiat. At the same time the recovery of the church continues, with the demolition of the wall of the nave, the reconstruction of the apse, the emptying of the cellars, the construction of the rectory, the installation of the heating of the church (which replaces the catalytic stoves in gas). All the resulting material is huge and is removed at night with the use of a used Ape that transports it to the Piagge, with the help of sleepy volunteers who from 11 pm to midnight accompany him on numerous journeys.

For many years, a parish cinema for children was set up, showing Sunday films; Sunday catechism at 10 am is the moment of greatest contact with the children, to whom you are enthusiastically introduced to the meaning of the Holy Scriptures. Even with rudimentary means (alcohol duplicators) he was among the first to print the Mass booklet, almost always finishing the text a few minutes before Sunday mass and having composed it during the night. v In '95, again with an act of personal purchase and sale and subsequent donation to the curia (a method chosen several times by the DonBe to speed up the procedures and results), the church acquires its definitive appearance with the inauguration of 1997.

The parishioners he meets in carrying out the sacraments are well impressed by the relationship with the priest which is always incisive, coherent and essential. He is particularly interested in the people who most need guidance and who seem furthest from the gospel. Many of those who are already on a religious journey, albeit a lukewarm one, feel scarcely involved and are unable to integrate.

What is the message of this rigid and severe priest, first of all with himself, and at the same time sensitive pastor, with the contrasts of the prophet inserted in a time of great changes, who clearly indicates the path to follow without looking back?

Each of us remembers the defects and values of our parish priest, being however well aware that Don Franco never compromised and always worked with stubborn tenacity for all the years he could, without sparing himself..

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CHURCH OF SAN DONATO IN POLVEROSA

SHORT HISTORICAL EXCURSUS

 

 It was the autumn of 1187 when Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulcher were reconquered by the Muslims. The West, through the main kings, reacted to this loss and the great powers were preparing to organize the third crusade, under the pontificate of Pope Clement III. The legate of the Supreme Pontiff for sending the crusade was the bishop of Ravenna, Gerardo; San Donato alla Torre was chosen as the starting point for the Florentine crusaders. On the occasion, on February 2, 1188, the church was solemnly consecrated by Bishop Gerardo. The third crusade did not succeed in its objectives.

This is perhaps one of the most important historical moments of the Church of San Donato in Polverosa (formerly called San Donato alla Torre); the testimony is the patronal feast of the church, celebrated every year on February 2, the day of its consecration. The origin of the church dates back to just before the year 1000 when, according to an ancient legend, a pagan princess arrived in these places; she converted, she bought the land, had it cleared and built a house with a church and a tower. On her death, as left in her will, a monastery was built from her house to which all her possessions went.

 

Initially, the monastery belonged to the Augustinian Canons of Portuensi, called "Dusty" for the color of the their habit. Around 1239, the monastery was granted by the bishop of Florence to the Umiliati Friars; after almost twenty years it passed to the Augustinian Nuns of Santa Cristina, who subsequently chose to become Cistercians. In 1322 the monastery of Santa Maria Maddalena delle Convertite, located in Borgo Pinti, was sold to the Cistercians of San Donato; the “Convertite” nuns immediately left the monastery of Borgo Pinti and went to San Donato. Relations between the two monasteries will always be intense. In 1628 the monastery of Borgo Pinti was instead occupied by the Carmelite nuns, changing its name to Santa Maria Maddalena de 'Pazzi (monastery occupied today by the community of the Augustinians of the Assumption). The nuns remained in San Donato until 1809, that is, at the time of the suppression of the Religious Institutes by the French; left abandoned by the new owners, the monastery was bought by Prince Nicola Demidoff, who built his residence there, a large neoclassical villa.

In the 1960s, through gifts and purchases, the church, the bell tower and other small spaces became the property of the new San Donato in Polverosa parish. Don Franco Bencini, the new parish priest (from 1963 to 2003) devoted himself a lot to the construction, material and spiritual, of the new parish. His work was faithfully carried out, from 2003 to 2009, by Don Wieslaw Olfier.

In November 2009, the parish was entrusted by the Bishop of Florence, Mons. Giuseppe Betori, to the Augustinian community of the Assumption, appointing Father Giuliano Riccadonna as parish priest and Father Lucian Dinca as vice parish priest.

Today the parish priest and vice-parish priest are Father Giuliano Riccadonna and Father Joseph Tsongo.

update july 2024

 

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