On Sunday morning, September 15, 2024, Friar Dionisio LATTANZI, the dean of the Province of St. Bernardine and St. Angelo in Italy (Abruzzo-Molise), was called to the Lord after living a full life, at the venerable age of one hundred and one years.
Friar Dionisio was born the only child of Carlo and Carmela on May 7, 1923, in Casoli di Atri, Italy. He entered the friary for the first time in 1936, at the Penne Secondary School in Penne Italy, where he completed his high school studies in 1940. On July 14, 1940, he entered the novitiate at the Sacred Convent in Assisi where he was vested in the Conventual Franciscan habit. In 1944, he completed his philosophy studies in Assisi and remained there to begin his theology studies. However, he ended up completing them in Chieti, Italy, where he was ordained to the priesthood on March 31, 1948. From 1948 to 1949, he held the position of “Instructor of Candidates” at the Penne Secondary School. The following year he served as “Master of Candidates” at the Atri Secondary School where he remained until 1951. The following were his community assignments, all in Italy, starting in 1951: Penne (1951-60), Pescara (1960-61), Penne (1961-66), Civitella Del Tronto (1966-67), Castelvecchio Subequo (1967-69), L’Aquila (1969-81), Silvi Marina (1981-84), Lanciano (1984-93) and Tagliacozzo (1993-2000). In 2000, he returned to Silvi Marina, where, except for a brief period in Castelpetroso, he remained in that community until he passed into Heaven at one hundred and one years of age.
Friar Dionisio was always noted for his fidelity to the charism and his seriousness of life. He was an example and guide for many generations of friars in the Italian Region of Abruzzo. He was, for several years and in various schools, a rector and an educator of young friars. Today, many of his former students remember him not only as a paternal figure, but also as a maternal figure who nurtured their growth and formation. Until his final days, he lived his sense of belonging to the Order and the Church with zeal and passion. He was known for his keen sense of self-irony, which he used to enliven the joyful moments of his community. On September 17, 2024, at 10:30 a.m., the friars celebrated his funeral Mass at our Church of Santa Maria Assunta in Silvi Marina, Italy. By providential coincidence, that was the same day the Order celebrated the 800th anniversary of St. Francis receiving the stigmata. Many people attended the funeral, including the Minister Provincial, Friar Mauro M. DE FILIPPIS DELFICO (who presided), the local Guardian, Friar Antonio IOSUE, the Procurator General Friar Maurizio DI PAOLO and many other friars and friends. Those present understood the happy coincidence that here, too, was a man impressed with the seal of the Lord, a man who for about ninety years, dedicated his life completely to God, hiding himself in Christ. Friar Dionisio was buried at our cemetery in Civitella del Tronto. There, he rests in the peace of the just, together with the many other friars with whom he journeyed. We remember him with immense gratitude and heartfelt affection.
Friar Paride AMMIRATI, Provincial Secretary
