Saint John of Matera is remembered as an illustrious preacher, as well as abbot and founder of the Pulsano Congregation of Benedictine spirituality.
To the century Giovanni Scalcionethe monk who later became a saint, is associated with his hometown, Matera, where he was born around 1070 about. He was part of a noble and rich family, but from a very young age he decided to leave his life in comfort and went to the Island of San Pietro where he asked for hospitality from the Basilian monks.
He was entrusted with the task of looking after the sheep, and, dressed in a habit, he began a poor and insecure existence, as various other monks had done and did in the future. He had divine inspirations and internal locutionsand when he was about to give in to the fatigue of hard work he heard a voice that said to him: “God is with you“.
He spent some years wandering through Calabria and Sicily as a penitent, then went to Ginosa, in Puglia. His relatives didn’t recognize him because of how much weight he had lost. John he continued to travel preaching the Gospel and urging conversion and a return to prayer.
A life of wanderings and preaching
In this wandering life John attracted both the benevolence of many and the closeness of some who had placed themselves as disciples and the slander and slander of others. Own due to a slander he was imprisoned on the orders of Count Roberto di Chiaromonte.
His liberation was only the result of a miracle and later he was forced to leave that area and go to preach elsewhere. He heard a voice telling him to return to Puglia and stopped in the Irpinia mountains in Bagnoli. Here met San Guglielmo da Vercelli who together with others led a hermitic life. He joined them until he had another vision telling him to stay in that place. He stayed with them until he had a vision indicating that he should remain in that region.
He made a long journey to Palestine crossing Bari where he noticed the raging moral and political disorder and understood that he would have to operate in southern Italy. He once again attracted hostility and risked being burned alive.
Then he returned to Ginosa and continued to the Gargano, where the sanctuary of the Archangel Michel was already famous. He settled nearby, in Pulsanowhere there was a valley to live in solitude together with a group of 6 disciples.
The foundation of the monastic congregation
Soon this first group of monks was joined by others, reaching about fifty. The monastic congregation known as the “Scalzi” was therefore founded.. The fame increased and bequests of goods were given so that near the church of s. Giacomo another monastery was opened in Foggia. Subsequently, another one was also built in Meleda in Dalmatia opposite the Gargano coast.
Saint John of Matera was esteemed by King Roger II and Pope Innocent II and after 10 years at the direction of the Congregation he died on 20 June 1139 in the monastery of Foggia, and he was also buried in that place. His remains were then moved from Foggia to Pulsano and in 1830 transferred to the cathedral of Matera. San Giovanni is the co-patron of this city and the local feast takes place on 23 June.
The movement he founded, although smaller and less known than others, is part of the group of religious movements that arose between the 10th and 11th centuries. The aim of this Congregation was also a return to the authenticity of the Gospel through penitential, poor and community life. It can therefore be considered as one of the precursors of the most organized and largest mendicant Orders.
