At age 19 he had a vision of Eternal Wisdom inviting him to unite himself with it. He entered the religious life in the Augustinian Order of the Canons of St. George on Alga Island, one mile from Venice. He was noted for his great austerities and humiliations. He used to go beg alms for the community, and often received sarcastic barbs instead of goods, for which he thanked God.
Soon after his ordination he was elected General of his Order. He reformed it so profoundly that he is considered its second founder. In 1433 he was named Bishop of Venice. He tried to refuse the dignity, but Pope Eugene IV obliged him to accept it. He brought peace to numerous state quarrels, founded 15 new monasteries and added many new parishes in which he took a special care of the accuracy and beauty of the divine worship.
In 1450 he was elected Patriarch of Venice. The ecclesiastic reform he made in Venice is justly considered a precursor to what St. Charles Borromeo did in Milan after the Council of Trent. His books and sermons transmit a great devotion to the Passion of Our Lord. On January 8, 1455 he died. He was beatified in 1524 by Clement VII and canonized in 1690 by Alexander VIII. His feast day was established for September 5, the day of his episcopal consecration.
