Angelus of Jerusalem, OCarm (; 1185 – 5 May 1220) was a Catholic convert from Judaism and a religious priest of the Carmelites of the Ancient Observance.

Angelus and his twin brother became converts to the faith following their mother's conversion. Both went on to become ordained priests and Carmelite friars. Unlike his brother, however, he retreated into the desert to a hermitage after his ordination, but he emerged once he was instructed to go to the Italian mainland to evangelize as well as to meet with Pope Honorius III to have him approve a new rule for the Carmelites.

He was slain whilst preaching and was believed a saint after his death. The Carmelites venerated him as such until during his pontificate Pope Pius II beatified the slain priest circa 1459. He set off on a Genoese ship on 1 April 1219 and stopped first in Messina before heading off to Civitavecchia before he ended up in Rome to meet with the pope. The friar preached in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran while in Rome where he met both Francis of Assisi and Dominic of Osma. It is said that he foretold that Francis would receive the stigmata while Francis foretold his premature death. From there, he was a guest of the Basilians in Palermo where he was for over a month before preaching in Agrigento for over a month before settling in Licata. He had healed seven lepers and the ailing Archbishop of Palermo Bernardo de Castanea while in Palermo. He settled on the Sicilian island though his fame as a wonderworker caused crowds to flock to him. He also had success in converting some Jews though most Jews in Palermo came to despise him for this since he himself was once Jewish.

As he and Albert of Trapani were the first two saints in the Order to have a cult, they are frequently found in medieval Carmelite iconography alongside the Virgin Mary. In the Carmelite church of Santa Maria del Carmelo in Traspontina in Rome, there is a chapel dedicated to St. Angelus with an altarpiece by Giovanni Battista Ricci.

See also

  • Albert of Trapani
  • Hebrew Catholics

Notes and references

  • Curia Generalizia dei Carmelitani
  • Santi e Beati
  • Santuario di Sant' Angelo da Gerusalemme (di Sicilia)