St. Bernadine Realino
Le Moyne College, 1946
Syracuse, New York
Saint Bernardine Realino (1530-1616) came from a small town near Modena in Italy. He was a highly successful lawyer with doctoral degrees in civil and canon law renowned for his kindness and justice. He became a judge and then the mayor of Castelleone. He was not in the least self-referential about his achievements and gave most of his earnings to help the poor. He met Jesuits when he resided in Naples. After making a retreat with them, he felt called to enter the Society of Jesus.
Bernadine was immediately recognized for his great kindness, approachability and skills as a spiritual guide. His first assignment as a Jesuit priest was to help in the formation of young Jesuits. After four years he received another assignment which lasted the rest of his life: superior of a new Jesuit school at Lecce in Southern Italy. There he ministered for more than 40 years, recognized as an extraordinarily compassionate confessor and spiritual director for the people of the area.
The Saint is depicted in the clothing of a Jesuit preacher of his times and location, and has his right hand on a T-handled walking stick that indicates his constant travels to hospitals and prisons, convents and monasteries where he served as a spiritual guide. In his left hand Bernadine holds a tablet with the Latin words “Notae Sanctitates Thaumaturgus,” (“Wonderworker’s Holy Notes”). Below his feet is a balance, a symbol of justice.
In the shield of Le Moyne College, an open book with the symbols IHS and three nails from the logo of the Society of Jesus is shown against a green background. Below, a gold shield quartered by a broad green cross contains five figures representing the five tribes of the vicinity who were united in peace brought by Christianity. Only the upper half of the shield is decorated; the upper left contains a representation of a fountain or the salt springs discovered by Father Simon Le Moyne, S.J., for whom the college is named. In the upper right quarter is a golden fleur-de-lys, symbol of Beauvais, France the birthplace of the founder of the college. The inscription reads: Le Moyne College, Syracuse; the foundation date is 1946. The school colors are green and gold.
