Antonio Augusto Intreccialagli was born in 1852 in
Montecompatri as the first of ten children born to Giuseppe Intreccialagli and Annunziata Raffaelli. He made his
First Communion in 1862 after having received his
Confirmation in 1858. In 1867 he entered the
Discalced Carmelites (one brother also entered the order) at their
convent at
Santa Maria della Scala in
Rome and assumed the
religious name "Antonio di Gesù" upon commencing his period of
novitiate. On 19 January 1868 he was vested in the habit for the first time in Santa Maria della Scala. In 1868 he began his philosophical and theological studies in
Caprarola and later made his initial profession on 20 January 1868. He made his solemn profession into the order on 20 January 1869 in Santa Maria della Scala into the hands of Fr. Domenico di San Giuseppe. On 19 June 1873 he and some companions sought refuge in the stables at the
Farnese Palace after the Caprarola convent was closed in 1872. For months the
seminarians ate onions and sometimes starved, but he was noted for keeping his fellows occupied with his good humor. Intreccialagli was
ordained into the
priesthood in 1875 in the
Civita Castellana Cathedral by the diocesan bishop, and after ordination lived for a time in the convent attached to
Santa Maria della Vittoria while finishing his studies at the
Pontifical Gregorian University. People often came to him in the convent churches of Santa Maria della Scala and Santa Maria della Vittoria for advice and
spiritual direction. People such as
Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini and
Blessed Maria Therese von Wüllenweber came to see him as did Blessed
Francis Jordan, the founder of the
Society of the Divine Savior. He was also friends with
Blessed Teresa Maria Manetti. He later became the prior for Santa Maria della Scala in 1885 (he was re-elected in 1888) and after that term expired spent a brief period in both Caprarola (to teach) and Montecompatri (as the vicar for the San Silvestro convent from 1883 to 1885). He later was made the provincial for the Roman province of the Discalced Carmelites in 1891 and served two consecutive terms) in office after being re-elected twice in 1897 and 1903.
Pope Leo XIII later named him in 1896 as a consulter for both the Congregation for Bishops and Regulars and for the
Congregation for Rites. He opened a new convent in
Ceprano in 1893 and later allowed in 1906 for the order to return to the ancient Basilica di San Valentino in
Terni. From 1902 until 1907 he was the order's general
postulator which saw him oversee the order's causes for canonization. Just prior to his episcopal nomination the order held its
General Chapter in Rome to elect a new
Superior General.
Pope Pius X—who knew Intreccialagli well and held him in high esteem—made it clear to the order of his desire to see him elected to the position. This never materialized so the pope said that if the order "did not want him then I'll take him". The pope sent a handwritten note to him to inform him that he would be appointed as a bishop. This terrified Intreccialagli who went to see the pope in a vain effort to dissuade him from appointing him as a bishop. He relented and received his
episcopal consecration as the new
Bishop of Caltanissetta a short while later. He visited the pope the following afternoon to thank him. His formal enthronement in his new see was celebrated on 1 November. In Caltanissetta he helped to fund
orphanages and travelled to the
salt mines to wait for the miners to finish work all so he could meet with them and talk to them. In the aftermath of the
1908 Messina earthquake he welcomed several affected families while he later attempted to help families purchase tickets for
immigration to the United States of America. In 1911 the pope named him as an administrator for the
Monreale archdiocese since the archbishop there could no longer perform his duties due to advanced age (he was in his nineties). Intreccialagli held that position until 1914 when the pope named him as the
coadjutor bishop (with the right of succession). But his entrance into the archdiocese as coadjutor proved difficult due to the
modernist doctrine that was fermenting there. It was also there that he began to rail against
the Mafia and their actions. In 1919 the archbishop died and Intreccialagli became the Archbishop of Monreale. He slept for four hours each night and made frequent pastoral visits across his archdiocese. He heard confessions each morning in the church of Saint Joseph and oversaw spiritual guidance for people such as Venerable Marianna Amico Roxas. In 1924 he felt exhausted and his doctors advised him to rest. In June 1924 he returned for rest to his hometown but later travelled to
Palermo that September in order to attend the National Eucharistic Congress that was to be held there. He later wanted to hold Pontifical Vespers on 7 September but his doctors prohibited him from doing so due to his poor health. His fatigue grew and he soon had troubles swallowing to the point where a
nun asked if he was suffering. The bishop replied: "I suffer ... it's terrible!" He later wanted the
Viaticum on 12 September seated on the edge of his bed in his
religious habit but asked those present for pardon before being granted the Viaticum. In the evening on 18 September he renewed his religious vows to his confrere Fr. Guglielmo di San Alberto. Intreccialagli died at 4:00am on 19 September. His remains were later relocated in 1936 to the
Monreale Cathedral in the Blessed Sacrament chapel. ==Beatification process==