Luigi Guanella
| Saint Luigi Guanella | |
|---|---|
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| Founder | |
| Born | December 19, 1842 Fraciscio, Campodolcino, Italy |
| Died | October 24, 1915 (aged 72) Como, Italy |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholicism |
| Beatified | October 25, 1964, Rome by Pope Paul VI |
| Canonized | October 23, 2011, St. Peter's Square, Rome by Pope Benedict XVI |
| Major shrine | Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Como |
| Feast | October 24 |
Luigi Guanella (1842–1915) was a Catholic priest from Northern Italy. He is the founder of several religious institutes: Daughters of St Mary of Providence, 1890, Servants of Charity in Como on March 24, 1908, with his friends David Albertario and Giuseppe Toniolo, and the Pious Union of St Joseph in 1914 with his supporter and first member Pope Pius X. He was sensitive to the needs of the poor and this gave birth to his religious communities who provide for their needs throughout the world. The Servants of Charity motto reads In Omnibus Charitas – In all things Love.
Father Guanella was beatified in 1964 by Pope Paul VI and canonized a saint on October 23, 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI. According to Catholic News Service (CNS), the miracle needed for his canonization was the healing of a young adult male, William Glisson (who was 21 at the time of the accident and is now 30 and married), from the United States who had fallen over a hole and hit his head while skating backward without a helmet, rollerblading down the Baltimore Pike in Springfield, Pennsylvania. He needed two separate skull surgeries and was in a coma for nine days with a grave prognosis. However, after a doctor who was a family friend (and who worked at a rehabilitation center run by the Opera Don Guanella) gave Glisson's mother two relics of the future saint. According to the Opera's website, Glisson was released from the hospital less than a month after the accident and returned to work just seven months later.[1][2][3]
References[edit]
- ^ Wooden, Cindy (Oct 4, 2011). "Healing of US man key to Italian priest's canonization". Catholic News Service.
- ^ "The Miracle". Opera don Guanella. Provincia Italiana della Congregazione dei Servi della Carita.
- ^ O'Reilly, David (October 23, 2011). "Delco man's recovery yields newest saint". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
Two days after the accident, family friend Noreen Yoder, former director of Don Guanella Village, gave Glisson's mother two encased bone fragments of Guanella's.
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