Luigi Maria Palazzolo (10 December 1827 – 15 June 1886) was an Italian
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
. He established the Sisters of the Poor which was also known as the Palazzolo Institute. Other contributions include the construction of an orphanage for children in Traona and also the Little House of Divine Providence. He also worked for the poor and the outcast until his death.
Palazzolo was beatified on 19 March 1963 on the account of his well-known holiness and is considered a patron of the
Diocese of Bergamo
The Diocese of Bergamo ( la, Dioecesis Bergomensis; it, Diocesi di Bergamo; lmo, Diocesi de Bergum) is a see of the Catholic Church in Italy, and is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Milan.
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013 ...
approved a miracle attributed to him on 28 November 2019 and canonized Palazzolo as a saint on 15 May 2022.
Life
Luigi Maria Palazzolo was born in
Bergamo
Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Com ...
on 10 December 1827 as the last of eight brothers to Octavius Palazzolo and Theresa Antoine. He had a childhood of lavishness in the sense that his parents could provide for their children to a manageable degree and owned land and houses across Bergamo and in
San Pellegrino Terme
San Pellegrino Terme ( Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy. Located in the Val Brembana, it is the location of the beverage company San Pellegrino, where its carbonated mineral water drinks are produced.
...
where his father hailed from. During this time Palazzolo's brothers died and his father died on 8 August 1837. Due to his naïve disposition as a child and his wit he was often dubbed "Palazzolino" during his life.
Palazzolo commenced his studies for the priesthood in 1844 and on 23 June 1850 he was
ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...
to the priesthood under the
Bishop of Bergamo
The Diocese of Bergamo ( la, Dioecesis Bergomensis; it, Diocesi di Bergamo; lmo, Diocesi de Bergum) is a see of the Catholic Church in Italy, and is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Milan.Traona: this institution became extinct in 1928.
In 1864 Palazzolo travelled along a lane in a popular suburb and encountered a half-naked child who was an orphan. Palazzolo wrapped his cloak around him and took him with him to clean and feed him. He kept the child to care for him to ensure he did not remain abandoned. He became a member of a Catholic group in 1868 and he offered rooms for meetings. In 1869 he came across a crippled and lame girl – he took her in also and enrolled her into the new women's religious institute that he had founded. He recorded in his journal that he attempted "to do something as much as I can" to ensure others could have an easier life. One of the people he encountered and befriended was Maria Teresa Gabrieli – the future
Servant of God
"Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint.
Terminology
The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...
– who became a member of his order.
Palazzolo's health started to decline in 1885 with a wheeze for breath that prevented him from proper sleep and compelled him to sleep in a large chair. He later had large sores grow in the lower limbs and he was unable to celebrate Mass. His comfort came from Bishop Gaetano Camillo Guindani who visited him at 4:30pm on 12 May 1885 to bring him the approved rules of the institute. Yet on one particular night he slipped from his bed and remained on the ground for three hours as he was unable to get back up.
Palazzolo died in the first hours of 15 June 1886 while murmuring the name of
Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...
. His remains were transferred on 4 January 1904 from the cemetery of San Giorgio to the Mother House of the institute.
Post-mortem
Bishop
Giacomo Radini-Tedeschi
Giacomo Maria Radini-Tedeschi (12 July 1857 - 22 August 1914) was the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bergamo. Today he is famous for his strong involvement in social issues at the beginning of 20th century.
Biography
Radini-Tedeschi w ...
– on 23 January 1908 – was pleased with the progress and the rise of the institute and he urged for the approval of the constitutions and the rule of the order. The General Mother – Generosa Bruttomesso – wrote them up and final approval was granted on 25 May 1912 under
Pope Pius X
Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of ...
.
Sainthood
The formal introduction – which granted Palazzolo the posthumous title Servant of God – came under
Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 28 Oc ...
on 20 November 1958. The pope approved the fact that he had lived a model Christian life of
heroic virtue
Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs and used by the Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it ...
on 7 July 1962 and proclaimed him to be
Venerable
The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism.
Christianity
Cat ...
.
John XXIII also approved two miracles attributed to the intercession of Palazzolo and beatified him on 19 March 1963.
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013 ...
confirmed a miracle attributed to him on 28 November 2019. The canonization was postponed from 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...