Alessandro Luzzago (October 1551,

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

- 7 May 1602,

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

) was an Italian nobleman and organizer of

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

charities. He is venerated in the Catholic Church, having been declared

Venerable ''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom. Catholic In the Catholic Churc ...

in 1899 by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

Life

Luzzago was the son of Girolamo Luzzago and Paola Peschiera. He was

baptised Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

on November 8 in the Church of Santa Maria in Calchera.Marco Rinaldi
"Luzzago, Alessandro"
in ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'', volume 66 (Roma: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2007). The Luzzago family was one of the most important noble families of Brescia. His mother was an early collaborator of Saint

Angela Merici Angela Merici ( ; ; 21 March 1474 – 27 January 1540) was an Catholic Church in Italy, Italian Catholic religious educator who founded the Angelines, Company of St. Ursula in 1535 in Brescia, in which women dedicated their lives to the service ...

."Luzzago, Alessandro"
''Enciclopedia Bresciana''. Luzzago received his first formation at

Gavardo Gavardo (Brescian: ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy. As of 2011 Gavardo had a population of 11,786. Cyclist Marco Frapporti and Italian football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varyin ...

under the priest Marcantonio Roccio.Ottavio Cavalleri, "Luzzago, Alexandre", in ''Dictionnaire de Spiritualité'', IX, 1267 (Paris: Beauchesne). From 1570, he studied philosophy with the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

at the Convent of San Antonio. On 25 and 26 October 1573 he defended his thesis, ''In universam philosophiam cum practicam tum speculativam necnon in logicam veterum aeque ac recentium philosophorum sententiae et theoremata varia publice discutienda'' (Brescia, 1573). Between 1578 and 1582, with the help of Saint

Charles Borromeo Charles Borromeo (; ; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was an Catholic Church in Italy, Italian Catholic prelate who served as Archdiocese of Milan, Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584. He was made a Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal in 156 ...

, he studied theology with the Jesuits at the

Palazzo Brera Palazzo Brera or Palazzo di Brera is a monumental palace in Milan, in Lombardy in northern Italy. It was a Jesuit college for two hundred years. It now houses several cultural institutions including the Accademia di Brera, the art academy of t ...

in Milan. In 1586 he received the clerical tonsure which was required for him to receive the doctorate in philosophy and theology from the

University of Padua The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...

. Luzzago was eager to join the Jesuits, but he was prevented from doing so on account of the economic difficulties of his family, caused by some inappropriate transactions by his father. In 1584, Luzzago became of member of Brescia's city council and he began his work to harmonize the relationships between the city government and various church charitable organisations. In 1595 he was appointed curator of the Monti di Pietà in Brescia. In 1597 he was elected protector of the Compagnia delle Dimesse di Sant' Orsola and of two other charitable institutes in Brescia: the Soccorso and the Zitelle. He reorganized and gave new impetus to the city's revised catechetical programme which arose after the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent (), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the "most ...

. For the students he founded the Congregation of Saint

Catherine of Siena Caterina di Jacopo di Benincasa (25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), known as Catherine of Siena, was an Italian mystic and pious laywoman who engaged in papal and Italian politics through extensive letter-writing and advocacy. Canonized in 1461, ...

. To ensure that his work continued, he founded the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, which gathered the members of the city's ruling class with the aim of cooperating more effectively in supporting all charitable institutions. In 1589, Luzzago accompanied to Rome Cardinal Gianfrancesco Morosini, who was bishop of Brescia and papal nuncio to France. During this trip to Rome he studied the various church charities in Rome which he later proposed in Brescia. He also had the opportunity to meet Saint

Philip Neri Saint Philip Neri , born Filippo Romolo Neri, (22 July 151526 May 1595) was an Italian Catholic priest who founded the Congregation of the Oratory, a society of secular clergy dedicated to pastoral care and charitable work. He is sometimes refe ...

. In a 1595 letter from Morosini's secretary, Luzzago was informed that Pope

Clement VIII Pope Clement VIII (; ; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 January 1592 to his death in March 1605. Born in Fano, Papal States to a prominen ...

was considering him as the next

archbishop of Milan The Archdiocese of Milan (; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese. It has long maintained its own Latin liturgical rite usage, the Amb ...

. Luzzago fell sick on 3 May 1602 and died on 7 May. After his funeral in Milan, his body was buried in the church of Santa Barnaba in Brescia. In 1878 his remains were transferred to the church of Santa Maria della Pace in Bresica, where they still remain today. Luzzago is a collateral ancestor of Fra' Marco Luzzago.

Veneration

At Luzzago's funeral, Cardinal

Federico Borromeo Federico Borromeo (; 18 August 1564 – 21 September 1631) was an Italian cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milan, Archbishop of Milan, and prominent figure of the Counter-Reformation in Italy. His acts of charity, ...

said, "I honour this body not as a friend but as a saint". In 1625 the City Council of Brescia asked the bishop to begin Luzzago's cause of

beatification Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the p ...

. The diocesan investigation was opened on 13 February 1658. In 1751 the cause was transferred to the

Sacred Congregation of Rites The Sacred Congregation of Rites was a Congregation (Roman Curia), congregation of the Roman Curia, erected on 22 January 1588 by Pope Sixtus V by ''Immensa Aeterni Dei''; it was divided into two separate congregations by Pope Paul VI on 8 May 196 ...

in Rome. In 1899 Pope

Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the A ...

promulgated a decree recognising his

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is the translation of a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs. The phrase is used by the Roman Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman a ...

s, thus conferring on him the title of

. In 2014 Luzzago's spiritual writings were published.Alessandro Luzzago, ''Alchimia santa'', edited by Vincenzo Peroni (Roma: Studium, 2014). Among his writings is an ''Instruction for the

Knights of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic Church, Cathol ...

'', in which he proposes various practices for their sanctification, including a course modeled upon the ''

Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola The ''Spiritual Exercises'' (), composed 1522–1524, are a set of Christian meditations, contemplations, and prayers written by Ignatius of Loyola, a 16th-century Spanish Catholic priest, theologian, and founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesui ...

'' and a list of readings taken from contemporary ascetics.

Notes

Bibliography

* Cistellini, Antonio. ''Alessandro Luzzago''. Brescia: Centro di documentazione, 1998. * Frugoni, Arsenio. ''Alessandro Luzzago e la sua opera nella controriforma bresciana''. Brescia: Apollonio, 1937. * Girelli, Elisabetta. ''Vita del venerabile Alessandro Luzzago patrizio bresciano''. Torino: Tipografia e libreria salesiana, 1883. * Hermanni, Ottavio.
Vita di Alessandro Luzago, gentil'huomo bresciano
'. 3. ed. Roma: Tip. Vaticana, 1891. {{DEFAULTSORT:Luzzago Alessandro 1551 births 1602 deaths 16th-century venerated Christians Italian venerated Catholics 16th-century Italian nobility People from Brescia Alessandro Venerated Catholics by Pope Leo XIII