SAINT FEAST DAY 24 OCTOBER: ST LUIGI GUANELLA

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN OCTOBER 

Saints celebrated on the 24th of October

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

ST LUIGI GUANELLA, PRIEST

Saint Luigi Guanella was born in 1842 in the small village of Fraciscio, Italy. He grew up experiencing both poverty and illiteracy, which had a profound impact on his life. St Luigi was ordained a priest in 1866 in Como, and was assigned to a small parish in Savogno.

HE JOINED THE SALESIANS

After seven years he moved to Turin, and joined the Salesian priests. In 1878 he returned to the Diocese of Como and worked in the parishes of Traona, Olmo and Pianello Lario.

St Luigi had a great love for the poor and disabled and in 1886 he opened a house to look after some of these. He then founded a new Congregation, called the Servants of Charity, so that other priests and brothers could also take up this valuable mission. In 1904 St Luigi opened a facility for children who were living on the streets of Rome, under the protection of Pope Pius X. With the continued help of the Pope, St Luigi also built the Church of St Joseph in Rome, which was opened on 19th March 1912.

DAILY PRAYERS FOR THE DYING

As St Joseph is the patron of the dying, Fr Luigi began a worldwide confraternity that prays daily for the sick and the dying of the world; the first member of this confraternity was Pope Pius X.

In December 1912 St Luigi travelled to the major cities of America, and saw for himself the difficult conditions being endured by emigrants from Italy and other parts of the world.

As a result the Sisters of St Mary of Providence arrived in Chicago, and so began a major presence of others continuing St Luigi’s work.

In May 1915, during World War I, St Luigi opened his last institute in Berbenno. During this time his health was deteriorating; he eventually became paralysed. St Luigi died on 24th October 1915, and his final resting place is in the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Como.

"A FRIEND, TEACHER, COMFORT"

There are many lovely stories from the life of St Luigi. One of them concerned some anxious workmen who, having worked all morning with St Luigi, were worried because they had no food or money to eat lunch. St Luigi said to them, “Do not worry. It is only 11.30am and so the Lord has still 30 minutes to deliver our lunch.” Just before noon a man with a cart went by and left them a sack of rice. No one knew who he was!

Pope Benedict, in his homily at the Canonisation Mass, said of St Luigi, “Thanks to a deep continuous union with Christ in the contemplation of his love, became a friend, teacher, comfort and support to the very poor and weak. God’s love stirred up in him the desire to do good to everyone entrusted to him in his everyday life.” All of us can do the same!

(From: Spiritual Thought from Fr Chris)