Saints celebrated on the 23th of June
SAINT JOSEPH CAFASSO, CONFESSOR
... There lived in Turin another holy priest, the Venerable Joseph [Giuseppe] Cafasso. In 1835, the Venerable Don Bosco came to take up his theological studies in Turin, and during that time Don Cafasso was his confessor, director, and most trusted friend.
HIS WORD AND EXAMPLE
If the Church owed nothing else to Joseph Cafasso but the fact that he trained up a Don Bosco for her, she would be obliged to render him the greatest gratitude. But we can not number the persons who were inspired with zeal for Christ and the Church by the word and example of Cafasso.
There was at that time in Turin what was practically a seminary for young priests - the Institute of Saint Francis of Assisi. In this seminary Cafasso was professor of moral theology, and from 1848 to 1860 director of the Institute.
THE PREPARATION OF THE MIND AND HEART OF THE PRIEST
The preparation of the mind and heart of the priest, so that he would be able to meet modern demands in the true spirit of the Church, was the ideal which Cafasso sought to realise. Piedmont can thank him for many eminent priests.
His pupil, Don Bosco, writes of him: "All agree that we can call his priestly life rather that of an angel than of a man... Some called him a new St Aloysius on account of his innocence and the purity of his morals; others a St Francis of Sales on account of his gentleness, patience, and charity; others a St Vincent de Paul for his active love of his neighbour; others still a St Charles Borromeo on account of his mortified life and the severity with which he treated himself; and finally, some saw in him a St Alphonsus de Liguori on account of his friendliness, condescension, and goodness. For my part, I must say that in the lives of the saints I have found many who excelled in a heroic degree, one by this, another by that virtue, but I believe that rarely can any one be found who actually combined in his person so much wisdom, experience in human affairs, magnanimity, fortitude, temperance, and zeal of God’s honour and for the salvation of souls as shone forth from the priest Cafasso."
HE WAS MUCH SOUGHT FOR AS A CONFESSOR
The activity of Cafasso was by no means confined to his Institute. He had spiritual charge of the prison. Before Don Bosco, he was engaged in caring for children. He had care of the shrine of St Ignatius of Loyola in Lanzo.
He was much sought for as a confessor, gave many retreats, and all classes of people came to him for advice and help. He died after a short illness on June 23, 1860, at forty-nine years of age. In his notes we find that it was his constant prayer that all memory of him might disappear save remembrance in prayer. But, for our consolation and encouragement, God has not granted this humble petition and the miraculous favours which He grants to the invocation of Cafasso indicate that He will make still more known this example of virtue to the world. Pius X published the decree opening the apostolic processes on May 15, 1906.
(From: The Holiness of the Church in the Nineteenth Century: Saintly Men and Women of Our Own Times, by Fr Constantine Kempf, S.J.)
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