BL. ALBERTO MARVELLI - 5 OCTOBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN OCTOBER

Saints celebrated on the 5th 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.

BL. ALBERTO MARVELLI 

Alberto Marvelli was born at Ferrara, in Italy. He was given a Christian formation by his mother, who kept their home open to the poor. As a result of this upbringing he became a firm defender of the poor in his later years.

In Rimini, Blessed Alberto attended the Salesian Oratory and was involved with the Catholic Action group in his parish. When he was only 18 he was elected president of Italian Catholic Action and graduated 1941 with a degree in engineering. Shortly afterwards he began teaching in a high school.

During World War II, Blessed Alberto continued to serve the poor at great personal cost and risk. He is known to have given away even his bicycle and the shoes off his feet to those most in need. During the German occupation, he saved numerous people from deportation to the concentration camps. He even carried off to a safe place a tabernacle containing the Blessed Sacrament.

As an engineer, after the war, Blessed Alberto was chosen by the community of Rimini to take on many positions of responsibility, including the rebuilding of the town. He was also chosen by the bishop to be the president of Catholic Graduates in the diocese.

He was killed on 5th October 1946, when an army truck hit him whilst he was riding his bicycle on his way to a meeting. His remains rest in the Church of St Agostino in Rimini. He was beatified in Loreto on 5th September 2004 by Pope John Paul II.

(This article, entitled “Heroes of the Faith” was published in “The Catholic Universe”, paper edition, issue Sunday 21st April, 2013)