Luigi Biraghi (2 November 1801 – 11 August 1879) was an Italian Roman Catholic

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 particu ...

who served in his home of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. Biraghi later went on to establish his own religious congregation known as the Sisters of Saint Marcellina. Biraghi served as a teacher and a spiritual director and he served as a spiritual guide for fellow priests as well as bishops and

seminarians A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

. He was also appointed to the Biblioteca Ambrosiana and cultivated vast histories of ecclesiastical events and theological matters. He established his new order with the objective of catering to the educational needs of all people. He was beatified on 30 April 2006 in Milan after the recognition of a miracle attributed to him and as well as for his model and austere life that he led.

Life

Luigi Biraghi was born in

on 2 November 1801 as the fifth of eight children to Francesco Biraghi and Maria Fini who were both farmers. He was baptized on 3 November. He commenced his studies for the priesthood at the age of twelve and studied in both Milan and

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

in the Major Seminaries located there. He studied the

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

as well as both philosophical and theological studies. 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 va ...

to the priesthood on 28 May 1825 in the

Duomo ''Duomo'' (, ) is an Italian term for a church with the features of, or having been built to serve as, a cathedral, whether or not it currently plays this role. Monza Cathedral, for example, has never been a diocesan seat and is by definition not ...

and was assigned to teach at the seminaries of Castello sopra Lecco and

Seveso Seveso (; lmo, label= Lombard, Séves ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Monza and Brianza, in the Region of Lombardy. The economy of the town has traditionally been based on the furniture industry. Its name comes from the river of ...

. He gained a deep reputation as an educated and cultured man with an intimate knowledge of the

Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...

. He also served as a spiritual director in Milan in 1833. He became close friends with

Angelo Ramazzotti Angelo Francesco Ramazzotti (3 August 1800 – 24 September 1861) was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Patriarch of Venice. He established the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions in 1850. Ramazzotti had served as the Bis ...

. Biragi - with the aid of Mariana Videmari - established in 1836 the Sisters of Saint Marcellina with the aim of the education of girls and help to the poor. He was named as a doctor of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in 1855 and was made a canon of the Basilica of Saint Ambrose sometime after. In 1862 - at the personal request of

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

- he acted as a mediator among those in the Milanese church: two groups were split for a unified state and those that desired the continuation of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

. He was appointed as the Vice-Prefect of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in 1864 and made a

Domestic Prelate Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

- or

Monsignor Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

- in 1873. He was well known to the pope who held him in such high esteem. His health started to decline in 1879 and he died on the morning of 11 August 1879. His order flourished outside of Milan where he died to places such as

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and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

amongst other places. He was buried alongside relatives in

Cernusco sul Naviglio Cernusco sul Naviglio (; lmo, Cernusch, ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Milan, Lombardy, northwestern Italy. With a population of 33,436 as of 2015 it is the 14th-largest municipality in the metropolitan city. It is locate ...

and his relics were translated in 1951 to the Mother House of the order.

Beatification

The process for beatification had commenced on 27 October 1971 under Cardinal

Giovanni Colombo Giovanni Colombo (6 December 1902 – 20 May 1992) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Milan from 1963 to 1979 and was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 1965. Biography Early life and priesthood Gi ...

in Milan despite the fact that formal assent to commence the cause was not granted until 26 June 1981 which granted him the posthumous title

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 th ...

. The local process saw the accumulation of documents relevant to the life of Biraghi and received its ratification in 1993. The

Positio In the Catholic Church, a ''positio'' (''Positio super Virtutibus'') is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a person is declared Venerable, the second of the four steps on the path to canonization as a saint. Des ...

was submitted to the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pa ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1995 for further evaluation and allowed for

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

to declare 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 Cathol ...

on 20 December 2003 after recognizing that he had lived a 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 ...

. The miracle needed for beatification was investigated and ratified on 24 March 1999 and from there proceeded to Rome for careful inspection. John Paul II approved the miracle on 20 December 2004 which allowed for him to be beatified under his predecessor

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

on 30 April 2006. Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins presided over the beatification.

References

External links

Hagiography CircleSaints SQPN
* ww.marcelline.org Sisters of Saint Marcellina {{DEFAULTSORT:Biraghi, Luigi 1801 births 1879 deaths 19th-century venerated Christians Founders of Catholic religious communities Italian beatified people 19th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests Beatifications by Pope Benedict XVI Clergy from Milan Venerated Catholics by Pope John Paul II