Luigi Giovanni Orione was an
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
priest who was active in answering the social needs of his nation as it faced the social upheavals of the late 19th century. To this end, he founded a
religious institute of men. He has been declared a saint by the Catholic Church.
Life
Early life
Orione was born into a poor family at
Pontecurone
Pontecurone (Piedmontese: ''Poncròu'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located on the left bank of the Curone, about east of Turin and about east of Alessandria.
Pontecurone borders ...
, in the
Province of Alessandria
The Province of Alessandria ( it, Provincia di Alessandria; pms, Provincia ëd Lissandria; in Piedmontese of Alessandria: ''Provinsa ëd Lissändria'') is an Italian province, with a population of some 425,000, which forms the southeastern part o ...
, in the
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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region of Italy, on the
vigil
A vigil, from the Latin ''vigilia'' meaning ''wakefulness'' ( Greek: ''pannychis'', or ''agrypnia'' ), is a period of purposeful sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching, or an observance. The Italian word ''vigilia'' has become gener ...
of the
feast day of the
Nativity of St. John the Baptist. He was named after
Aloysius Gonzaga and
John the Baptist
John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
. He was
baptized the next day by Michele Cattaneo, the
parish priest
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...
of the town. His father, Vittorio, was a street paver of few words and his mother, Carolina, was an energetic, pious, thrifty homemaker.
At thirteen years of age he entered the Franciscan Friary of Voghera (Pavia), but he left after one year owing to poor health.
["Luigi Orione (1872–1940)", Vatican]
/ref> From 1886 to 1889 Orione was a student at the Valdocco Oratory in Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...
operated by the Salesians of Don Bosco
, image = File:Stemma big.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
, abbreviation = SDB
, formation =
, founder = John Bosco
, founding_location = Valdocco, Turi ...
. There he gained the attention of John Bosco
John Melchior Bosco ( it, Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco; pms, Gioann Melchior Bòsch; 16 August 181531 January 1888), popularly known as Don Bosco , was an Italian Catholic priest, educator, writer and saint of the 19th century.
While working ...
, the founder, who numbered him among his favorite pupils. From the age of 13, Luigi began to suffer health problems. However, three years later, in 1888, he was present at Bosco's death in Turin in 1888. At that moment his ailments were miraculously cured.
Orione was determined to become a priest and entered the seminary of the Archdiocese of Turin. He became a member of both the San Marziano Society for Mutual Help and the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul
The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP or SVdP or SSVP) is an international voluntary organization in the Catholic Church, founded in 1833 for the sanctification of its members by personal service of the poor.
Innumerable Catholic parishes have ...
. In 1892, inspired by the education he had received from the followers of John Bosco, the 20-year-old seminarian opened his own oratory to educate the poor boys of the city, and the following year he started a boarding school for the poor.[ 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 ...
a priest on April 13, 1895.
Founder
Starting in 1899, Orione started to gather a group of priests and clerics that were to become ''Piccola Opera della Divina Provvidenza'' (Little Work of Divine Providence). In 1903 the group received the full authorization of the bishop as a religious congregation
A religious congregation is a type of religious institute in the Catholic Church. They are legally distinguished from religious orders – the other major type of religious institute – in that members take simple vows, whereas members of religi ...
called the Sons of Divine Providence
The Sons of Divine Providence ( it, Figli della Divina Provvidenza), commonly called the Orionine Fathers, is a Roman Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men founded in 1903 by Luigi Orione (1872–1940) in Turin, ...
.[
One of the priests who was in his inner circle was ]Lorenzo Perosi
Monsignor Lorenzo Perosi (21 December 1872 – 12 October 1956) was an Italian composer of sacred music and the only member of the Giovane Scuola who did not write opera. In the late 1890s, while he was still only in his twenties, Perosi was ...
, who later became Perpetual Director of the Sistine Chapel Choir
The Sistine Chapel Choir, as it is generally called in English, or officially the Coro della Cappella Musicale Pontificia Sistina in Italian, is the Pope's personal choir. It performs at papal functions in the Sistine Chapel and in any other churc ...
and one of the most famous composers of sacred music. Perosi was born in the same year and the same region as Orione; they remained lifelong friends.
In 1908 Orione went to Messina, Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
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, and Reggio Calabria, Calabria, both of which had been devastated by earthquakes. He dedicated three years to help those in need, most especially the caring of orphans. In 1915 he went to Marsica
Marsica is a geographical and historical region in the Abruzzo, central Italy, including 37 ''comuni'' in the province of L'Aquila. It is located between the plain of the former Fucine Lake, the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise, the pla ...
when that region had a similarly devastating earthquake. That same year he founded the Little Missionary Sisters of Charity.
At the end of World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Orione began to expand his work. He founded schools, farming colonies, charity organizations and nursing homes—always with a special emphasis on helping orphans and the poor. Over the next two decades, he started foundations throughout Italy and the Americas.
Shrine of the Madonna della Guardia
In 1931, he founded the Shrine of the Madonna della Guardia in Tortona, which to this day is the principal church in the world for the Orionine order. It is also a center for annual music festivals in honor of Orione's friend, the hitherto mentioned Perosi.
Final illness
In the winter of 1940, Orione started to suffer serious cardiac and pulmonary ailments. He went to Sanremo
Sanremo (; lij, Sanrémmo(ro) or , ) or San Remo is a city and comune on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination on the Italian Rivie ...
to recuperate, but not without a tinge of regret. On March 8, 1940, on the eve of his departure for Sanremo, Don Orione is recorded as saying, "It is not among the palm trees that I would like to die," he said, "but amongst the poor who are Jesus Christ." Four days later, surrounded by fellow priests of his Orionine order, Luigi Orione died. His last words were, "Jesus, Jesus! Jesus! I am going..."[''The Blessed Don Louis Orione: A short Biography'' p. 95] Now he is the patron saint of the abandoned.
Veneration
Orione's mortal remains have rested in the crypt of the Shrine of La Madonna della Guardia in Tortona, which he himself founded, since his burial on March 19, 1940 His body was later exhumed in 1965 for examination. On October 26, 1980, he was beatified
Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "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 nam ...
by 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 ...
. Nearly 24 years later, he was canonized
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of s ...
by that same pope, on May 16, 2004.Homily of John Paul II
/ref>
Today the charitable organizations begun by Orione are still operating in abundance throughout the world. In the United States, the national shrine and headquarters of the Sons of Divine Providence is located on a well-known hill in East Boston
East Boston, nicknamed Eastie, is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts annexed by the city of Boston in 1637. Neighboring communities include Winthrop, Revere, and Chelsea. It is separated from the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown and d ...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
, known as Orient Heights
Orient Heights is a historic section of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and is commonly considered part of East Boston; it is Boston's northernmost and northeasternmost neighborhood.
The neighborhood sits on a hill, which measures 152 fee ...
.
See also
*Giuseppe Benedetto Cottolengo
Giuseppe Benedetto Cottolengo or Joseph Benedict Cottolengo (3 May 1786 – 30 April 1842) was the Entrepreneur, founder of the and is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church.
Early life
Joseph Benedict Cottolengo was born on May 3, 1786, int ...
* Gaetano Piccinini
References
External links
The Sons of Divine Providence
Presence Don Orione in Venezuela
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orione, Luigi
1872 births
1940 deaths
People from the Province of Alessandria
19th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests
20th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests
Founders of Catholic religious communities
Roman Catholic activists
Italian Roman Catholic saints
20th-century Christian saints
Sons of Divine Providence
Burials in Piedmont
Beatifications by Pope John Paul II
Canonizations by Pope John Paul II