Pius of Saint Aloysius (born Luigi Campidelli, 29 April 1868 – 2 November 1889) was an Italian

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

professed cleric from the Passionists. He died before he could receive his

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorization, authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominational ...

to the priesthood but in his short life managed to captivate people around him for his strong dedication to his order's charism and his deep faith. His beatification was celebrated on 17 November 1985.

Life

Luigi Campidelli was born to an impoverished farmers on 29 April 1868 as the fourth of six children to Giuseppe Campidelli and Filomena Belpani; a sister was Teresa. He was

baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

as "Luigi Nazreno Francesco". His parents nicknamed him "Gigino". His father caught

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

in 1874 and soon died which left his widow and children destitute while an uncle came to their aid to help manage their farm. He received his

Confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

on 9 February 1873 from the Bishop of Rimini Luigi Poggi and in 1875 enrolled in the private school at Trebbio di Poggio Berni before making his

First Communion First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in many parts of the Latin Church tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Communi ...

in 1878. In his schooling he was admired as a good student and devout child and in his teens became more active in the life of his local parish. He was known throughout the neighborhood as a good child who was pious and sincere with an unwavering allegiance to

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 ...

who he felt was going through terrible trials due to the loss 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 ...

in 1870. He also taught other children

catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...

. He encountered the Passionists in 1880 and knew at once that he wanted to join them. From this time on he was a frequent visitor to the Santuario della Madonna di Casale and was soon invited to enter their

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

on 2 May 1882 when he entered. On 27 May 1883 he was clothed in the Passionist habit and he also received the religious name of "Pius of Saint Aloysius" while beginning the novitiate period. His novitiate was transferred to

Viterbo Viterbo (; Viterbese: ; lat-med, Viterbium) is a city and ''comune'' in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in its early history. ...

in January 1883 where he continued his theological and philosophical studies at the Sant'Eutizio convent though left later that July back to where he was before. On 30 April 1884 he made his vows and then received the minor orders at the Sant'Eutizio convent in Viterbo. He was struck down with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

in 1889 before he could be

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 and had suffered from its first signs in 1888. He received the

tonsure Tonsure () is the practice of cutting or shaving some or all of the hair on the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility. The term originates from the Latin word ' (meaning "clipping" or "shearing") and referred to a specific practice in ...

on 17 December 1887. He died on 2 November 1889 at 10:30pm and had offered his life for his troubled home region of

Romagna Romagna ( rgn, Rumâgna) is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna, North Italy. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennines to the south-west, the Adriatic to t ...

. His remains were buried in San Vito di Romagna and then on 6 May 1923 were moved to the Santuario della Madonna di Casale. His remains were exhumed on 17 June 1985 for canonical inspection as part of the beatification process and were found to be in a state of good preservation.

Beatification

The beatification process opened in the Rimini diocese in 1924 in an informative process that concluded in 1928 before all his spiritual writings were deemed to be appropriate and therefore approved on 28 July 1928; the formal introduction to the cause came later under

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

on 5 January 1938 and he became titled as a

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 ...

. An apostolic process was later held in Rimini from 1939 until 1941 while the two processes received validation in

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 ...

from the Congregation for Rites on 13 April 1945. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints and their consultants approved the cause on 4 May 1982 as did the C.C.S. alone later on 26 January 1983. The recognition of the late cleric's heroic virtue 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 title him as

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 21 March 1983. The informative process for the miracle for beatification - the healing of the nun Maria Foschi - opened in the Italian diocese of origin on 4 July 1940 and closed later on 4 September 1941 before receiving C.O.R. validation on 13 April 1945. Medical experts approved the sister's healing was a miracle on 6 December 1984 as did theologians on 11 April 1985 and the C.C.S. on 21 May 1985. John Paul II approved this miracle on 6 July 1985 and beatified the Passionist cleric on 17 November 1985. The current

postulator A postulator is the person who guides a cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Roman Catholic Church. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the ''Norms to be Obse ...

for this cause is the Passionist priest Giovanni Zubiani.

References

External links

Hagiography Circle

Saints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pius of Saint Aloysius 1868 births 1889 deaths 19th-century venerated Christians 19th-century Italian people 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Beatifications by Pope John Paul II Italian beatified people Passionists People from Rimini Venerated Catholics by Pope John Paul II Tuberculosis deaths in Italy Infectious disease deaths in Emilia-Romagna