His life<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div>All his life John Baptist Scalabrini was clear about his goal, heaven, and the way to get there, charity<\/strong>. A bishop, founder of two congregations, the Missionaries and the Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo, Scalabrini was first and foremost a man in love with God, capable of seeing in the least the gaze of Jesus<\/strong>.<\/p>\nBorn in Fino Mornasco, in the province of Como, on July 8, 1839<\/strong>, to a humble and religious family, he was the third of eight children. At age 18, in 1857, he entered the seminary and after six years was ordained a priest <\/strong>on May 30, 1863. His desire was to go on a mission, but he was not granted: he began his apostolate as a teacher and then rector <\/strong>of the minor seminary in Como, a position he held until 1870. In the same year he was appointed pastor <\/strong>of St. Bartholomew Parish in Como. Attentive to all social issues, he personally treated cholera patients in Portichetto, receiving a civilian medal for valor. In those years Scalabrini sensed the importance of religious education of the youngest: he wrote the Small Catechism<\/strong> for Kindergartens.<\/strong><\/p>\nAt the age of only 36, Pope Pius IX elected him bishop of Piacenza on December 13, 1875<\/strong>. In his pastoral program and early initiatives, we get a glimpse of what his ministry would be: closeness to the people, attention to the clergy, teaching of the Gospel, and charity toward those most in need. He devoted himself to the formation <\/strong>of priests and young seminarians; founded the Schools of Christian Doctrine<\/strong> and published the magazine “The Catholic Catechist<\/strong>.” He established the Institute for the Deaf and Mute<\/strong>, entrusted in 1874 to the Daughters of St. Anne, and the Opera pro mondariso<\/strong> for the religious, social and union assistance of the approximately 170,000 seasonal migrants employed in rice growing in Piedmont and Lombardy.<\/p>\nDeeply affected by the plight of his faithful forced to make their fortunes in South America and the United States, on November 28, 1887<\/strong>, he founded the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo <\/strong>for the spiritual and material assistance of migrants. Two years later, in 1889<\/strong> he established the Lay Association “St. Raphael<\/strong>,” and in 1895<\/strong> he joined the Missionaries with the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo<\/strong>. In 1901 he arrived in the United States and in 1904 in Brazil to visit the missions of his Scalabrinian brothers. Returning from his last trip, he fell ill and died on June 1, 1905<\/strong>, the feast of Jesus’ Ascension into heaven. He was proclaimed blessed<\/strong> by Pope John Paul II on November 9, 1997.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n“Deeply in love with God and extraordinarily devoted to the Eucharist, he was able to translate contemplation of God and his mystery into intense apostolic and missionary action, making himself all things to all people in order to proclaim the Gospel.”<\/p>\n<\/q><\/blockquote>
St. John Paul II<\/strong><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![](\"https:\/\/www.scalabrinisanto.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Scalabrini-22b.jpg\")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>The Bishop of All<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div>“I will not recuse myself from labors to make myself a father to the unfortunate, a tutor to the ignorant, a rector to the priests, a pastor to all, that made thus all to all, I may win all to Christ.”<\/em><\/p>\nAt the age of only 36, Giovanni Battista Scalabrini was elected bishop of Piacenza by Pope Pius IX on December 13, 1875. He initially wanted to refuse the appointment, but, as he writes in his first pastoral letter, “with fear and trembling but resigned, I submitted to the ministry imposed on me”<\/em>\u00a0. Scalabrini founded his 29-year-long ministry on two pillars: charity <\/strong>toward the most needy and spreading the faith<\/strong> through the teaching of Christian doctrine.<\/p>\nHe was dedicated to the formation of clergy<\/strong>, whom he gathered and met with periodically, and young seminarians<\/strong> from the three diocesan seminaries. He wrote: “Considering that the holiness of the people depends on the holiness of the priests, I first willingly devoted my attention and care to my seminaries.”<\/p>\n“Preach the truth with charity”:<\/em> to this motto he remained faithful throughout his episcopate. He knew the importance of communication and took advantage of the means of the time to spread faith in Jesus Christ: in 1876 he inaugurated the monthly magazine “The Catholic Catechist<\/strong>.” Three years after the beginning of his ministry, there were 4,000 new catechists in the diocese. This is why Pope Pius IX, in giving him his pectoral cross, called him an Apostle of the Catechism<\/strong>.<\/p>\nHe celebrated three diocesan synods, consecrated 200 churches and sent sixty pastoral letters. But the “most cherished of offices,” as Scalabrini calls it, are pastoral visits <\/strong>to the 364 parishes in his diocese. He reached the faithful, many living in small mountain and hill towns, by traveling on the back of a mule. He visited prisons and kindergartens. As a bishop, he stayed close to his people<\/strong>, he knew their needs and anticipated them. He did not forget his missionaries and emigrant parishioners: on July 18, 1901, he left Genoa for what was his first overseas pastoral visit to Italians in the United States of America. On June 13, 1904 he completed the second, visiting Italian communities in Brazil.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/q><\/blockquote>
All his life John Baptist Scalabrini was clear about his goal, heaven, and the way to get there, charity<\/strong>. A bishop, founder of two congregations, the Missionaries and the Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo, Scalabrini was first and foremost a man in love with God, capable of seeing in the least the gaze of Jesus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Born in Fino Mornasco, in the province of Como, on July 8, 1839<\/strong>, to a humble and religious family, he was the third of eight children. At age 18, in 1857, he entered the seminary and after six years was ordained a priest <\/strong>on May 30, 1863. His desire was to go on a mission, but he was not granted: he began his apostolate as a teacher and then rector <\/strong>of the minor seminary in Como, a position he held until 1870. In the same year he was appointed pastor <\/strong>of St. Bartholomew Parish in Como. Attentive to all social issues, he personally treated cholera patients in Portichetto, receiving a civilian medal for valor. In those years Scalabrini sensed the importance of religious education of the youngest: he wrote the Small Catechism<\/strong> for Kindergartens.<\/strong><\/p>\n At the age of only 36, Pope Pius IX elected him bishop of Piacenza on December 13, 1875<\/strong>. In his pastoral program and early initiatives, we get a glimpse of what his ministry would be: closeness to the people, attention to the clergy, teaching of the Gospel, and charity toward those most in need. He devoted himself to the formation <\/strong>of priests and young seminarians; founded the Schools of Christian Doctrine<\/strong> and published the magazine “The Catholic Catechist<\/strong>.” He established the Institute for the Deaf and Mute<\/strong>, entrusted in 1874 to the Daughters of St. Anne, and the Opera pro mondariso<\/strong> for the religious, social and union assistance of the approximately 170,000 seasonal migrants employed in rice growing in Piedmont and Lombardy.<\/p>\n Deeply affected by the plight of his faithful forced to make their fortunes in South America and the United States, on November 28, 1887<\/strong>, he founded the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo <\/strong>for the spiritual and material assistance of migrants. Two years later, in 1889<\/strong> he established the Lay Association “St. Raphael<\/strong>,” and in 1895<\/strong> he joined the Missionaries with the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo<\/strong>. In 1901 he arrived in the United States and in 1904 in Brazil to visit the missions of his Scalabrinian brothers. Returning from his last trip, he fell ill and died on June 1, 1905<\/strong>, the feast of Jesus’ Ascension into heaven. He was proclaimed blessed<\/strong> by Pope John Paul II on November 9, 1997.<\/p>\n<\/div> “Deeply in love with God and extraordinarily devoted to the Eucharist, he was able to translate contemplation of God and his mystery into intense apostolic and missionary action, making himself all things to all people in order to proclaim the Gospel.”<\/p>\n<\/q><\/blockquote> “I will not recuse myself from labors to make myself a father to the unfortunate, a tutor to the ignorant, a rector to the priests, a pastor to all, that made thus all to all, I may win all to Christ.”<\/em><\/p>\n At the age of only 36, Giovanni Battista Scalabrini was elected bishop of Piacenza by Pope Pius IX on December 13, 1875. He initially wanted to refuse the appointment, but, as he writes in his first pastoral letter, “with fear and trembling but resigned, I submitted to the ministry imposed on me”<\/em>\u00a0. Scalabrini founded his 29-year-long ministry on two pillars: charity <\/strong>toward the most needy and spreading the faith<\/strong> through the teaching of Christian doctrine.<\/p>\n He was dedicated to the formation of clergy<\/strong>, whom he gathered and met with periodically, and young seminarians<\/strong> from the three diocesan seminaries. He wrote: “Considering that the holiness of the people depends on the holiness of the priests, I first willingly devoted my attention and care to my seminaries.”<\/p>\n “Preach the truth with charity”:<\/em> to this motto he remained faithful throughout his episcopate. He knew the importance of communication and took advantage of the means of the time to spread faith in Jesus Christ: in 1876 he inaugurated the monthly magazine “The Catholic Catechist<\/strong>.” Three years after the beginning of his ministry, there were 4,000 new catechists in the diocese. This is why Pope Pius IX, in giving him his pectoral cross, called him an Apostle of the Catechism<\/strong>.<\/p>\n He celebrated three diocesan synods, consecrated 200 churches and sent sixty pastoral letters. But the “most cherished of offices,” as Scalabrini calls it, are pastoral visits <\/strong>to the 364 parishes in his diocese. He reached the faithful, many living in small mountain and hill towns, by traveling on the back of a mule. He visited prisons and kindergartens. As a bishop, he stayed close to his people<\/strong>, he knew their needs and anticipated them. He did not forget his missionaries and emigrant parishioners: on July 18, 1901, he left Genoa for what was his first overseas pastoral visit to Italians in the United States of America. On June 13, 1904 he completed the second, visiting Italian communities in Brazil.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>The Bishop of All<\/h2><\/div>
<\/q><\/blockquote>