Saint Luigi Orione

Luigi Giovanni Orione (June 23, 1872 - March 12, 1940) was an Italian 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. Orione was born into a poor family at Pontecurone, in the Province of Alessandria, in the Piedmont region of Italy, on the vigil of the feast day of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. He was named after Aloysius Gonzaga and John the Baptist. He was baptized the next day by Michele Cattaneo, the parish priest 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. From 1886 to 1889 Orione was a student at the Valdocco Oratory in Turin operated by the Salesians of Don Bosco. There he gained the attention of John Bosco, 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. 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 a priest on April 13, 1895. 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).