AFTER MIRACULOUS HEALING OF U.S. MAN, PRIEST WHO CARED FOR THE MARGINALIZED AND DYING IS TO BE CANONIZED
By Maryann Gogniat Eidemiller – OSV Newsweekly, 10/23/2011
Saint Louis Guanella witnessed the ravages of poverty, illness and the neglect of the most venerable while growing up in the Southern Alps of Italy. He saw the handicapped and the elderly abandoned and underfed when mid-19th century society standards considered them useless and a burden.
He was so filled with love for the marginalized that he devoted his life to serving them as a priest, and to founding two religious orders to carry out that work.
“We have been praying for a miracle for our founder to confirm to us that his charism can lead to holiness,” said Servants of Charity Father Joseph Rinaldo. “We have been praying for a sign that our founder was a holy man.”
Those prayers have been answered. On Oct. 23, Saint Guanella was to be elevated to sainthood when Pope Benedict XVI also canonized Bishop Guido Maria Conforti, founder of the Xaverian Missionaries, and Sister Bonifacia Rodriguez Castro, founder of the Servants of St. Joseph in Spain.
Father Rinaldo is treasurer of the Servants of Charity Province in Chelsea, Mich., which includes the United States, India, Philippines and Vietnam. He was in his theological studies in Rome when Saint Guanella was beatified in 1964.