Bl. Luigi Maria Monti

  Posted on November 10, 2020  by admin  No comments

Born: 24 July 1825 at Bovisio Masciago, diocese of Milian, Italy

Died: 1 October 1900 in Saronno, Varese, Italy of natural causes 

Beatified: 9 November 2003 by Pope John Paul II, his beatification miracle involved the healing of Giovanni Luigi Iecle, a farmer from Bosa, Sardegna in 1961 

Feast day: October 1

Eighth of eleven children. His father died when Luigi was twelve years old. To support the family he made wooden craft items. After hours he gathered other devout craftsmen and farmers at his shop to form the prayer group The Company of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; the locals called them The Company of Friars. The group expanded their ministry to work with the poor and sick, and in 1846 Luigi took private vows of chastity and obedience, dedicating his life to God. 

However, Luigi lived in a time of political paranoia. He and the other members of his Company were charged with meeting to conspire against the Austrian forces occupying his village. In 1851 the they were jailed in Milan for ten weeks, finally released when it became obvious they were a religious, not political group. Joined the Sons of Mary Immaculate, spending six years as a novice. Studied nursing. Worked with the sick in the cholera epidemic in Brescia, Italy in 1855. With the help of Father Luigi Dossi, he founded The Congregation of the Sons of the Immaculate Conception, dedicated to care for the sick. Initially worked with the Capuchin Fathers, who were forming a similar group. Certified as a phlebotomist by the La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy. In 1877, with the help of Pope Blessed Pius IX, Luigi finally founded his Congregation; he worked as its leader the rest of his life. The Sons willingly walked into the worst of epidemics, working in places that others were scared to go, giving their own beds to the sick. Luigi founded small communities throughout the region where men served in hospitals and as travelling nurses to the scattered, impoverished farmers. In 1882 they expanded their mission and founded orphanages with attached schools. Though a layman all his life, Luigi was known as “Father” by the members of the Congregation and those he helped. He died at the age of 75, nearly blind, completely worn out, and working for the Congregation to the end.