Luigi Orione

Who they were

Luigi Orione was born at Pontecurone, in the diocese of Tortona, on 23 June 1872; his father paved roads and his mother was a woman of deep faith. On 15 October 1893, still a seminarian of 21, he opened a college for poor boys in Tortona, and was ordained on 13 April 1895.

He founded the Little Work of Divine Providence and the Little Missionary Sisters of Charity for the young and all the outcast; Pius X made him vicar general of Messina. He died on 12 March 1940 with the words: 'Jesus! Jesus! I'm going.'

The miracles

The Dicastery's biography does not describe the miracles approved in the cause.

Why that counted as sanctity

A road-mender's son who became the father of the poor and outcast of every kind.

Connected on this site

• Antonio Arrué Peiró Blessed
  “In 1931 Father Ricardo Gil Barcelón took him in, and he became the priest's helper; he wanted to join the Little Work of Divine Providence founded by Don Luigi Orione, but the unrest of the time kept him from doing so, and he worked among the poor as a postulant.” — this site's research
• Teresa Grillo Michel Blessed
  “Grillo founded a religious congregation that would expand into Latin America and she would also maintain contact with important individuals such as Luigi Orione and Clelia Merloni both of whom she befriended.” — Wikipedia