A SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF ST GIOVANNI BATTISTA PIAMARTA – A SAINT WHO LIVED ON THE STREETS IN HIS YOUTH

One of the new saints of the Church, canonised by Pope Benedict at the beginning of this Year of Faith, is St Giovanni Battista Piamarta. He was born in Brescia, Italy, in 1841 into a poor family. St Giovanni’s father was a barber and his mother died when he was just nine years old. As a consequence of difficult circumstances, St Giovanni spent time living in the alleys and slums of the city, his maternal grandfather helped him to stay alive by sending him to the Oratory of St Thomas.

St Giovanni’s adolescence was difficult, but thanks to the help of his parish, he entered the diocesan seminary. St Giovanni was ordained a priest in 1865 and spent the next 20 years in intense pastoral work in various difficult parishes. St Giovanni could identify with the difficulties of the local disadvantaged youth, due to his own experiences living on the streets.

For his priestly ministry St Giovanni was remembered as ‘zealous, excellent and flawless in everything’. Many religious gathered around St Giovanni and he then founded the Congregation of the Holy Family of Nazareth to undertake Christian education work around the world, including Italy, Angola, Mozambique, Brazil and Chile. St Giovanni died 1913 after a life spent in service of God and neighbour.

In his homily at the Canonisation Mass, Pope Benedict said of St Giovanni, ‘The secret of his intense and busy life is found in the long hours he gave to prayer. When he was overburdened with work, he increased the length of his encounter, heart to heart, before the Blessed Sacrament, meditating upon the passion, death and resurrection of Christ, to gain spiritual fortitude and return to gaining people’s hearts, especially the young, to bring them back to the source of life with fresh pastoral initiatives.’

This insight is important for all of us when we feel overburdened or life gets very busy. Even though time is filled up with things, we can pause and spend time with God in prayer, and return strengthened to get more good work done in the shorter time available because we took time out for prayer. Try it.
– From: “Spiritual Thought from Father Chris”