Founder of the Consolata Missionaries, Blessed Giuseppe Allamano was born in Castelnuovo d'Asti, near Turin, Italy, on January 21, 1851. Castelnuovo was the birth place of great saints: St. Giuseppe Cafasso and Don Giovanni Bosco are two outstanding ones. Allamano's mother was a sister of the named St. Cafasso, whom Allamano called the "exemplary uncle" while Allamano would later be called "a perfect copy of his great predecessor and uncle". As a young boy, Giuseppe had Don Bosco as his confessor.
In 1866, feeling a call to the priesthood, he entered the Diocesan Seminary, being ordained priest on September 20, 1873. He would have liked to devote pastoral ministry, but his archbishop appointed him first as assistant to the rector and then as spiritual director in the Major Seminary. In this task, as well as in his later work with newly-ordained priests, he showed to be endowed with such excellent qualities as to be regarded a true "model for education of the clergy".
A turning point in Allamano's life, was his appointment as rector of the main Marian Shrine of the Archdiocese of Turin, the Consolata Shrine. During his rectorship, the sanctuary was reorganized and restored.
Like Cafasso, Allamano was an exceptional character trainer, teacher of doctrine and life. He saw out of the seminaries many priests eager to become missionaries, but hampered by the diocese, who willingly gave offerings to the missions, but not men. Building a special school, his design was appreciated in Rome, but then the setbacks and obstacles blocked his mission for ten years. Patiently, he waited and worked. Then came the first "yes" from the bishop in 1901 and a year later to Kenya went the first shipment of priests, soon to be followed by others. They were helped by the Vincentian Sisters of St. Joseph Cottolengo who worked side by side with them. Later on, urged by Pope St. Pius the X, on January 29, 1910, he founded the Consolata Missionary Sisters.
Devoting his best care and attention to his missionaries through personal contacts, letters and formation meetings, convinced that mission deserved the best, he aimed at quality rather than quantity. He wanted them to be well-trained evangelizers, "outstanding saints", zealous to the point of sacrificing their life. For over twenty years, every Sunday he talked to his communities on liturgy, spiritual life, vocation, mission, the characteristic spirit of the Institute.
Consecrating to the missions the rest of his life even though he carried on his usual ministry as a priest of the diocese of Turin, in his opinion, every priest, all Christians, each local Church, ought to be open to the missions. To make people sensitive to this essential and constitutive dimension of the Church, in 1912 he promoted the initiative of sending a petition to the Pope in order to obtain from him an official document on mission cooperation. It was the seed, which in time brought about the establishment of "Mission Sunday". The last words that came from his lips, "Amen" and "Ave Maria" witness to what had been his life-long aspiration: to seek "God alone and his holy will", to do "everything for Jesus, nothing without Mary". This yearning of his was perfectly fulfilled when he finally met his Lord on February 16, 1926 aged 75.
His remains are found venerated inside the Casa Madre dei Missionari della Consolata, Turin. Pope John Paul II beatified him on October 7, 1990.
In 1866, feeling a call to the priesthood, he entered the Diocesan Seminary, being ordained priest on September 20, 1873. He would have liked to devote pastoral ministry, but his archbishop appointed him first as assistant to the rector and then as spiritual director in the Major Seminary. In this task, as well as in his later work with newly-ordained priests, he showed to be endowed with such excellent qualities as to be regarded a true "model for education of the clergy".
A turning point in Allamano's life, was his appointment as rector of the main Marian Shrine of the Archdiocese of Turin, the Consolata Shrine. During his rectorship, the sanctuary was reorganized and restored.
Like Cafasso, Allamano was an exceptional character trainer, teacher of doctrine and life. He saw out of the seminaries many priests eager to become missionaries, but hampered by the diocese, who willingly gave offerings to the missions, but not men. Building a special school, his design was appreciated in Rome, but then the setbacks and obstacles blocked his mission for ten years. Patiently, he waited and worked. Then came the first "yes" from the bishop in 1901 and a year later to Kenya went the first shipment of priests, soon to be followed by others. They were helped by the Vincentian Sisters of St. Joseph Cottolengo who worked side by side with them. Later on, urged by Pope St. Pius the X, on January 29, 1910, he founded the Consolata Missionary Sisters.
Devoting his best care and attention to his missionaries through personal contacts, letters and formation meetings, convinced that mission deserved the best, he aimed at quality rather than quantity. He wanted them to be well-trained evangelizers, "outstanding saints", zealous to the point of sacrificing their life. For over twenty years, every Sunday he talked to his communities on liturgy, spiritual life, vocation, mission, the characteristic spirit of the Institute.
Consecrating to the missions the rest of his life even though he carried on his usual ministry as a priest of the diocese of Turin, in his opinion, every priest, all Christians, each local Church, ought to be open to the missions. To make people sensitive to this essential and constitutive dimension of the Church, in 1912 he promoted the initiative of sending a petition to the Pope in order to obtain from him an official document on mission cooperation. It was the seed, which in time brought about the establishment of "Mission Sunday". The last words that came from his lips, "Amen" and "Ave Maria" witness to what had been his life-long aspiration: to seek "God alone and his holy will", to do "everything for Jesus, nothing without Mary". This yearning of his was perfectly fulfilled when he finally met his Lord on February 16, 1926 aged 75.
His remains are found venerated inside the Casa Madre dei Missionari della Consolata, Turin. Pope John Paul II beatified him on October 7, 1990.
Founder of the Consolata Missionaries, Blessed Giuseppe Allamano was born in Castelnuovo d'Asti, near Turin, Italy, on January 21, 1851. Castelnuovo was the birth place of great saints: St. Giuseppe Cafasso and Don Giovanni Bosco are two outstanding ones. Allamano's mother was a sister of the named St. Cafasso, whom Allamano called the "exemplary uncle" while Allamano would later be called "a perfect copy of his great predecessor and uncle". As a young boy, Giuseppe had Don Bosco as his confessor.
In 1866, feeling a call to the priesthood, he entered the Diocesan Seminary, being ordained priest on September 20, 1873. He would have liked to devote pastoral ministry, but his archbishop appointed him first as assistant to the rector and then as spiritual director in the Major Seminary. In this task, as well as in his later work with newly-ordained priests, he showed to be endowed with such excellent qualities as to be regarded a true "model for education of the clergy".
A turning point in Allamano's life, was his appointment as rector of the main Marian Shrine of the Archdiocese of Turin, the Consolata Shrine. During his rectorship, the sanctuary was reorganized and restored.
Like Cafasso, Allamano was an exceptional character trainer, teacher of doctrine and life. He saw out of the seminaries many priests eager to become missionaries, but hampered by the diocese, who willingly gave offerings to the missions, but not men. Building a special school, his design was appreciated in Rome, but then the setbacks and obstacles blocked his mission for ten years. Patiently, he waited and worked. Then came the first "yes" from the bishop in 1901 and a year later to Kenya went the first shipment of priests, soon to be followed by others. They were helped by the Vincentian Sisters of St. Joseph Cottolengo who worked side by side with them. Later on, urged by Pope St. Pius the X, on January 29, 1910, he founded the Consolata Missionary Sisters.
Devoting his best care and attention to his missionaries through personal contacts, letters and formation meetings, convinced that mission deserved the best, he aimed at quality rather than quantity. He wanted them to be well-trained evangelizers, "outstanding saints", zealous to the point of sacrificing their life. For over twenty years, every Sunday he talked to his communities on liturgy, spiritual life, vocation, mission, the characteristic spirit of the Institute.
Consecrating to the missions the rest of his life even though he carried on his usual ministry as a priest of the diocese of Turin, in his opinion, every priest, all Christians, each local Church, ought to be open to the missions. To make people sensitive to this essential and constitutive dimension of the Church, in 1912 he promoted the initiative of sending a petition to the Pope in order to obtain from him an official document on mission cooperation. It was the seed, which in time brought about the establishment of "Mission Sunday". The last words that came from his lips, "Amen" and "Ave Maria" witness to what had been his life-long aspiration: to seek "God alone and his holy will", to do "everything for Jesus, nothing without Mary". This yearning of his was perfectly fulfilled when he finally met his Lord on February 16, 1926 aged 75.
His remains are found venerated inside the Casa Madre dei Missionari della Consolata, Turin. Pope John Paul II beatified him on October 7, 1990.
In 1866, feeling a call to the priesthood, he entered the Diocesan Seminary, being ordained priest on September 20, 1873. He would have liked to devote pastoral ministry, but his archbishop appointed him first as assistant to the rector and then as spiritual director in the Major Seminary. In this task, as well as in his later work with newly-ordained priests, he showed to be endowed with such excellent qualities as to be regarded a true "model for education of the clergy".
A turning point in Allamano's life, was his appointment as rector of the main Marian Shrine of the Archdiocese of Turin, the Consolata Shrine. During his rectorship, the sanctuary was reorganized and restored.
Like Cafasso, Allamano was an exceptional character trainer, teacher of doctrine and life. He saw out of the seminaries many priests eager to become missionaries, but hampered by the diocese, who willingly gave offerings to the missions, but not men. Building a special school, his design was appreciated in Rome, but then the setbacks and obstacles blocked his mission for ten years. Patiently, he waited and worked. Then came the first "yes" from the bishop in 1901 and a year later to Kenya went the first shipment of priests, soon to be followed by others. They were helped by the Vincentian Sisters of St. Joseph Cottolengo who worked side by side with them. Later on, urged by Pope St. Pius the X, on January 29, 1910, he founded the Consolata Missionary Sisters.
Devoting his best care and attention to his missionaries through personal contacts, letters and formation meetings, convinced that mission deserved the best, he aimed at quality rather than quantity. He wanted them to be well-trained evangelizers, "outstanding saints", zealous to the point of sacrificing their life. For over twenty years, every Sunday he talked to his communities on liturgy, spiritual life, vocation, mission, the characteristic spirit of the Institute.
Consecrating to the missions the rest of his life even though he carried on his usual ministry as a priest of the diocese of Turin, in his opinion, every priest, all Christians, each local Church, ought to be open to the missions. To make people sensitive to this essential and constitutive dimension of the Church, in 1912 he promoted the initiative of sending a petition to the Pope in order to obtain from him an official document on mission cooperation. It was the seed, which in time brought about the establishment of "Mission Sunday". The last words that came from his lips, "Amen" and "Ave Maria" witness to what had been his life-long aspiration: to seek "God alone and his holy will", to do "everything for Jesus, nothing without Mary". This yearning of his was perfectly fulfilled when he finally met his Lord on February 16, 1926 aged 75.
His remains are found venerated inside the Casa Madre dei Missionari della Consolata, Turin. Pope John Paul II beatified him on October 7, 1990.
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