Luigi Maria Palazzolo

Noting that the poor and abandoned young girls of Bergamo were in as much need of shelter and education as the boys in his oratory, Luigi Maria Palazzolo undertook to structure his charitable work on a lasting basis. On the advice of his spiritual director, he joined forces with Teresa Gabrieli (1837-1908), a virtuous schoolteacher. On May 22, 1869, she took her religious vows under the direction of Palazzolo, an act that marked the foundation of the congregation of the Sisters of the Poor (Suore delle Poverelle), also called the Palazzolo Institute, intended to take in and educate neglected girls. In 1872, he also founded a male branch, the Brothers of the Holy Family (Fratelli della Sacra Famiglia), for the education of poor boys; this congregation, however, died out in the first decades of the 20th century. He also opened shelters and evening schools for workers and peasants. His female congregation received pontifical approval in 1912 and subsequently spread well beyond Italy.

The holiness of Luigi Maria Palazzolo was manifested in an integral devotion to the poorest, lived in voluntary poverty and absolute trust in Providence. His spiritual motto summarizes his charism: he chose to serve where no one else could reach, gathering what everyone else rejected. During spiritual exercises in Rome in July 1869, he deepened his contemplation of the infinite paternal love of God manifested in the cross of Christ, committing himself even more radically to the service of the destitute. He considered the orphans he welcomed not as dependents but as his own sons, refusing any logic of administrative charity. A witness to a faith against the current of the conventions of his time, he radiated a humility and kindness that earned him a reputation for holiness in Bergamo very early on. This reputation, based on the heroism of his theological and cardinal virtues, led the Church to open and bring to completion his cause for beatification and then canonization.

The beatification process for Luigi Maria Palazzolo concluded on March 19, 1963, when Pope John XXIII proclaimed him blessed at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, following the recognition of healings deemed miraculous obtained through his intercession. The cause for canonization then resumed with the recognition of a new miracle: the unexplained healing of Sister Gianmarisa Perani, a religious of the Sisters of the Poor, who, in 2015, suffered severe postoperative complications that left her in a condition deemed terminal before she recovered her health following prayers offered by her congregation. Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing this miracle on November 28, 2019. The canonization was celebrated in St. Peter's Square on May 15, 2022, during a ceremony that included ten new saints. The liturgical feast of Saint Luigi Maria Palazzolo is set for June 15, the anniversary of his death.

The most lasting legacy of Saint Luigi Maria Palazzolo is the Congregation of the Sisters of the Poor (Suore delle Poverelle), which perpetuates his charism of service to the most destitute. After its pontifical approval in 1912, the institute expanded significantly: initially present in Italy, it spread to Africa, notably in Congo, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Burkina Faso, and Kenya, as well as in Latin America, in Brazil and Peru. The religious sisters continue the education of children, the care of the sick, and the welcoming of the poorest, in fidelity to the intuition of their founder. The figure of Palazzolo remains particularly venerated in the Diocese of Bergamo, of which he is one of the great figures of charity of the 19th century. His canonization in 2022 renewed attention to his message of preferential care for the excluded, at a time when the city of Bergamo had been severely struck by the Covid-19 epidemic.