Giuseppe Nascimbeni

Faced with the poverty and isolation of Castelletto, Father Giuseppe sought to bring in religious sisters. Following refusals, he offered his resignation, but his bishop, Cardinal Bartolomeo Bacilieri, exhorted him to found his own congregation. On November 6, 1892, he founded the Institute of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family with Saint Maria Domenica Mantovani. The institute is dedicated to education, the care of the sick, and assistance to families. At the same time, Father Giuseppe modernized Castelletto by installing drinking water, electricity, a post office, a savings bank, and a cooperative. In 1911, Pope Pius X named him an apostolic protonotary.

Stricken by hemiplegia on December 31, 1916, Don Giuseppe spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair, offering his sufferings in prayer. He died on January 21, 1922, in Castelletto. His cause for beatification opened in 1980, and his heroic virtues were recognized in 1984. The miracle required for his beatification was approved in 1987: it concerns the inexplicable healing of little Cinzia Cornacchia on August 19, 1967, in Monte Romano, obtained through the intercession of the Venerable.

Father Giuseppe Nascimbeni was proclaimed blessed on April 17, 1988, by Pope John Paul II at the Bentegodi Stadium in Verona, alongside Father Giovanni Calabria. The Holy Father described him as a singular witness to Christ through his active solicitude for his people, nourished by the Eucharist. He is inscribed in the Roman Martyrology as blessed. His co-founder, Maria Domenica Mantovani, was canonized on May 15, 2022, by Pope Francis.

Inspired by the Holy Family of Nazareth, Father Giuseppe's spirituality is Christocentric, Marian, and marked by Franciscan humility. His motto was "Caritas Christi urget nos." He taught that holiness consists of living well where the Lord has placed us. Today, the Little Sisters of the Holy Family continue his work in Italy and internationally, notably in Switzerland, Albania, Angola, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Brazil.