Antonio Filomeno Maria Losito

The beginning of Father Losito's ministry was marked by the political upheavals of Italian unification. In 1866-1867, the laws suppressing religious congregations promulgated by the new Italian government forced him to leave his community in Materdomini. He then returned to Canosa di Puglia, where he lived with his brothers for twenty years (1867-1887). During this period of forced exile, he deployed an apostolate of remarkable intensity in his hometown and the surrounding municipalities: he dedicated himself to confessions, preaching, helping the poor and the sick, and invested himself in the restoration of the city's sacred monuments, which earned him the title of "Apostle of Canosa."

In January 1887, following the easing of relations between Church and State, he was able to return to Redemptorist community life. He was assigned to the house in Pagani (Salerno), the burial place of the founder Saint Alphonsus Liguori. There, he assumed important responsibilities in formation and governance: he was novice master and prefect of students from 1894 to 1907, rector of the Pagani community from 1907 to 1909, and then Provincial Superior of the Neapolitan Province of the Redemptorists from 1909 until his death in 1917. Under his leadership, the congregation's apostolate was reorganized and expanded throughout the Sarno plain and the Salerno region. He also contributed decisively to the expansion of the Basilica of Materdomini and the development of the cult of Saint Gerard Majella.

The reputation for holiness of Father Losito, already immense during his lifetime, spread rapidly after his death. The ordinary informative process for his cause of beatification was opened on September 30, 1937, by the ecclesiastical curia of Nocera dei Pagani and closed in 1943. A rogatory process was also conducted in Andria between 1938 and 1939. The decree on the writings was signed on March 25, 1945, and the legal validity of the processes was recognized by a decree on December 20, 1991. The Positio was published in 1999.

On April 9, 1983, at the unanimous request of the faithful, his mortal remains were transferred from Pagani to the San Sabino Co-cathedral Basilica in Canosa di Puglia, in the Saint Alphonsus chapel. A canonical recognition and a solemn translation of his relics took place on January 15, 2018, under the direction of the Bishop of Andria, Msgr. Luigi Mansi.

On September 30, 2015, Pope Francis received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic nature of the virtues of Antonio Filomeno Maria Losito, thereby conferring upon him the title of Venerable. The official announcement was published by the Holy See Press Office on October 1, 2015. His cause is currently awaiting the recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession to pave the way for his beatification.

Father Losito's spirituality is deeply rooted in the Alphonsian charism, characterized by absolute trust in Providence and a passionate love for the suffering Christ. Afflicted from 1890 with a debilitating illness identified as Parkinson's disease ("shaking palsy"), he adopted the spiritual motto "to love and to suffer" (amare e patire), bearing his infirmities with heroic patience and gentleness.

Nicknamed "the consoling angel" or "the Holy Father" by the people, he was a sought-after spiritual guide for many major figures of the Church of his time. He was notably the confessor and spiritual director of Blessed Bartolo Longo (founder of the Shrine of Pompeii) for fifteen years (1902-1917), accompanying him through the institutional trials related to his foundations. He also maintained close spiritual ties with Saint Annibale Maria Di Francia, the Venerable Eustachio Montemurro, Father Giuseppe Leone, and Cardinal Guglielmo Massaia. Popes Saint Pius X and Benedict XV held him in high esteem and frequently sought his wise counsel. His local liturgical memory is celebrated on July 18, the day of his birth into heaven (dies natalis).