Giacinto Bianchi

After his ordination, Don Giacinto began his pastoral ministry in small rural parishes near his native village. In May 1860, he was appointed vicar in Scandolara Ravara. Sensitive to the social and moral precariousness of young women in the region, he founded the Casa di Lavoro (House of Work) there in 1864, a non-denominational community structure intended to welcome and offer dignified work to single women. This initiative sparked virulent hostility from local anti-clerical circles, who obtained the closure of the establishment at the beginning of 1865 and the expulsion of the priest. Forced to leave his diocese, Don Giacinto took refuge in Genoa. He was welcomed there by Prior Giuseppe Frassinetti at the parish of Santa Sabina, a very stimulating spiritual and pastoral environment. It was in this church, on May 31, 1863 (during a sermon he was giving there), that his words on the love of the Heart of Jesus deeply touched the young Eugenia Ravasco (future blessed), prompting her to renounce marriage to dedicate herself entirely to God. After the death of Giuseppe Frassinetti in 1868, Don Giacinto was sent in July 1871 to Pigna, a village in the hinterland of Ventimiglia, in Liguria. There, he took over the direction of the Pious Union of the Daughters of Mary. In 1875, moved by the appeal of the Genoese canon Antonio Belloni, who was seeking support for the Catholic orphanage of Bethlehem in the Holy Land, he proposed this project to his parishioners. On February 11, 1875, several young women from Pigna committed themselves to a common life, laying the foundations for the congregation of the Daughters of Mary Missionaries (Figlie di Maria Missionarie). The first group of missionaries set sail for Palestine in August 1876. In 1878, the victim of a false accusation of embezzlement, Don Giacinto had to leave Pigna. His innocence was quickly and fully recognized, but he chose to return to Genoa. For more than thirty years, he led the life of an itinerant preacher throughout Italy and Switzerland, devoting himself particularly to Italian emigrants. In 1890, the Propaganda Fide congregation officially named him "Apostolic Missionary." In 1892, the missionary sisters of Bethlehem were forced to return to Italy after the Salesians took over the orphanage. Don Giacinto welcomed them and helped them reorganize the congregation, which then spread to several regions of Italy, notably in Sicily. In 1901, he bought back his family home in Villa Pasquali to establish the sisters' novitiate there.

In 1911, worn out by illness and the fatigue of his countless travels, Don Giacinto retired permanently to Villa Pasquali. There, he undertook the construction of an oratory dedicated to Saint Ermelinde (patroness of the congregation), but the withdrawal of a benefactress left the project unfinished, which caused him great moral suffering at the end of his life. He passed away in poverty on February 11, 1914, the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes. The reputation of holiness of Don Giacinto Bianchi spread immediately after his death. In 1949, the diocesan informative process opened in the Diocese of Cremona and concluded in 1962. His mortal remains were transferred from Villa Pasquali to Rome in 1974, to the motherhouse of the Daughters of Mary Missionaries. In 1993, the Positio super virtutibus was submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

On December 6, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree recognizing the heroic nature of his virtues, thereby conferring upon him the title of Venerable.

The spirituality of Giacinto Bianchi is deeply Marian and marked by a total abandonment to Divine Providence. His life unfolded symbolically between two great Marian feasts: his birth on the day of the Assumption and his death on the day of Our Lady of Lourdes. His apostolic zeal was expressed through an absolute detachment from material goods and an unwavering trust in the power of the Word of God. Today, the congregation of the Daughters of Mary Missionaries (which obtained the decree of praise on May 1, 1934, and the definitive approval of the Holy See on January 26, 1942, under the pontificate of Pius XII) continues its work of evangelization, assistance, and Christian education of youth. The sisters are active in Italy, Brazil, Ecuador, the Central African Republic, and Ivory Coast.