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Luigi Maria Palazzolo was born on December 10,1827, in Bergamo, Kingdom of Lombardy-Veneta (Italy). The last of eight brothers, he was the only one who lived into adulthood. Luigi, from the time he was a little boy, was called “Palazzonino.” He lost his father when he was nine-years old.
In 1844, Luigi entered the seminary and was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Bergamo on June 23, 1850. In September of 1862, he also lost his mother, a woman who taught him to show charity toward the poor of society.
In addition to all the usual activities a parish priest is responsible for, such as celebrating Mass, baptizing, counseling, visiting the sick, celebrating wedding, conducting funerals, and other activities, Father Luigi found he had a special affinity to care for children and youth who were most in need. In 1864, for example, he encountered a half-naked orphan child. Father Luigi covered him with a cloak, got him cleaned up, fed him, and cared for him until he could find a home for him.
The encounter with the orphan boy was only the beginning of Father Luigi’s crusade to help children and youth who were orphaned, abandoned, abused, or discarded by their families. He made it his life mission to do as much as he could to help those in need.
When he was in his late thirties, Father Luigi founded the Little House of Providence, a place where abandoned children and youth could be cared for. He also established a home for girls who needed care also called the Saint Dorothy Home.
To help him fulfil his dreams of helping children and youth in need, Father Luigi established the Brothers of the Sacred Family that existed until 1928, and with a friend he met, Venerable Maria Teresa Gabrieli, he co-founded the Sisters of the Poor – Palazzolo Institute on May 22, 1869. This group, often called the Poverelle Sisters, continues their work today in many nations of the world.
In 1872, Father Luigi founded an orphanage in Traona, Italy on October 4, 1872.
In the last year of his life, Father Luigi suffered from respiratory problems that made it necessary for him to sleep sitting up. He also suffered from leg sores that prevented him from celebrating Mass before his death.
Father Luigi died murmuring the name of “Jesus Christ” on June 15, 1886, in Bergamo, Italy. Pope Saint John XXIII beatified Luigi on March 19, 1963, and Pope Francis canonized him on May 15, 2022.
Saint Luigi Maria Palazzolo, whose feast day is June 15, is a patron saint of the Diocese of Bergamo, the Poverelle Sisters, and orphans.
