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Don
Luigi Orione was born at Pontecurone (Alessandria) on
the 23rd of June 1872. The world knows him as a champion
of Christian holiness, as the founder of the Little
Work of Divine Providence. |
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He faced any kind of social and church problems. He personally
met important people from the worlds of politics, culture
and the Church, and enlightened them with his wisdom and generous
actions. The writings of Don Orione have been read widely
by many people, bringing comfort, faith and a wealth of knowledge.
His biographer Pronzato defined him “God’s fool”,
while Pope John Paul I referred to him as the “strategist
of charity”. He called himself the “porter of
God” as well as other similar phrases which showed his
complete faith in God and his desire to serve him alone.
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Ignazio
Silone compared him to Lenin, because “Lenin was not
a socialist only on Saturday evenings and Don Orione was not
a priest only on Sunday mornings”. Douglas Hyde entitled
his biography on Don Orione “God’s Bandit”.
Don Giuseppe De Luca, a man of letters, said “he was
a man in a continual state of spiritual exhilaration”.
Pope Pius XII, on hearing of Don Orione’s death (12th
March 1940), called him “the father of the poor and
eminent benefactor of suffering and abandoned humanity”.
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Pope
John Paul II declared him blessed on the 26th October
1980, presenting him to the Church as a “marvellous
and genial expression of Christian charity”, “certainly
one of the most eminent personalities of this century
because of his Christian faith lived openly”,
“having the character and heart of the Apostle
Paul, tender and sensitive, indefatigable and courageous,
tenacious and dynamic”. |
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His
sanctity promotes and continues to generate fame and devotion
among the faithful, followers among his disciples. His charism
remains alive, a perennial and universal gift to the Church,
“transmitted to the disciples so that they can live
it, keep it, deepen it, and constantly develop it in harmony
with the Church “ (MR 11). Enlightened by this charism,
there are many eminent followers of Don Orione, some of them
have been proposed for beatification, some of them have left
their mark in the Church and in society, others - the majority
- even though less well-known, have “given their lives
in a holocaust of charity for the Church and for Souls”
(Don Orione). Together they make up the Orione Constellation.
His
foundation, today spread out over 30 countries, is made up
of The Sons of Divine Providence, The Little Missionary Sisters
of Charity, The Secular Institute, and a vast Lay Movement,
all of which continue to promote, especially among the poor,
the spirit and good works of the Founder. |
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Don
Orione’s charism is marked by a vast engagement
in several social and charitable activities: assistance,
human promotion, parishes, education, missions, sanctuaries,
boarding-schools, cultural centres, popular universities.
For further information visit our site: www.donorione.org
and www.fondazionedonorione.org. |
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