The Works of Mercy in Those Beatified by Bl. Pope John Paul II

BL.  FATHER PAOLO MANNA

(1872-1952)

Missionary in Burma (Myanmar)

Superior General of the P.I.M.E.

Founder of the Pontifical Missionary Union

Blessed Father Paolo Manna was born in Avellino on January 16, 1872. After primary and technical education in Avellino and in Naples he went to Rome for higher studies. While studying philosophy at the Gregorian University he followed the call of the Lord and entered the Theology Seminary of the Institute for Foreign Missions in Milan. On May 19, 1894 he was ordained a priest in the cathedral of Milan.

On September 27, 1895 departed for the mission of Toungoo in Eastern Burma. He worked there for a total of ten years with two short repatriations until 1907, when his illness forced him to come back to Italy for good.

Beginning in 1909, through writing and a variety of other activities, he dedicated all his energy for the next forty years to fostering missionary zeal among the clergy and the faithful. In 1916 founded the Missionary Union of the Clergy on which Pius XII bestowed the title of “Pontifical” in 1956. He saw the Union as “a radical solution to the problem of involving Catholics in the apostolate.” His assumption was that a mission-minded clergy would make all Catholics missionaries. Today the Union has spread throughout the world and the membership includes seminarians, religious and consecrated laity.

By 1909 he became the director of Le Missioni Cattoliche; and in 1914 he launched Propaganda Missionaria – a popular broadsheet with a large circulation; in 1919 he started Italia Missionaria for young people.

In an effort to foster the missionary vocations in Southern Italy, the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith asked Father Manna to establish a seminary for foreign missions. He opened Sacred Heart Seminary at Ducenta in the province of Caserta – a foundation he had long encouraged and promoted.

In 1924 was elected Superior General of the Institute of Foreign Missions of Milan. In 1926 at the instigation of Pope Pius XI the Institute united with the Missionary Seminary of Rome to form the Pontifical Institute for the Foreign Missions (P.I.M.E.).

The P.I.M.E. General Assembly of 1934 gave him mandate to establish the Society of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate. He played a primary role in the foundation of this institute in 1936. From 1937 to 1941 Father Manna was in charge of the International Secretariat for the Missionary Union of the Clergy .

The Italian Southern Province of P.I.M.E. was established in 1943 and Father Manna became its first superior and launched the family missionary magazine Venga il tuo regno.

Father Manna wrote quite a number of well-known books and booklets. Several of them had a lasting effect such as: Operarii autem pauci; I Fratelli separati e noi; Le nostre Chiese e la propagazione del Vangelo; Virtù Apostoliche. He envisioned innovative methods of missionary work that foresaw developments at the Second Vatican Council. But Fr. Manna’s greatest legacy is the example he left behind: he was driven by an overwhelming passion for the missions that sickness, suffering and setbacks could never diminish. Tragella, his first biographer, called him “A burning soul”. Until his death his motto was: “All the Church for all the World”!

Father Paolo Manna died in Naples on September 15, 1952. His remains were laid to rest at Ducenta, “his seminary”. On December 13, 1990 Pope John Paul II visited his tomb.

His Beatification Cause began in Naples in 1971 and concluded in Rome on April 24, 2001 with a Papal Decree on a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Servant of God.

The Works of Mercy in those Beatified & Canonised by Pope John Paul II

St. John Calabria (1873-1954)

Priest, Founder of the Congregation of the Poor Servants

and the Poor Women Servants of Divine Providence

JOHN CALABRIA was born on October 8th, 1873 in Verona. He was the seventh and last child of Luigi, a cobbler and of Angela Foschio, a maid-servant to the high-class people and a woman of great faith, educated by the Servant of God Fr. Nicola Mazza in his Institute for poor children.

Poverty was his mistress right from his birth. After his father's death he had to interrupt his 4th year of the Elementary School to find a job. The Rector of San Lorenzo, Fr. Pietro Scapini, noticing the virtues of this boy, prepared him privately for the admission examination into the Lyceum at the Seminary. Having passed his exams, he was admitted to and frequented the Lyceum as an extern. His studies were once again interrupted by a two-year military service.

Charity was his lifelong characteristic
it is in this field that he distinguished himself mostly. In fact he served all, offering himself to do the most humiliating and courageous tasks. He won the heart of his fellow soldiers and of his superiors, and helped many to come back to the Church, and to practise faith.

Having terminated his military service, he resumed his studies. One very special cold night of November 1897 - he frequented the 1st year of theology - returning home from a visit to the sick in hospital, he found a boy croaching on the doorstep of his house; he had ran away from the gypsies. Fr Calabria picked him up, took him in, kept him in his house and shared his room with him. It was the beginning of his works in favour of the orphaned and the abandoned boys.

A few months later he founded the "Charitable Institution for the assistance to poor sick people." These were only the beginnings of a life characterised by charity. "Every instant of his life was a personification of St. Paul's marvellous canticle on charity," wrote a Hebrew woman-doctor in her Lettera Postulatoria to Paul VI about Fr. Calabria. She had been in hiding from the nazi-fascist persecution, dressed in a nun's habit in one of his religious Institutes.

Priest and Founder of two Congregations
After being ordained priest on August 11th, he was appointed confessor of the seminary and curate of St. Stephen's Church. He devoted himself with particular zeal to hearing confessions, and to charitable works, helping in particular the poorest and the outcasts.

In 1907 he was appointed Rector of St Benedetto del Monte. He also welcomed soldiers in his house and cared for their spiritual welfare. On November 26th, 1907 he founded the "Casa Buoni Fanciulli." The following year it moved definitely to Via San Zeno in Monte. Today, their Mother House.

Besides the boys, the Lord also sent him lay people, wishing to share with him the offering of their own life to the Lord. With this handful of men totally given to God in the service of the poor, with a life rooted in the Gospel, he revived the apostolic spirit of the Church in Verona. This nucleus of men was the foundation of the "Congregation of the poor servants of Divine Providence" which was approved by the Bishop of Verona on the 11th February 1932 and obtained Pontifical approval on the 25th April 1949.

Immediately after the Diocesan approval, the Congregation spread out to various parts of Italy - serving the poor, the abandoned and the outcasts. It also extended its works to the elderly and to the sick, reviving them in the "Cittadella della Carita." The apostolic heart of Fr. Calabria went to the faraway Paria in India when he sent four of his Brothers to Vijayavada.

In 1910 he also founded the female branch "Le Sorelle" which later became the Congregation by Diocesan Right on the 25th March 1952 bearing the name of Poor women servants of Divine Providence and on the 25th December 1981 it obtained the Pontifical approval.

A prophet of the fatherness of God and search for his kingdom
To the two Congregations Fr. Calabria entrusted the same mission the Lord had inspired him with since his early priesthood: "To prove to the world that Divine Providence exists, that God is not a stranger, but that He is a Father, He thinks of us, on condition that we think of Him and do our part which is that of seeking first and foremost the Kingdom of God and His justice." (Cfr. Matth. 6, 25-34).

To witness all of this, he welcomed gratuitously in his Institutes boys in need, both materially and morally. He founded hospitals and Institutes to help the sick and the old people. He welcomed in his houses for formation both youth and adults poor, to help them realize their priestly or religious vocation. He helped them gratuitously until they reached the theological year of their studies or made their definite choice to embrace religious life. They were free to choose the Diocese or Congregation as the Lord inspired them. He established that his priests exercised their apostolate in poor areas "where their is nothing humanly promising."

He shone like a lighthouse in the Church of God
These are the exact words that Blessed Cardinal Schuster had had engraved on his tomb.

Infact from 1939-40 until his death, contrary to his inborn desire to remain unnoticed, he extended his horizons to the Church frontiers "proclaiming" to all that the world can only be saved by returning to Christ and to his Gospel.

It was in this way that he became a prophetic voice, a point of reference. Bishops, priests, religious and the laity, found in him the sure guide for themselves and for their initiatives.

In this context, the Bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Triveneto, in their Lettera Postulatoria to Pope John Paul II could write: "Fr Calabria, to prepare the Church of the year 2000 - a familiar expression of his, - made his life a suffering and grief-stricken appeal for conversion, renewal, at Jesus' hour, with impressive accents and insistent urgency... It seems to us that Fr. Calabria's life and his person itself constitute a "prophecy" of your passionate appeal to the whole world: "Aperite portas Christo Redemptori! ".

He understood this radical and prophetic spiritual renewal in which even the laity could be involved. As a matter of fact in 1944 he founded "The Family of External Brothers" solely made up of laymen.

He prayed, wrote, acted and suffered for the unity of Christians. In view of this he kept in touch with, protestants, orthodox and Hebrews: he wrote, spoke and loved but he never entered into discussions.

He conquered everybody's love. Even the Lutheran Pastor, Sune Wiman of Esklstuna (Switzerland), who had had several epistolary sharings with him, on the 6th of March 1964 in a Lettera Postulatoria to the Holy Father Pope Paul VI, asked that his venerable friend be glorified.

And this was also the most mysteriously and sorrowful period of his life. It seemed that Christ had associated him to his agony in Gethsemane and on Calvary, accepting the offering of his life as a "victim" for the sanctification of the Church and the salvation of the world. Blessed Cardinal Schuster compared him to the Servant of Jahve. He died on December 4th, 1954. On the eve of his death he made his last act of charity offering his life to God for the dying Pope Pius XII. The Lord accepted this offer, for while he was dying, the Pope mysteriously and unexpectedly recovered and lived for another four years.

The same Pontiff, unaware of the last charitable gesture of Fr. Calabria but knowing Fr. Calabria very well, when he heard of his death, sent a telegram of condolences to the Congregation in which he defined him "campione di evangelica carità."

Fr. Calabria was beatified by Pope John Paul II on the 17th April 1988 and canonised in 1999.

The Works of Mercy in those Beatified & Canonised by Pope John Paul II

WIDOWER ST. VIRGINIA CENTURIONE BRACELLI (1587-1651)

Widower, Virginia Centurione Bracelli was born on April 2, 1587, in Genoa, from the family of Giorgio Centurione, duke of the Republic in the year 1621-1622, and Lelia Spinola. Both of them were of the ancient noble origin. She was baptized two days after her birth, received her first religious and literary formation from her mother and private tutor.

She soon felt the need for a cloistered life but she had to succumb to her father’s strong will and marry Gaspare Grimaldi Bracelli on December 10, 1602. Gaspare’s family was both illustrious and wealthy, but he was wholly taken up with gambling and dissolute life. She gave birth to two daughters: Lelia and Isabella.

The conjugal life of Virginia did not last long. As a matter of fact, Gaspare Bracelli, in spite of the matrimony and the fatherhood, he did not abandon his pleasures, which brought him to shorten his life. Virginia, however, with her great patience, prayer and affection, tried to convince her husband to a modest life. Unfortunately, Gaspare get ill died on June 13, 1607, in Alessandria, thus, enabling him to reach a state of grace and peace with God, relieved and assisted by his faithful wife.

At the age of twenty, she became widow, pronounced her perpetual vow of chastity, refusing the occasion of the second marriage proposed by her father. She lived in her mother-in-law’s house, taking care of the education and the administration of the goods of her children and dedicating herself through prayer and act of charity.

In 1610, she clearly felt the special vocation “to serve God through the poor”. Although she was strictly controlled by her father and never disregarded the care for the family, Virginia began to devote herself to the needy. She personally helped the poor by sharing half of her wealth or by means of charitable institution.

Virginia conveniently settled the marriage life of her daughters and totally offered herself to the needs of the abandoned children, the aged, the sick and to elevate the life of the marginalized people.

In autumn of 1624-1625, the war between the Liguorian Republic and the Duke of Savoy, supported by France, increasing the unemployment and starvation, led Virginia to accomodate the first 15 abandoned youngs, and then, with the expansion of the refugees in town, enabled her to provide all their needs, specially the poor women.

On August of 1625, with the death of her mother-in-law, she started not only to received the youngs but instead led herself to town, mostly in the disreputable quarters, in search for the needy and in danger of depravity.

To help the increasing poverty, Virginia founded the “Cento Signore della Misericordia Protettrici dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo”, with the collaboration of the resident organization of “Otto Signore della Misericordia”. She had the specific task of controlling the needs of the poor, particularly the bashful people by means of visiting the house.

To intensify the initiative of accomodating the youngs, precisely at the time of plague and of famine in 1629-1630, Virginia was obliged to rent the empty convent of Monte Calvario, where she transferred on the 13th of April 1631, together with her beneficiaries placed under the protection of Our Lady of Refuge. Three years after, the Institution expanded into three houses accomodating 300 patients. Hence, she thought the opportunity to ask the official acknowledgement from the Senate of the Republic, which was conceded on December 13, 1635.

The beneficiaries of Our Lady of Refuge became for Virginia her excellent “daughters”, with whom she shared the food and clothing. She taught them catechism and train them to work so that they could earned their own sustenance.

Virginia renounced to purchase the Monte Calvario’s convent because it was very expensive, for this reason, she bought two villas next to Carignano’s Hill that , with the construction of the new annex of the Church dedicated to Our Lady of Refuge, became the Mother House of the Institution.

The spirit, which inspired the Institution founded by Virginia, was generally presented in the Rule compiled in 1644-1650. It is confirmed that all the domiciles should form a single Institution of Our Lady of Refuge, under the supervision and administration of the Protectors (noble lay appointed by the Senate of the Republic); there is also the confirmation of the separation between the “daughters” wearing the religious habit, and the “daughters”, who were not wearing habit, but altogether must live - with or without vows – like the most observant monks in obedience and poverty, working and praying. Moreover, they must be ready to give a hand in the public hospital, considering it as a vow.

Meanwhile, the Institution is divided into two Religious Congregation: the “Sisters of Our Lady of Refuge in Mount Calvary” (Suore di Nostra Signora del Rifugio di Monte Calvario) and the “Daughters of Our Lady on Mount Calvary” (Figlie di Nostra Signora al Monte Calvario).

After the nomination of the Protectors (July 3, 1641), who were considered to be the real superiors of the Institute, Virginia disengaged herself from the government house. She was subdued to their needs and behaved according to their consent even in the acceptance of some needy youngs. She lived as the last “daughter” devoted to the household chores, went out in the morning and in the evening to beg for the sustenance of the living. She was a mother to everyone, specially for the sick, giving them most of her availability.

In the past years, Virginia organized a group of social action tight to cure the roots of evil and to prevent ruins: the sick and the disabled were hospitalized in the Institute; the powerful men were sent to work; the women must trained themselves to embroidery frame and seamless stockings, and the children were obliged to go to school.

With the increase of the activities and of the efforts, the collaborators of Virginia declined, particularly the women of the middle and upper class, who had feared to compromise their reputation in dealing with the corrupt people with a guide such as noble and a saint.

Abandoned by the Auxiliaries and by the Protectors of the Institute, for which the government deprived of its power, Virginia, while her physical health was weakening, took the position and became responsible for the sisters in Carignano’s House. Thus, regaining force in solitude.

On March 25, 1637, she desired that the Republic would choose the Blessed Virgin as their Protectress. She pleaded to the Archbishop of the town, the institution of the “forty hours devotion”, which should start in Genoa at the end of 1642, and the preaching of the common missions (1643). She intervened to settle the common and bloody rivalries, which rose up, for petty reasons, between the noble families and the knights. In 1647, she achieved the reconciliation between the Archbishop See and the Government of the Republic, caused of their conflict in relation to the prestiges’ matter.

Without losing sight to the most desolated, she offered her free time to everybody, independently from the social class, who turned towards her for helped.
Gratified by the Lord with exultations, visions, interior locutions and other mystical gifts, she died on December 15, 1651 at the age of 64. The Holy Father Pope John Paul II proclaimed her blessed on the occasion of his Apostolic Visit in Genoa on September 22, 1985.  She was canonised in 2003 by John Paul II.

The Works of Mercy in Those Beatified by Bl. Pope John Paul II

IVAN MERZ (1896-1928)

Ivan Merz was born in Banja Luka, Bosnia, on 16 December 1896, and was baptized on 2 February 1897. He attended elementary and middle school in Banja Luka and, after a brief period of education at the military academy of Wiener Noustadt, he enrolled in 1915 at the University of Vienna, with the dream of teaching young people in Bosnia; thus, he would be following the example of his professor, Ljubomir Marakovic, who helped Ivan to discover the richness of the Catholic faith.

In March 1916, Ivan was enlisted in the army and shipped to the Italian battle front, where he spent the greater part of two years beginning in 1917. The war experience and its horrors marked a turning point in Ivan's young life and contributed greatly to his spiritual growth, prompting him to abandon his future into God's hands and to strive with all his might towards the goal of Christian perfection.

On 5 February 1918, he wrote in his diary: "Never forget God! Always desire to be united with Him. Begin each day in the first place with meditation and prayer, possibly close to the Blessed Sacrament or during Mass. During this time, plans for the day are made, one's defects are put under examination and grace is implored for the strength to overcome all weakness. It would be something terrible if this war had no meaning for me!... I must begin a life regenerated in the spirit of this new understanding of Catholicism. The Lord alone can help me, as man can do nothing on his own". At this time, Ivan also made a private vow of perpetual chastity.

After the war, he continued his studies at Vienna (1919-20), and then in Paris (1920-22). In 1923 he obtained a degree in philosophy. His thesis was entitled "The influence of the Liturgy on the French authors". He then became a professor of language and French literature and was exemplary in his dedication to the students and to his responsibilities as a teacher.

In his spare time he studied philosophy and theology and deepened his knowledge of the documents of the Magisterium of the Church.

Ivan was especially noted for his interest in young people and concern for their growth in faith and holiness. He started the "League of Young Croatian Catholics" and the "Croatian League of Eagles" within the Croatian Catholic Action Movement. Their motto was: "Sacrifice Eucharist Apostolate".

For Ivan, the purpose of this organization was to form a group of front-line apostles whose goal was holiness. This scope of this goal also flowed over into liturgical renewal, of which Ivan was one of the first promoters in Croatia.

As a Catholic intellectual, Ivan was able to guide young people and adults to Christ and His Church through his writings and organized gatherings. He also sought to teach them love and obedience to the Vicar of Christ and the Church of Rome.

In the face of any misunderstandings and difficulties, Ivan always had an admirable patience and calm, the fruit of his continual union with God in prayer. Those who knew him well described him as a person who had his "mind and heart immersed in the supernatural". Convinced that the most effective way to save souls was through efficacious suffering, he offered to God all his physical and moral sufferings, particularly for the intention of the success of his apostolic endeavours.

Shortly before his death, he offered his life for the youth of Croatia. In short, the young man believed that his vocation was very simply "the Catholic faith".

Ivan Merz died on 10 May 1928 in Zagreb. He was 32 years old.   He was beatified in 2003 by Bl. Pope John Paul II.

The Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy in Those Beatified by Bl. Pope John Paul II

Blessed Father Enrico Rebuschini

Enrico Rebuschini was born in 1860 in Gravedona near Como (Italy). He came from a middle class family. After his military service, he worked as an accountant for two years.


But being in business was not his heart's desire. He wanted to become a priest, but his father was against it. Eventually his father relented. He enrolled in 1884 as theology student at the Gregorian University in Rome.

In 1886 he suffered a health problem: "Manic Depression" was the diagnosis. This led to the disruption of his studies. He returned home.

At home and at times in the hospital, he overcame the acute phase of his depression. Though not yet fully capable of working, he continued what he used to do in Rome: visit the sick, comforting and helping them cope with their situation.

Given his solid, religious upbringing he himself found help in prayer and closeness to God. He continued to desire to become a priest. His spiritual guide referred him to St. Camillus and to the Camillians.

Enrico ventured to take the step. He began the two-year novitiate in 1887 in Verona and received the priestly ordination in 1889.  In 1899 Fr. Enrico was sent to the Camillian hospital in Cremona. With zeal and reliability, he carries out his assigned tasks as spiritual counselor of the sick, hospital administrator, spiritual director of the 'Daughters of St. Camillus' and confessor.

His life was not marked by outstanding accomplishments but by fidelity in little things. In his later years, his depression recurred. But through his deep and lively relationship to God, he overcame the problem that confronted him.  His contemporaries in Cremona regarded him as "holy father." Precisely through his illness coupled with sensitivity and deep spirituality, he was to many a source of strength.

On his death on May 10, 1938, it became clear that a "saint" had died. In his own sickness he became an example to many sick people. On May 4, 1997, the Church solemnly declared him Blessed.

The Works of Mercy in the Lives of Those Beatified by Bl. Pope John Paul II

Blessed Eusebia Palomino Yenes (1899-1935)

Eusebia Palomino Yenes was born on 15 December 1899 in Cantalpino, Spain, one of four children to Agustin Palomino and Juana Yenes. Her father worked as a seasonal farmhand, and during winter months when there was no work, he was forced to travel to nearby villages to beg for food, with the little Eusebia at his side. Overjoyed to be in her father's company, she was too young to understand his humiliation in asking for "a loaf of bread, for the love of God".

When Eusebia was 8 years old, she made her first "encounter" with Jesus in the Eucharist and felt called to belong forever and completely to him. A short time later, she was forced to leave school and work to help the family.

Although she was young, she showed unusual maturity in caring for other young children, and when she was 12 she went to Salamanca with her older sister and worked as a nanny. Her love for God continued to grow and was expressed so well through the care she gave to the children.

Daughters of Mary

Every Sunday afternoon, Eusebia went to the Oratory at the "Sancti Spiritus" School run by the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians; here she got to know the Sisters. Noting her maturity and responsibility, they asked if she could volunteer her time to help them.

She was immediately available to begin her "mission" and helped the Sisters in the kitchen, collecting firewood, cleaning the school, accompanying the students and running errands. She was always ready to "give a hand" and to transmit a joyful and simple spirit of service to those around her.

"Something deeper' in Eusebia

The students perceived that in Eusebia there was "something deeper" behind her habitual smile and simple way, and they found "excuses" to be with her, receiving counsel and comfort through her words and by her presence. But more than words, it was her life and simple way that spoke to the girls.

Although Eusebia's secret desire was to become a "Daughter of Mary", she did not ask to enter the Congregation because she was afraid she would be refused due to lack of money, resources and education.

She hoped, however, that "if I carry out well my duties here, for love of the Blessed Virgin, one day I will be her daughter in the Congregation". She confided this desire on one occasion to a visiting superior, who told her to "worry about nothing". In name of the Mother General, she accepted Eusebia.

On 5 August 1922 Eusebia began her novitiate and made her religious profession two years later, when she was transferred to the house of Valverde del Camino in southwestern Spain.

Not up to expectations

Upon her arrival the first day, she was openly derided by the youngsters of the school and oratory: she was "little, pale and ugly, with hands that are too big... plus, she has a dumb name", and obviously not what they expected.

Sr Eusebia, however, who felt like a "queen" living forever in the mansion of Jesus her King, remained indifferent to the unkind remarks. She began the next day to "roll up her sleeves" and to carry out her assigned duties: the kitchen, the laundry, answering the door, working in the garden and keeping company with the children at the oratory.

It was not long before the children were "taken up" by the stories she would tell them of the lives of the saints and of missionaries as well as anecdotes of St John Bosco; Sr Eusebia had an excellent memory and the gift of storytelling. Little by little, those who at first had judged and criticized her felt that there was something truly special about the nun and that she really cared about them.

Even outside of the oratory, the parents of the children, other adults and youth, seminarians and even priests sought out her "spiritual counsel". Although Sr Eusebia had no education in theological doctrine, her heart was full of God's wisdom and she made time for everyone.

Victim for the salvation of Spain

In the beginning of the 1930s, tensions and persecutions against the Catholic Church began in Spain, and Sr Eusebia once again made herself "available" to help. This time, she offered herself as a victim to God for the salvation of Spain.

Her offer was accepted and in August 1932 a mysterious illness struck her. Doctors were unable to diagnose this disease which was causing the limbs of her body to wind up, turning her into a "ball of yarn". Her asthma, which had always been "mild", had now worsened and added to her suffering.

Although the pain was excruciating, Sr Eusebia was always a gentle channel of joy and peace, treating those around her with great respect and appreciating those who took care of her.

Sr Eusebia died on 10 February 1935.   She was beatified on 25th April 2004 by Bl. Pope John Paul II. 

The echo of voices of the townspeople of Valverde could be heard following her departure: "A saint has died".