Oct. 27, 2011 Thursday: Blessed Contardo Ferrini
Blessed Contardo Ferrini
Contardo was born in 1859 in Milan, Italy. His father was a teacher of mathematics and physics and passed on his love for study to his little son. As a young man, Contardo could speak many languages besides Italian. He did very well in every school and college he went to. His great love for study and for his Catholic faith made his friends nickname him their own “St. Aloysius.” (St. Aloysius Gonzaga was a young Jesuit saint known for the goodness and generosity of his life.) It was Contardo who first started clubs for college students to help them become good Christians.
When he was twenty-one, he was offered a chance to continue his study of law at the University of Berlin in Germany. It was hard for him to leave his home in Italy, but he was happy to meet devout Catholics at the university. He wrote down in a little book what he felt the first time he received the Sacrament of Reconciliation in a foreign land. It thrilled him to realize that the Catholic Church is really the same everywhere a person goes.
Contardo decided to live his life for God. Even though he was very busy as a successful professor of law, he was very active in helping the poor, and he also devoted careful attention to his spiritual life. He became a member of the Franciscan Third Order and also joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society. While enjoying his favorite sport of mountain climbing, he would think of God, the Creator of all the beauty he saw. People noticed that there was something different about Professor Ferrini. Once, when he had passed by with his usual warm smile, someone exclaimed, “That man is a saint!”
Contardo Ferrini died of typhoid fever on October 17, 1902. He was only forty-three years old. He was declared a blessed by Pope Pius XII in 1947.
It is important to the life of the Church that every member do his or her part to bring about the kingdom of God. This is not just the work of priests and religious. Blessed Contardo can inspire us to take our own place in the Church and do whatever it is God may be calling us to do.
-Daughters of St Paul
Contardo was born in 1859 in Milan, Italy. His father was a teacher of mathematics and physics and passed on his love for study to his little son. As a young man, Contardo could speak many languages besides Italian. He did very well in every school and college he went to. His great love for study and for his Catholic faith made his friends nickname him their own “St. Aloysius.” (St. Aloysius Gonzaga was a young Jesuit saint known for the goodness and generosity of his life.) It was Contardo who first started clubs for college students to help them become good Christians.
When he was twenty-one, he was offered a chance to continue his study of law at the University of Berlin in Germany. It was hard for him to leave his home in Italy, but he was happy to meet devout Catholics at the university. He wrote down in a little book what he felt the first time he received the Sacrament of Reconciliation in a foreign land. It thrilled him to realize that the Catholic Church is really the same everywhere a person goes.
Contardo decided to live his life for God. Even though he was very busy as a successful professor of law, he was very active in helping the poor, and he also devoted careful attention to his spiritual life. He became a member of the Franciscan Third Order and also joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society. While enjoying his favorite sport of mountain climbing, he would think of God, the Creator of all the beauty he saw. People noticed that there was something different about Professor Ferrini. Once, when he had passed by with his usual warm smile, someone exclaimed, “That man is a saint!”
Contardo Ferrini died of typhoid fever on October 17, 1902. He was only forty-three years old. He was declared a blessed by Pope Pius XII in 1947.
It is important to the life of the Church that every member do his or her part to bring about the kingdom of God. This is not just the work of priests and religious. Blessed Contardo can inspire us to take our own place in the Church and do whatever it is God may be calling us to do.
-Daughters of St Paul
