“You will always have poor among you” (Mt 26:11). St. Joseph Cottolengo eagerly embraced this precious heritage left by Jesus to His Church and dedicated his entire existence to them. The Church celebrates his memory on 30 April.
Newsroom (01/05/2023 18:00, Gaudium Press) Holiness does not come from pure human effort, but from a singular grace granted by God. Jesus, the God-Man, being the Creator and, at the same time, the scribe of all graces, can and wills to dispense them to all who need and desire them. Heroism in the practice of the virtues, as sanctity can be defined, is therefore a grace that shares in that wonderful fullness which dwells in Our Lord and is liberally bestowed by Him. One of those privileged ones to receive such graces was Joseph Benedict Cottolengo, raised up by God at the juncture of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Attracted by Jesus’ compassion for the little ones
Without ceasing to see God in His totality, every Saint lays special emphasis on the contemplation of some aspect by which he is particularly captivated and invited to be reflected. In concrete terms, Joseph Cottolengo was attracted by the goodness and compassion of Jesus towards the little ones, the poor and the sick. He understood in depth the riches of the love of the Heart of a God for those whom He called “the least of my brethren” (Mt 25:40).
On the Cross and through His Blood, the Saviour made all humanity His children and the children of Mary. By this double gift, He became Himself our true brother. What a union, what a bond of affection there is between children born of the same family! And yet, these blood ties are but pale images of the unsurpassable brotherly love that Jesus has for us all! St. Joseph Benedict Cottolengo penetrated this mystery and sought to manifest it in his life, dedicating himself with total disinterest to those who were both naturally and spiritually orphaned, relieving not only bodily pain but also sickness of soul.
First steps in his vocation
Joseph Benedict Cottolengo was born in Bra, Piedmont, in May 1786. From his childhood he gave evidence of his vocation, even one day being found measuring one of the rooms of his house to see how many beds would fit in there to accomodate the sick.
After his studies, from which he emerged brilliantly, thanks to the intercession of St. Thomas Aquinas, he was ordained a priest and later, in 1818, elected canon of the Corpus Domini Chapter in Turin.
In 1827 he began his work by founding the “Little House of Divine Providence”, where he took in countless sick and abandoned people. To care for them, he first created an institute of religious sisters called “Daughters of St. Vincent” and, a few years later, another institute called “Brothers of St. Vincent de Paul”.
Blind trust in Providence
The difficulties in carrying out his designs were not small. Many others endowed with a strong faith, but not blind like his, would have been discouraged half way through. He continued to find himself without resources and harassed by incomprehensible creditors demanding the payment of debts. On the other hand, he saw the number of his protégés who came to the “Little House” grow every day, attracted not only by the need for health, but above all by the fame of his boundless goodness.
Anyone who knew the incessant activity of this work would believe its Founder to be a restless and worried man, involved in material affairs, eager to watch over and govern everything. No judgement could be so false about him: St Joseph Benedict was a man essentially contemplative and detached from earthly things. The predominant characteristic of his holiness and of his mission was his complete trust in Divine Providence. It could be said that his entire spirituality was summed up in this sentence from the Gospel: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Mt 6:33).
He often used to say to his family: “Be assured that Divine Providence never fails; families and people may fail, but Providence will not fail us. This is a matter of faith. Therefore, if at any time something is lacking, it can only be attributed to our lack of trust. It is necessary always to trust in God; and if God responds with His Divine Providence to ordinary trust, He will provide extraordinarily for those who trust extraordinarily.“
“Why do you fret yourselves for so little?”
Such a faith carried to such a heroic degree could only obtain miraculous results, and these were abundant throughout our Saint’s existence. On one occasion, the nun in charge of the kitchen came to announce to him:
“There is nothing left of flour in the house… Tomorrow there will be no bread to feed the indigent!”
“Why do you worry about so little? You see how the rain falls in torrents and it is impossible to send anyone out at this time,” he replied.
The good sister, who had not attained perfectly to that holy abandonment of her Founder, went away very unhappy with this reply. A few moments later, St. Cottolengo entered the refectory and – imagining himself alone, without suspecting that another sister was spying on him through the keyhole – knelt before the image of the Blessed Virgin and prayed fervently with his arms crossed.
Only a few minutes passed and a man driving a cart appeared at the door of the establishment. Without wanting to say where he was coming from or by whom he had been sent, he declared that he had the task of depositing in the “Little House” all the flour that he had brought in his vehicle. The nuns immediately rushed to tell the saintly Canon everything. The latter received the news without the least surprise and calmly gave them the order to bake bread.
The money appeared in their pockets
On another occasion, St. Joseph Benedict was faced with an even tighter situation. One of his creditors even threatened him with death if he did not pay his debt immediately. He apologised, asked him to be a little more patient, promising to do so as soon as possible. But the man was adamant and, without further ado, took from his clothes a gun with which he was ready to end the life of the Saint. In a mechanical gesture, the Saint reached into his pocket and, to his great surprise, found a roll containing exactly the sum claimed. He immediately handed it to the creditor and the latter left, confused by his own violent attitude, but impressed by the miracle and the example of serene trust he had just witnessed.
Abandonment to the will of God
His desire to do good to all who approached him knew no restraint or obstacles: he went to the extreme of lavishing the humblest care on the sick and of entering into the games of the mentally weak, in order to amuse them. He did not consider this a humiliation, because he analysed everything with a supernatural outlook, knowing that the important thing was not to do great deeds or perform stupendous wonders, but to be in God’s eyes what He wants of us. From this lofty concept of life, which permeated all his actions, came the joyful detachment with which he abandoned himself to God’s will, repeating over and over again: “Why are you anxious about tomorrow? Providence will not think of it, for you have already thought of it. So do not ruin its work and let it do its work. Although we are permitted to ask for a certain temporal good, nevertheless, as regards what concerns me, I would be afraid to commit a fault if I asked for something along these lines.”
Joseph Benedict Cottolengo died in 1842. During his stay in this world the desires of his heart and the life of his soul were directed solely to the glory of God. For this reason he left behind him a monumental work of charity towards his neighbour, which today is present on four continents, as irrefutable proof of the truthfulness of Jesus Christ’s promise. He sought only the Kingdom of God and His justice; Our Lord granted him everything in addition.
A place of honour is reserved for him among the right-hand lambs on that supreme day when the just Judge will say: “Come, you blessed of My Father! Receive as your inheritance the kingdom which My Father has prepared for you since the creation of the world! For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me into your home, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you cared for Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.
Truly, I say to you, in so far as you did it to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to Me” (Mt 25: 34-36 and 40)
By Sister Clara Isabel Morazzani, EP
Text taken from the magazine Heralds of the Gospel, n. 64, April 2007.
Compiled by Sandra Chisholm
