Giovanni Battista Piamarta

Saint Giovanni Battista Piamarta.
Priest, Missionary, Catechist, and Martyr
Born	1841 Brescia, Italy
Died	25 April 1913 Remedello, Italy
Honored in	Roman Catholic Church
Beatified	12 October 1997, St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II
Canonized	October 21, 2012, Vatican City by Pope Benedict XVI
Feast	25 April
Attributes	Rosary, Christogram, Crucifix

Saint Giovanni Battista Piamarta^[1] (Brescia, 1841 - Remedello, 25 April 1913) was an Italian priest, educator, and founder of the Congregation of the Holy Family of Nazareth.

Biography

Giovanni Battista Piamarta was born in Brescia, Italy, November 26, 1841, into a poor family. His father was a barber. Piamarta lost his mother at age nine, and spent time living in the alleys of the slums of the city. His maternal grandfather helped him stay alive, and sent him to the Oratory of St. Thomas. His adolescence was difficult, but thanks to the parish of Vallio Terme he entered the diocesan seminary. Ordained as a priest on December 23, 1865, he began his priestly ministry in Carzago Riviera, Bedizzole, spending his first 20 years in intense pastoral work, and is remembered as a priest "zealous, excellent, flawless in everything".^[2] In that time, he was appointed priest (and later director) of the parish of St. Alexander, and later, pastor of Pavone del Mella. Brescia was in the process of industrialization, and Piamarta identified with the difficulties and hopes of disadvantaged youth, due to his own experiences on the streets.

With Monsignor Pietro Capetti and the Catholic Movement, he started the Institute Artigianelli for the vocational, human, and Christian education of the poorest youths on December 3, 1886. The "Workmen Institute" grew in workspaces and buildings, and many young people received a technical education. A few years later, in 1895, he and Fr. Giovanni Bonsignori began the Agricultural Colony of Remedello. As a result, many of the religious gathered around Fr. Piamarta who shared the ideals and labors of the mission. In March 1900, Fr. Piamarta founded the Congregation of the Holy Family of Nazareth (Piamartinis) to continue the work of technical Christian education around the world, including Italy, Angola, Mozambique, Brazil, and Chile. Piamarta's work with the Brescian printing and publishing house, Queriniana, helped make Brescia a European center of Catholic publications.

Piamarta died on April 25, 1913, in Remedello, after a life spent in the service of God and neighbor. In 1926 his body was moved to the church of the Workmen that he built.

Sainthood

The beatification process began in 1963. On October 12, 1997, Piamarta was proclaimed Blessed by Pope John Paul II. On October 21, 2012, he was declared a saint and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI.

His memorial liturgical day is on April 26.

References