Don Luigi Longhi – Biographical notes

Don Luigi Sala LONGHI nasce a Baganza, Province of Parma, the 14 October 1939.

The little Louis & egrave; the second son of a family which counts seven other children, between brothers and sisters. Just remember how her sisters, since small, Luigi proves to be passionate builder & ldquo; altars” which extended into corners of the house as well as in the attic where, imitating the religious, invited to participate brothers and friends.

All’età di 14 years the parish priest Don Hermes Purses directs the Minor Seminary of the Diocese of Parma, but, this first experience seminary, comes to be interrupted, in 1955, by the transfer of the whole family in the Curino (Would)& Nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; To help the family our Luigi plays, for some years, the work of butcher and grocer in the village of Brusnengo, but his desire to be a priest finir & agrave; to bring, irresistibly, in 1958, to return to the path of the Seminar. At first be directed to Anzano del Parco (What) the seminary of the Congregation of the Servant of God Fr Guanella, but then chooses to be a diocesan priest making his high school studies and theology at the major seminary of Vercelli.

As if to confirm a vocation that & ldquo; intended to embrace the whole world & rdquo;, at the end of theological studies, was ordained a priest in Rome, along with numerous other confreres from all continents, the Pope Paolo VI, in a memorable ceremony in date 17 May 1970.

Meanwhile, between the seminary classmates and together with some friends, is the organizer of local & rsquo; initiative to help missionary & ldquo; Operation Mato Grosso & rdquo;, a realization, this,& Nbsp; founded by the Salesian Don Ugo de Censi and, then, a few months after his ordination, part to the leper hospital of Campo Grande,& Nbsp; big city & agrave; State of Mato Grosso in Brazil. There rester & agrave; for 18 months and sar & agrave; this probably l & rsquo; experience Orienter & agrave; throughout his later life. In the leprosarium, Don Luigi is dedicated, without saving, to all the suffering and has the opportunity to receive, in particular, the need & agrave; to devote, in particular young, in order that & eacute; they can have a life project that goes beyond the agrave &; of & rsquo; experience of marginalization that are experiencing.

For them, then, organizes meetings and work experience common, as well & eacute; a better school lunch.

On his return to the diocese, is intended as an assistant pastor at the newly formed parish of & rsquo; Aravecchia” where begins the story of what will become & agrave;, note, the & ldquo; Community & agrave; of & rsquo; Aravecchia” one of the major landmarks of the & rsquo; hospitality and charity & agrave; Vercelli. In 1976 assume l & rsquo; post of rector of the same parish.

The Community & agrave; & Egrave; now numerous and flanked, now, Working in a group of young vercellesi over to the nuns of Santa Maria di Loreto, gi & agrave; in the neighborhood, lead the Nursery School. The project of Don Luigi & egrave; to recover gradually throughout the & rsquo; old & ldquo; casermone” of & rsquo; Aravecchia transforming it from a symbol of degradation and marginalization, in reality & agrave; of welcoming and sharing. The constraints imposed by the properties & agrave; & nbsp; the & nbsp; stable to prevent & ograve;, the continuation, in time, of that & rsquo; initiative for which, Don Luigi decides to build, zero, l & rsquo; building where his dreams and always pi & ugrave; numerous signs of Providence directing the. In 1981 is placed the first stone of the new home of the Community & agrave;, and in & rsquo; August 1984 & nbsp; Don Luigi and his & ldquo; boys” can finally move there and give life to a reality & agrave; education and sharing that will continue & agrave;, in an extremely positive, in time, until today.

Just to cater to the needs & agrave; of guests, as well as a roof and a place at the table, need & nbsp; especially decent work and stable, born, in sequenza, l & rsquo; Association Don Luigi, in 1984, with l & rsquo; intention of giving stability & agrave; all initiatives & nbsp; which are taken as, then: Cooperative, in 1990, that will prove & agrave; a formidable employer for hundreds of people, both the Community & agrave; both in the city & agrave;.

The 28 October 1990 l & rsquo; Arcivescovo Mons. Albino Mensa consecrates the new church of St. Peter the Apostle, work & nbsp; which completes the & rsquo; entire complex began with the House of Communities & agrave;.

Lover of & rsquo, art and beautiful things, with this realization,& Nbsp; Don Luig develops and consolidates a series of contacts and collaborations with the world of art which will announce & agrave;, with the simplicity & agrave; of his life cos & igrave; generously shared,& Nbsp; the charity & agrave; in order that the Gospel & eacute; it becomes a source of inspiration for the creation of works d & rsquo; modern art, current and, above all, expression of the perennial announcement of the Gospels.

Successful partnerships that, in 1999, in the hamlet of Rongio & ldquo; Molin Camillo & rdquo;, Joint Masserano, bring all & rsquo; inauguration of the monumental & Ldquo; Way of the Cross” carried on according to a path that winds along the flow of a & rsquo; ancient canal miller, and that will host & agrave; monumental groups of young artists from Piedmont. Also in the same village is erected delicious chapel dedicated to the Transfiguration and frescoed, with inventiveness and originality & agrave;, according to pi & ugrave; genuine tradition of iconic.

The Community & agrave; of & rsquo; Aravecchia and his House of the Community & agrave;, in those years, becomes a destination, port and refuge, a & rsquo; immigration increasingly & ugrave; large, varied and needy. Next to the house of Vercelli two other partnerships are initiated: at a gi & agrave; quoted Molin Camillo and l & rsquo; else to windlass, under the municipality of Tronzano.

From his tireless dedicating oneself to others is born, in 1998, l & rsquo; Association Rays of the Sun which brings together the parents and relatives of those who lost their loved ones prematurely. With it see the light, pure, many of the latest major initiatives of Don Luigi, among which, in & rsquo; year 2000: the Bell of Life that will see & agrave; its pilgrimage to the & nbsp; Papal blessing in Rome, nonché l’anfiteatro, made around the same bell, and decorated by cast bronze screws that bear the names on the leaves of & ldquo; sun rays” or of the young and the young & nbsp; prematurely disappeared.

Despite all these accomplishments that, one ad prese, denote sufficiently,& Nbsp; as & nbsp; the & ldquo; character is exceptional & rdquo;,& Nbsp; Don Luigi remains, nevertheless, and until the & rsquo; Last, a priest, silent, sedate, all dedicated to the service of the brothers, and below, with love and obedience, guests of his house. A testimony to his extraordinary ability & agrave; to give oneself we like to remember, In addition to his constant visits to prisoners, also something that Don Luigi held daily throughout the & rsquo; course of his priestly life and that has not left clear traces how the activities in agrave; first remember: his tireless visits to the hospital for & nbsp; comfort, encourage, and, is the case, accompany a & rsquo; agony, the, at last, perhaps only a pitifully close our eyes to those who left this world to open them in the house of the Father. This quiet activities & agrave; you & egrave; prematurely interrupted only by his own admission in the hospital at the first onset of the short, but deadly, illness that led him to find, in the splendor of & rsquo; love of the Father preached for a & rsquo; entire life, all eyes that smiled, all the hands that had formed, all the faces on which, always, he had bent smiling with infinite love.

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