Marcantonio Durando

After an initial five-year ministry in Casale Monferrato, Father Durando was assigned in 1829 to the house in Turin, of which he became superior in 1831. In 1837, at only 36 years of age, he was appointed Visitor (Provincial Superior) of the Northern Italy Province of the Congregation of the Mission, a position he would hold for 43 years until his death. His work unfolded primarily around concrete charity and the organization of relief for the most destitute: the introduction of the Daughters of Charity in Northern Italy in 1833, the creation of a network of charity centers called "Misericordie" in Turin, active support for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, and the inauguration of the Brignole-Sale College in Genoa in 1855. His major work remains the foundation, on November 21, 1865, of the Company of the Passion of Jesus of Nazareth (today called the Nazarene Sisters of the Passion), in collaboration with the Servant of God Luigia Borgiotti, to welcome young women desirous of consecrating themselves to God but excluded by the strict canonical criteria of the time.

Father Marcantonio Durando passed away in Turin on December 10, 1880, at the age of 79. His reputation for holiness was such that the cause for beatification was opened in Turin as early as 1928 (informative process from 1928 to 1930). The apostolic process began in Rome in 1940, following the official introduction of the cause on March 23, 1941, under the pontificate of Pius XII. On July 1, 2000, Pope John Paul II promulgated the decree recognizing the heroic nature of his virtues, conferring upon him the title of Venerable.

Father Marcantonio Durando was beatified on October 20, 2002, by Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, on the occasion of World Mission Day. The miracle accepted for his beatification was the healing of Maria Stella Ingianni (wife of Vottero), which occurred in Turin in 1932. After giving birth at home on November 28, 1932, this young woman was seized by violent convulsions due to severe postpartum eclampsia, before falling into a deep coma deemed hopeless by the doctors. Her family and the Nazarene Sisters then began a novena of prayers invoking the intercession of Father Durando. On the morning of November 29, at the end of the novena, the patient suddenly emerged from the coma and recovered completely within a few days. This sudden, total, lasting, and scientifically inexplicable healing was formally approved by the Consulta Medica of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on February 19, 2001, paving the way for the decree of beatification signed on December 20, 2001.

Nicknamed the "second Saint Vincent de Paul of Italy," Father Durando lived a deeply Christocentric spirituality, centered on the contemplation of the crucified Christ and the service of the poor, considered as the suffering members of Jesus. His spiritual legacy remains alive through the Congregation of the Mission and the Nazarene Sisters of the Passion. The latter, affiliated with the Daughters of Charity since 1901, have extended their work beyond Italy, notably to Madagascar where they founded their first mission in 1967 under the impetus of Father Giuseppe Archetto. Today, they manage dispensaries, leper colonies, schools, and orphanages there. The body of Blessed Marcantonio Durando rests in the "Santuarietto della Passione," adjoining the Church of the Visitation in Turin.