Enrico Rebuschini

After regaining his balance, Enrico dedicated himself to visiting and caring for the sick. His confessor directed him toward the Order of Ministers of the Infirm (the Camillians), founded by Saint Camillus de Lellis. On September 27, 1887, at the age of 27, he entered the Camillian novitiate in Verona.

Thanks to a special dispensation granted due to his previous studies, he was ordained a priest on April 14, 1889, by Msgr. Giuseppe Sarto, then Bishop of Mantua and future Pope Saint Pius X. He made his perpetual vows on December 8, 1891.

From 1891 to 1899, Father Rebuschini exercised his ministry in Verona. He was first vice-master of novices and a theology teacher, then chaplain of the city's military (1890-1895) and civil (1896-1899) hospitals.

On May 1, 1899, he was transferred to Cremona, to the San Camillo clinic and nursing home, where he would spend the rest of his life. In Cremona, he assumed important administrative and spiritual responsibilities: - He was appointed chaplain to the Daughters of Saint Camillus on December 21, 1903. - He served as bursar (financial administrator) of the community and the clinic for 34 years (until 1937). - He was superior of the Cremona community for 11 years (spread over three distinct periods).

Despite his administrative duties, he remained above all a nurse and a consoler for the sick, whom he affectionately called the "sick lords." He spent long hours at the bedside of the suffering and in the confessional, offering invaluable spiritual and moral support.

The life of Father Enrico Rebuschini was marked by a constant spiritual and psychological struggle. Subject to regular relapses of nervous depression, often linked to his perfectionist and scrupulous temperament, he managed to transform this fragility into a deep empathy for those who suffer in body and spirit.

He lived a holiness described as "feriale" (everyday), characterized by humility, gentleness, discretion, and absolute fidelity to ordinary duties. His reputation for holiness spread widely during his lifetime in Cremona, where the inhabitants affectionately called him the "Padrino santo" (the holy godfather).

Afflicted by bronchopneumonia, he died in serenity and abandonment to Providence on May 10, 1938, in Cremona, at the age of 78.

After his death, popular devotion to him continued to grow. The ordinary informative process for his beatification was opened by the Bishop of Cremona and took place from 1947 to 1958.

On July 11, 1995, Pope John Paul II promulgated the decree recognizing the heroic nature of his virtues, declaring him venerable.

Following the official recognition of a scientifically inexplicable healing attributed to his intercession, Father Enrico Rebuschini was beatified on May 4, 1997, by Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican. During the ceremony, the Holy Father highlighted his extraordinary love for the Eucharist and his constant devotion to the sick.

The spirituality of Blessed Enrico Rebuschini is based on intimate union with the suffering Christ and boundless charity toward one's neighbor. His ideal of life, recorded in his personal notes, was to "consume one's own being to give God to one's neighbor, seeing in them the very face of the Lord."

He drew his strength from prolonged Eucharistic adoration and constant prayer. His life shows that holiness is accessible amidst psychological trials and human limitations.

Today, Blessed Enrico Rebuschini is particularly invoked as a patron saint and protector of those suffering from depression and mental illness. His mortal remains rest in the chapel of the San Camillo clinic in Cremona (via Mantova), where many pilgrims come to seek his intercession.