Blessed Luigi Variara

1875 - 1923

February 1

Son of Peter Variara who had been brought to a deep devotion to the Church following a mission conducted by Saint John Bosco. A student in a Salesian school, he met John Bosco as a young man. Joined the Salesians in August 1891, making his vows in 1892.

In 1894 he joined a Salesian mission to leper colonies in Colombia. Ordained in Colombia. Founded a small town to raise the children of the outcast lepers. Spiritual director of the Sodality of the Children of Mary. Founded the Daughters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Colombia in 1905, a congregation that included the daughters of lepers, girls who were drawn to religious life, but had trouble being accepted by other orders; it received official recognition on 24 December 1983.

After a brief visit to his family in home town, he returned to work in Bogota, Agua de Dios, and Caribbean Barranquilla. Toward the end of his life his health began to give way, and the only thing that kept him going were the hours he spent in Eucharistic devotion and prayer.

Born:  15 January 1875 at Viarigi (Asti), Italy
Died:  1 February 1923 in Colombia of natural causes
Beatified:  14 April 2002 by Pope John Paul II
Canonized:  pending