Blessed Mario Ciceri

Mario Ciceri was born on 8 September 1900 at Veduggio near Milan, the fourth of six children of Luigi Ciceri and Colomba Vimercati, in a household that also held his uncle's thirteen children. His mother, active and devout, taught him love, service of neighbour, work, simplicity and prayer. At eight he told his parish priest that he wanted to be a priest, and his family, though poor, consented gladly; scholarships allowed him to continue his schooling and then to keep himself in seminary. He studied at the Collegio Gervasoni at Valnegra, took the clerical habit in 1912 at the minor seminary of Seveso, and after the Collegio Rotondi at Gorla Minore read theology at the major seminary in Milan. He was ordained in Milan Cathedral on 14 June 1924 and that same year became assistant priest at Sant'Antonino Martire in Brentana di Sulbiate, where he served for many years.

His spirituality rested on a simple, robust faith fed by the Eucharist and by prayer; devoted to Our Lady, he promoted the Lourdes grotto in the oratory, revived the oratory itself, instituted a daily schoolboys' Mass and gathered theatre companies and music courses for the young.