Blessed Serafino Morazzone

Serafino Morazzone was born in Milan in 1747, the third of four children of Francesco and Anna Maria Saldarini. Poverty and grief were the family's constant companions; his mother died four days before his Confirmation in 1760. Unable to afford the diocesan seminary, he was received among the clerics who served the many daily Masses in Milan Cathedral, spending his mornings at the altar and his afternoons at theological study while still supporting his family. When the parish of the Madonna Assunta at Chiuso near Lecco fell vacant, a small and poor parish of fewer than two hundred farmers and fishermen, he did not hesitate: newly ordained, he went there at once and celebrated his first Mass the following day. He spent forty-nine years of ministry in that parish, scrupulously obedient to his superiors and above all to the obligation of residence, never leaving except for retreats and clergy meetings, not even for his own father's funeral. His confessional was so crowded that he gave nights to it, and those who saw him celebrate Mass were struck by his devotion.