14 Facts About Filippo Smaldone

Filippo Smaldone was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and the founder of the Salesian Sisters of the Sacred Hearts.

Filippo Smaldone was a gifted preacher known for his commitment to proper catechesis and to the care of orphans and the mute, which earned him civic recognition.

Filippo Smaldone was born in Naples in 1848 as the first of seven children to Antonio Smaldone and Maria Concetta De Luca.

Filippo Smaldone made his First Communion in 1858 and received his Confirmation in 1862.

Filippo Smaldone almost failed the examination for minor orders because he did not want to abandon his apostolate for his studies.

Filippo Smaldone was made a subdeacon on 31 July 1870 and ordained a deacon on 27 March 1871.

Filippo Smaldone was ordained to the priesthood on 23 September 1871.

Filippo Smaldone asked to give up teaching in favor of going to the foreign missions.

Filippo Smaldone almost died of cholera when it struck the area in 1884, and he credited his survival to the Madonna.

Filippo Smaldone opened several other branches of his order in 1897 in both Rome and Bari.

Filippo Smaldone founded both the Eucharistic League of Priest Adorers and the Eucharistic League of Women Adorers to promote the Eucharist and he served for a brief period of time as the superior of the Missionaries of Saint Francis de Sales.

Filippo Smaldone died on 4 June 1923 at 9:00 pm from diabetes-related complications combined with heart difficulties.

Filippo Smaldone's remains were later relocated in 1942 to the order's motherhouse.

Pope John Paul II declared Filippo Smaldone to be Venerable on 11 July 1995 after the pope confirmed that the priest had indeed lived a model Christian life of heroic virtue.