33 Facts About Michele Rua

Michele Rua was an Italian Catholic priest and professed member of the Salesians of Don Bosco.

Michele Rua served as the first Rector Major of the Salesians following Bosco's death in 1888.

Michele Rua was responsible for the expansion of the Salesians and the order had grown to a significant degree around the world at the time he died.

Michele Rua served as a noted spiritual director and leader for the Salesians known for his austerities and rigid adherence to the rule.

The process of Michele Rua's beatification opened after his death and resulted in Michele Rua being beatified by Pope Paul VI in 1972.

Michele Rua was born in Turin on 9 June 1837 in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Turin.

Michele Rua was the last of nine children to Giovanni Battista and Giovanna Maria Michele Rua.

Michele Rua lived with his widowed mother in their apartment in the warehouse which she was able to keep and where she would begin work.

Michele Rua's father was widowed with five children prior to his marriage to Rua's mother.

Michele Rua attended a school that the Brothers of the Christian Schools managed.

Michele Rua was among the first with whom Bosco had shared his idea of founding a religious congregation and he joined the "oratorio" on 22 September 1852 to finish his education.

One morning in 1847 Bosco was handing medals to passing children and extended his open left hand to Michele Rua and made the gesture with his other hand of cutting the left in half and offering it to Michele Rua.

Michele Rua responded that it depended on his mother's word to which Bosco asked him to ask her.

Michele Rua's mother approved him continuing his studies and he informed Bosco he would continue his studies.

Michele Rua told Bosco that "next it's me" though Bosco assured him that he would live for another five decades.

Michele Rua made his first profession on 25 March 1855 in the new Societa di San Francesco de Sales which Bosco was then forming; Michele Rua was among its first members.

The death of Don Bosco's mother in 1856 prompted Michele Rua to bring his own mother to live at the oratory where she remained for the next two decades.

Michele Rua served as the first spiritual director for the congregation from 1859 even before his ordination to the priesthood which was celebrated on 29 July 1860; Monsignor Giovanni Balma ordained him.

Michele Rua returned to Turin in 1865 to serve as the Valdocco vice-rector and later as the manager for the "Letture Cattoliche".

Michele Rua made his final profession on 15 November 1865.

Michele Rua was involved in the formation of new candidates and was the first director for the Salesian Sisters which had been founded in 1872.

Michele Rua was a constant companion of Bosco on his trips and became the vicar for the congregation in 1865.

Michele Rua was designated as Rector Major in 1888 after Bosco's death and met with Leo XIII after in a private audience.

Leo XIII advised Michele Rua to hold off on the order's expansion until he could consolidate the foundation that Bosco had worked to build.

Michele Rua was nicknamed as "The Living Rule" due to his austerity and his strict adherence to the rule; he was known for his tender approach and thoughtfulness to people.

Michele Rua made frequent visits to Salesian houses in Europe and in the Middle East and made constant referrals to the example of the late Bosco.

Michele Rua visited England for the first time in 1893, USA in winter 1897 and visited both Algeria and Portugal in 1899.

Michele Rua visited Jerusalem and Palestine in 1908 and to Austria.

Michele Rua died at the age of 73 on 6 April 1910 at 9:30am after having been ill since the fall in 1909; his remains are housed in Turin in the Basilica di Nostra Signora Aiuto dei Cristiani.

Michele Rua's tenure saw the Salesian Society grow from 773 to 4000 Salesians, from 57 to 345 communities, from 6 to 34 Provinces in 33 countries around the world.

The formal introduction to the cause came under Pope Pius XI on 15 January 1936 and Michele Rua became titled as a Servant of God.

Michele Rua became Venerable on 26 June 1953 after Pope Pius XII confirmed his life of heroic virtue.

Michele Rua made the example of Don Bosco into a school, his Rule into a spirit, his holiness into a model; he made a spring into a river.