The Life of Saint Guido Maria Conforti

In You, o Lord, I place my Trust

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Bishop Guido Maria Conforti in 1928, at his return from a three-months visit of the Xaverian Missionaries in China

The day was November 5th, 1931. It was the day that saw the death of Bishop Guido Maria Conforti. And two families were mourning his loss: the diocese of Parma, Italy, who had Bishop Conforti as a shepherd for 24 years, and the Xaverian Missionaries, whom he founded some 36 years earlier.

Some of the living eyewitnesses of that event remember the person of Conforti as humble figure of that time, and recall the many times he said goodbye to many people, just to show his great human virtues, and how much he was loved. The first of these departure talks happened in 1928 on the banks of the Yellow River in China. He was there to fulfill a childhood dream, to be in mission lands, and visit his missionaries present there. His gentle smile and his melancholic look captured the esteem of the Chinese people who greeted him as “the great bishop.” As soon as he entered the Cathedral of Cheng Chow, he started singing in a loud voice “Te Deum”, a hymn of thanksgiving to God, for he could finally see the crowning of his missionary vocation in the ministry of his own missionary sons. At the end of that memorable visit to China, he prayed “In You, o Lord, I place my trust. I will never be let down. O Lord, I have seen your work! Now, let your servant go in peace!”

The Xaverians who followed him, that second generation of missionaries, remember him briefly through a photo taken during the wintry Tran Siberian trip back home. He is wearing a Chinese hat, a smile that illumines his face, and two wide eyes that speak of a greater future. As a dedicated Christian, Guido Conforti describes in his own words the blessings God had in store for him, making him a saint of that time, and an optimist in the midst of pain. “These are troubling times, but the Book of Wonders of God is not close shut. The most beautiful blessings are those received in every heart by the Grace from above.”

Bishop Guido Maria Conforti in 1930, on his way to visiting parishes in the Berceto area, Parma

Another photo that speaks a thousand words is from 1930. Bishop Conforti is on a mountain path, riding a horse, as he blesses with his right hand the people who have gathered to greet him, during a pastoral visit. It was his fifth pastoral visit to his own parishes, some 300 of them. This last tour of visits could have gone wrong indeed, for he lost blood in one of the parishes. The doctors told him to take a break, by he replied: “A bishop needs to be in the front lines.”

At the end of the Summer of 1931, Bishop Conforti made a quick visit to his young students of the seminary who were camping on the Apennines mountains, and with humor he encouraged them: “I would like to do the same things you do, and live your wild life.”

A couple of months later, on the feast of Christ the King (Oct. 25, 1931), the Bishop and Founder made his last visit to the Xaverian seminary, and then returned back to his Episcopal house to die, a simple house close to the Cathedral.

As soon as the antique bell of the Cathedral began ringing, the people of Parma understood that his death was fast approaching, and started forming long lines for a last quick visit with their beloved shepherd. After his profession of faith, he was heard saying on his deathbed “Lord, save my clergy and my people from the errors and the unbelief of this world.” More than 50,000 came to see him on his last days. At his funeral, those who were fighting beyond the river Parma, longed to see their “Holy Bishop.”

Guido Maria Conforti, bishop of Parma, was first buried in his Cathedral, but then in 1942, as founder of the Xaverians, his body was brought to the Motherhouse of the Xaverian Missionaries.

At the anniversaries of his death, the diocese and the Xaverians came to know more and more how profound was the impact of Bishop Conforti not only to them, but to the worldwide Church. The gift and holiness of Bishop Conforti became known through the years after his death, and found fulfillment in the Beatification Ceremony by Pope John Paul II, which took place at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on March 17th, 1996. Sharing his message with the whole church, Pope John Paul II expressed in these words the life of Saint Guido Maria Conforti.

“God’s divine Providence wanted that Conforti would experience on one side the energy and urgency of mission, and on the other the total responsibility of shepherding a local church. This missionary thrust brought many fruits in Conforti through to the grace of God. In fact, the whole Church of today recognizes in his life a bright example of missionary outlook which is both pastoral and Catholic, constituted by the constant and balanced cooperation between communion and mission, between care of the community and evangelization of those who are not yet part of the Church.”

There are many other images and paintings of Saint Guido Maria Conforti that normally don’t show the dramatic events he endured. His facial expressions make him appear as if he is not of this world. Meanwhile, if we look at his life, we find out with how much passion he applied himself, how far reaching were his objectives, and how strenuous was his ministry. In the midst of unusual difficulties and sufferings, Saint Conforti placed his “small stone for the building of the church, of which Christ is the corner stone.”

Which are the inspiring thoughts and personal motivations that guaranteed continuity of his undertaking? It is written “holiness is not something that happens once in a great while, nor it is visible in great events; holiness if found in the continuous flow of love.” The spiritual life of Conforti is a hymn to the faithfulness of God who never ceases to call us, so that we become instruments of salvation for all.

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