Pavia Celebrates Luigi Versiglia
This item was written by Fr Savio Silveira (INB)
member of the community in Pavia while studying at the university
there. It could be read in conjunction with #1174 and even #1361
PAVIA: 26th February 2005 -- This year as we
celebrate the centenary of Salesian presence in China, we also had the
privilege of celebrating for the first time the liturgy in honour of
the Salesian Protomartyrs as a 'Feast', on February 25. This double
celebration took on a special significance at Pavia and for good reason
– one of these two great martyrs, indeed the man who led the first
Salesian Missionary Expedition to China in 1906, Luigi Versiglia,
hailed from Pavia.
Luigi Versiglia was born on June 5, 1873 in Oliva Gessi, Pavia. As
a young lad he showed great interest in studies, especially
mathematics, and hence many believed that he would some day grow up to
be a renowned professor at the famous University of Pavia. But all
this was to change when Luigi, at the age of 12, entered Don Bosco's
Oratory in Turin in 1885. Ten years later he was ordained a priest and
in 1906 led the Salesians to China.
Oliva Gessi is a tiny village nestled in the Pavia hills. Today it
has just 198 inhabitants. At the entrance to the village a board
announces: ‘Oliva Gessi: Birth place of St. Luigi Versiglia’. It is
but natural that Luigi Versiglia has become the central figure in the
history of this little village. The descendants of the Versiglia
family, who continue to live here, recount to us with pride incidents
from Bishop Versiglia's life, his return to Oliva Gessi in March 1922
as Bishop, and the arrival of the news of his martyrdom in 1930. “My
mother was a young girl then and actually met Bishop Versiglia when he
was here in 1922”, Don Pino, current parish priest of Oliva Gessi,
tells us. His good mother is now 100 years and 4 months old!
The solemn festive Eucharistic Celebration was held at 9.00 p.m.,
in the parish church dedicated to San Martino. A grand statue of
Versiglia with a little Chinese boy by his side stands prominently in
the sanctuary, while a huge picture of him hangs over the altar. Don
Maurilio Biella, Rector of the Salesian House at Pavia, was the main
celebrant at the Eucharist. In his truly inspiring homily, Don
Maurilio recalled the great apostolate of Versiglia in the missions in
China, and the fruit that it has now borne. Oliva Gessi is clearly a
village in love with China – even the little altar-girls who looked
sleepy, probably because of the late hour at which the mass was
celebrated, sit up straight every time China is mentioned. “After the
World Youth Day in Germany last year, three groups of Chinese
youngsters came here to visit us”, the people tell us after the mass.
“Don’t forget that Oliva Gessi still has a responsibility towards
China” Don Maurilio reminded them!
Pavia has a rich tradition of holiness. Several ‘Pavesi’ and more
than a dozen of its former bishops, have been raised to the altars.
Besides these ‘local saints’, other important saints associated with
Pavia are St. Martin of Tours who spent his childhood here (his father
was an officer in the Roman army and was transferred to Pavia), and
while at Pavia learnt about Christianity, felt drawn to it, and became
a catechumen; and St. Augustine of Hippo whose tomb is at Pavia. On a
more recent note, the Cause of Beatification of Don Enzo Boschetti
(1929 – 1993), a Pavesi and founder of the ‘Home for Youngsters’, was
opened on February 15, 2006, at the Basilica of S. Salvatore, Pavia.
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