Foundation

After a long and delicate discernment, on March 19th 1873, St Leonard Murialdo, recognizing God’s will, founds the “Congregation of St Joseph”, carrying out the project he had inherited from theol. Pier Giuseppe Berizzi, we preceded him as rector in the Collegio Artigianelli.

On that day, Wednesday of the third week of Lent and feast of St Joseph, in the chapel of the Collegio Artigianelli, named after the same saint, at 9,15 a.m., after a time of preparation and intense prayer, theol. Leonard Murialdo, Fr. Giulio Costantino, Fr. Eugenio Reffo and Fr. Sebastiano Mussetti and the clerics Marcello Pagliero and Pier Giuseppe Milanese gather to begin, with the approval of mgr. Lorenzo Gastaldi, archbishop of Turin, the “Congregation of St Joseph”.

After the celebration of the holy Mass, Murialdo spoke shortly on the importance of the act they were going to do and, having recited the Veni Creator, all, starting from Murialdo, made the religious profession pronouncing the formula appositely prepared. Then the minutes of the foundation were read and signed by the six professed and also two witnesses, theol. Pier Giuseppe Berizzi and theol. Roberto Murialdo. After that a golden heart was hung on the painting of St Joseph as a sign of gratefulness for the foundation that had happened . The rite ended with the recitation of the Te Deum.

In the afternoon the six members of the congregation went to the Shrine of Our Lady “Consolata” to give thanks to the Virgin Mary and at evening, in the same chapel of St Joseph, the first meeting was held, during which Murialdo was elected as superior general of the congregation, and some practical decisions were taken.

This is the origin of the congregation and in this way it began the first steps of a journey that will bring it, through the overcoming of not so few difficulties, to grow in number of members and institutions for the good of many youth.