Alberto Marvelli

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Loreto, Italy by Pope John Paul II
Major shrineSant'Agostino Church, Rimini, Italy
Feast5 October
AttributesYoung man with a shirt and tie, sometimes holding a book or a rosary
PatronageRoad safety

athletes cyclists footballers politicians youth Catholic Action for bodily purity

against hernias

Alberto Marvelli (21 March 1918 – 5 October 1946) was an

Christian Democrat candidate.[2]

Marvelli's reputation for holiness and his faith led to the cause for his beatification being introduced, and

Loreto.[1]

Life

Alberto Marvelli was born on 21 March 1918 in Ferrara as the second of six children to Luigi Marvelli (a bank clerk) and his wife Maria Mayr.[1]

In his childhood, Marvelli was known for being a thoughtful and reserved individual though with an enthusiastic willingness to aid other people. His mother - who herself worked in charities - was a special influence on his religious formation and often invited the poor to their home. The Marvelli's later moved to Rimini in June 1930.[3] In Rimini, Marvelli attended the Salesian "oratorio" school and was involved with the Catholic Action group in his parish from the age of twelve. One childhood friend of his was the filmmaker Federico Fellini; he loved all kinds of sports and especially cycling. Marvelli's father died unexpectedly on 7 March 1933, leaving his wife to take care of the children alone. It was some months later in October that Marvelli began to keep a spiritual journal.[3][2] In 1936, aged eighteen, he was elected president of the Italian branch of the Catholic Action movement. He continued his studies at the University of Bologna where he graduated in June 1941 with a degree in engineering and began working with the Fiat company in Turin. He left soon after for conscription into the armed forces in Trieste but was exempted from it after a few months on the grounds that two of his brothers were already in service. It was not long after this that he began teaching in a high school.[1]

Throughout World War II he continued to serve the poor at great personal cost and risk to himself. The family was forced to move to Vergiano - seven kilometres from Rimini - because of the devastating air raids. Despite the risk to his own life, after each bombing he would go back to Rimini to help the wounded and those made homeless by the attack.[1] He is known to have given even his bicycle and the shoes off his feet to those most in need. He also gave out food to them as well as mattresses and blankets for their comfort.[3] During the German occupation he saved numerous people from deportation to the concentration camps and he freed them from the carriages of the trains that had been sealed in readiness for leaving the station at Santarcangelo.

Once the war had ended, the interim authorities entrusted to Marvelli the task of housing allocation and he proved an able administrator. Some months later he was appointed to the town council.

Christian Democrats around this point, but died before the elections; people still voted for him, though his mother took his place as a candidate. In 1945 he had joined Luigi Gedda's "Società Operaia".[2]

Marvelli was killed in the evening of 5 October 1946 when a van belonging to the armed forces struck him on a dark road as he cycled to a polling station for an election meeting.[1][3] Since 1 March 1968[2] his remains have rested in the Sant'Agostino Church church in Rimini in a decorated tomb. The then-Prelate of Loreto, Archbishop Angelo Comastri, speaking on Vatican Radio, said that "one can be in politics and be a saint" as shown by Marvelli's life. He also pointed to the way in which Marvelli had shown an level of honesty and integrity in his political activity that is not always found in the political field.

Beatification

A cause was opened for Marvelli on 29 March 1952.

Congregation for the Causes of Saints issued an official declaration of "nihil obstat" (nothing against the cause) and assigned him the title of Servant of God
.

The process of beatification began under

Venerable on 22 March 1986 after Pope John Paul II affirmed that he had lived a life of heroic virtue
.

The miracle for his beatification was investigated conducted by a tribunal of the Archdiocese of Bologna presided over by Cardinal

Loreto
on 5 September 2004.

The miracle that led to his beatification was the healing in August 1991 of a doctor from Bologna named Tito Malfatti of an aggressive hernia. Over 250,000 people attended the beatification celebration.[5][6]

The current

Redemptorist
priest Antonio Marazzo and the current vice-postulator is Fausto Lanfranchi.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Blessed Alberto Marvelli". Saints SQPN. 5 September 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Blessed Alberto Marvelli". Santi e Beati. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Alberto Marvelli (1918-1946)". Vatican News Service. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  4. ^ Index ac status causarum beatificationis servorum dei et canonizationis beatorum (in Latin). Typis polyglottis vaticanis. January 1953. p. 4.
  5. ^ "A Politico who strove for Sanctity". EWTN. 15 July 2003. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  6. ^ "Alberto Marvelli, a Politician of God". Zenit. 5 September 2004. Retrieved 5 October 2017.

Bibliography

External links
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