VINCENZO GROSSI was born in Pizzighettone (Cremona), on 9 March 1845, the second to last child of parents rich in faith and human values. A er receiving Jesus for the rst time in the Eucha- rist, the young Vincenzo expressed his intention to enter the semi- nary, attracted by the priestly vocation. For family reasons he was forced to postpone his plans in order to labour in his father’s mill, combining this work with his commitment to study. He did all this resolutely and joyfully, awaiting “God’s time”. He entered the seminary on 4 November 1864 and was ordained a priest on 22 May 1869.

A er several initial pastoral experiences, he was appointed parish priest of Régona (a district of pizzighettone) and then of Vicobellignano (Cremona), where he remained for thirty-four years. Battling the ignorance and poverty typical of the Lombard towns of the late nineteenth century, he worked especially with young children, whom he lodged, taught and trained to acknowledge their dignity as children of God. He chose a life of poverty and solidarity with those most in need. Union with Christ, priest and Victim, the hallmark of his mission and spirituality, made of him a man of apostolic zeal and deep prayer. He was distinguished by outstanding orthodoxy and delity to the pope. He o en preached in other towns in an e ort to dispel ignorance of religion. In Vicobellignano he demonstrated an ecumenical spirit in his dealings with a protestant community, marked by respect, frankness and love for all.

“Deeply impressed” by the “great material and moral poverty of young women”, he laid the foundations of the Institute of the Daughters of the Oratory.

Vincenzo Grossi died in Vicobellignano on 7 November 1917. a Rite of Beatification was celebrated in Rome on 1 November 1975.

He was canonized as a Saint of the Roman Catholic Church on 18 October 2015.