Stubborn determination and a competitive spirit could bring a boy many places. They could spur him on to bring his team to victory; they could drive him to study hard in school; they could get him and his friends into trouble…. But rarely do we think about these qualities helping a boy strive for sainthood, as they did for Maggiorino Vigolungo.
Maggiorino was born on a farm in Benevello d’Alba, Italy, on May 6, 1904. His family was hard working and devout. They loved Maggiorino and provided for him, sending him to school and teaching him about the faith.
As a child, Maggiorino was lively, intelligent, determined, and very competitive. He aimed to be at the top of his class, and in sports he played to win. These qualities not only showed his drive to be the best; they also led him closer to God. As determined as he was in the classroom and on the ball field, he was equally determined to love Christ in whatever way he could.
One cold winter day, young Maggiorino was faced with the prospect of a nearly nine-mile walk to the nearest church. He hadn’t the proper clothing to keep warm, but was determined to receive Jesus in the Eucharist. So, he trudged the entire way in the freezing cold and arrived with numb hands, legs, and feet. Someone at the parish offered him a cup of hot milk to warm him up, but Maggiorino refused, because in those days people had to fast from midnight before receiving Holy Communion.
Maggiorino faithfully served his parish church as a choir member and altar boy. It was as an altar server that he met Father Alberione, who soon became his confessor and spiritual director. The young priest shared with the boy his enthusiastic dream of establishing a school for “the good press,” which would publish the teachings of Jesus and send them out far and wide. Father Alberione’s dream captured Maggiorino’s heart. When he was twelve, the boy entered Father Alberione’s school. It was called the “Typographical School of the Little Worker,” and its purpose was to teach boys how to become apostles of the Good Press.
Maggiorino entered the school with all the faults and difficulties of a typical adolescent, but with an enthusiasm and drive for holiness that were amazing in someone so young. He announced to Father Alberione his three great aspirations in life: to become holy quickly, to become a priest, and to be a good apostle of the good press. Humbly recognizing where he was in relation to his goal, he did not resolve to become perfect overnight. Instead, he took as his motto: “A little progress every day.”
At the typographical school, which would soon officially become the Society of St. Paul, Maggiorino made many friends, for he was surrounded by other boys who also wanted to dedicate their lives to sharing Jesus and his teachings with the world. Maggiorino learned how to run the printing machines and studied attentively under Father Alberione, Father Timothy Giaccardo, and Canon Chiesa. Most importantly, he dedicated his prayer and his life to knowing and loving God more and more. He said that his Pauline vocation was “the most beautiful of all gifts.” He made great progress as he threw his whole heart into all the ordinary tasks of life at the school.
But at age fourteen Maggiorino developed meningitis and became extremely ill. Worried sick, his friends prayed for him fervently. As the boy’s condition worsened, Father Alberione had him taken home so that he could be with his family. During Maggiorino’s last days, Father Alberione himself went to be with him. When he asked the boy if he wanted to get better or go to heaven, Maggiorino replied that he wanted “to do the will of God.” His last words were to Father Alberione: “Greet all my companions for me; tell them to pray for me and that we’ll see each other again in heaven.” He passed away moments later, on July 27, 1918.
Maggiorino’s energy, determination, and love for God left a lasting legacy to the members of the Pauline family. After his death, Father Alberione declared him the patron of all Pauline aspirants. The boy’s remains were buried at the Pauline family’s Temple of St. Paul in Alba. Maggiorino’s cousin became a member of the Society of St. Paul. As Brother Spirito Maggiorino, he served as a missionary of the press in France for fifty years. Maggiorino’s best friend at the school, Bartolomeo Marcellino, became a Pauline priest and journeyed to the Far East, establishing Pauline communities in Asia. Never forgetting his friend, he shared Maggiorino’s story with others throughout his life.
Paulines around the world continue to look to Maggiorino for intercession and inspiration.
Maggiorino was proclaimed Venerable on March 28, 1988.
