Blessed Giovanni Merlini, example of life

Today, Blessed Giovanni Merlini wants to speak to our lives through his example and witness of holiness. We highlight some aspects of his life that help us also to seek the path of holiness for our own lives, based on the homily of Cardinal Semeraro during his beatification in Rome on January 12, 2025.

Man of prayer: “The Lord had endowed him with the gift of prayer: a prayer that in him normally turned into contemplation. One of the witnesses declared: “I shouted asking permission to enter and he did not answer me. I entered the room, approached him as he was praying the Office and found him as if in ecstasy, unaware of anything, and therefore I felt obliged to leave the room astonished and unable to say anything to him. I want to testify that his face was smiling and beautiful, something out of the ordinary. (Summ. 129, p.45).”

A man of action and apostleship: He possessed many gifts and a great missionary zeal, which was one of his virtues. That is why Saint Gaspar held him in high esteem.

Man with leadership skills: He possessed “excellent governing qualities, especially endowed with the virtue of prudence… he exercised the virtue of prudence in a truly extraordinary way: he studied situations, consulted, and intervened, adapting himself to them, especially in difficult decisions he used charity towards people. (Cf. Summ. 492-495, pp. 191-192).”

A man who combined the virtues of Martha and Mary: It is surprising “the recognition of the link between the two traditional ways of life: the “contemplative” and the other called “active”… Martha and Mary show us the way. If we want to savor life with joy, we must combine these two attitudes: on the one hand, “being at the feet” of Jesus, to listen to Him as He reveals to us the secret of all things; on the other, being attentive and ready in hospitality, when He passes by and knocks on our door, with the face of a friend who needs a moment of comfort and fraternity” (Angelus, July 21, 2019). Blessed Merlini also practiced this “hospitality.” “Faced with every need and want,” declares one of the witnesses, ”it was enough to turn to him, sure that he would offer all his readiness and interest to help, as if it were something of his own, or even better” (Summ. 583, p. 228).”

Man who accompanies and guides:  In his life, we find a profound "friendship that he maintained above all with his brothers in the religious family and with the people who had entrusted themselves to him for guidance and spiritual accompaniment." The figures of St. Gaspar del Bufalo and St. Maria de Matias are emblematic.

Let us pray with Blessed Giovanni   “Let us pray fervently and insistently to our beloved Jesus that He may apply to us the fruits of His divine Blood. Thus He will make us partakers of His own spirit: a spirit of perfection for us, a spirit of zeal for the honor of God, a spirit of charity for the health of souls; a spirit, finally, that will make us irrefutable ministers of the divine presence… May Jesus assist us and guide us, may Jesus lead us to obtain His holy spirit and make us persevere in Him” (Circular Letter of 1862).

 “You have detached me from my homeland, my relatives, my friends, worldly possessions, and everything that wretched humanity can attract, to take possession of my whole heart, my whole soul… My God, I realize that you want me to be holy. Blessed be you a thousand times! My life is yours: I give it to you entirely and without reservation. I no longer want to live according to my desires, but I want to be yours, all yours and always yours. Dispose of me as you wish.”.