Blessed Timothy Giaccardo

Timothy Giaccardo was born in Narzole, Italy, on June 13, 1896. Soon after his confirmation in 1908 he met Fr. James Alberione. Trusting in the spiritual direction he received from Alberione, he entered the seminary of Alba and then, in 1917, joined the newly-formed Society of St. Paul, soon becoming the first to be ordained in the new congregation.

His love for the Blessed Mother; his prayerfulness, gentleness and humility; his strong self-discipline, great faith, and ability to overcome very difficult circumstances enabled him to collaborate with Fr. Alberione so effectively that Alberione was moved to call him "most faithful of the faithful."

With untiring perseverance, Father Giaccardo worked for the ecclesial approval of the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master, a complicated and difficult task for which he offered his life. Shortly after the approval was granted, Fr. Timothy entered into eternal life. Declared blessed by John Paul II, Father Giaccardo's Feast Day is October 22.

"In the face of a world in which the faith encounters difficulties and insidious ideas of every kind which threaten the survival of many souls, Timothy Giaccardo, the first disciple of Father Alberione, interpreted fidelity to his own priestly vocation as proclaiming the Gospel through the press, thereby having an even broader and deeper effect on his brothers and sisters. Thus he proposed to spread the Gospel and the Church's teaching through the modern means of social communication, which he saw as the principal and typical apostolate of the modern world. All this was to be in absolute fidelity to the Church's magisterium, in a spiritual life nourished daily through Eucharistic adoration and devotion to Our Lady, in the persuasive meekness which made him so beloved by the entire Pauline Family. Today, seventy-five years after its foundation, this Family finds in him a model in continuing the mission entrusted to it by Father Alberione." (From the homily of John Paul II during the Beatification Mass)

Pioneers of the Pauline Family | Venerable James Alberione | Blessed Timothy Giaccardo
Venerable Thecla Merlo | Mother Paula Cordero | Venerable Maggiorino Vigolungo
Venerable Andrew Borello | Venerable Francis Chiesa | Servant of God Mother Scholastica