Education Leonardo Murialdo was born on 26 October 1828 in
Turin as the seventh of nine children to the
upper middle-class Leonardo Franchino Murialdo (1776 or 1777-15.06.1833) and Teresa Rho (c. 1795-9.07.1849). His father - a
stockbroker - died in 1833 during his childhood. His nickname as a child was "Nadino". Before him, six sisters were born and after him, his brother and sister; his siblings were (in order): Elder - • Olimpia • Aurelia • Dionisia • Emilia • Clementine (died in her childhood) • Domitillia Younger - • Ernesto • Delfina (1830-???) Murialdo received his
baptism on 27 October in the San Dalmazzo parish church. In 1836, both he and his brother Ernesto were sent to the
Piarist boarding school (Scolopian College) in
Savona which he attended until 1843; the pair arrived via coach on 27 October in the evening after having departed Turin on 25 October. His initial education there lasted until 1838 while he began his high school education there from 1838 until 1843. He studied the humanities and grammar and two of his educators were the priests Atanasio Canata and Giovanni Solari. But he felt a deep personal crisis from 1842 to 1843 due to his fellow pupils' poor behaviour and tendencies. He and his brother returned to Turin in September 1843 where he made his first Confession to the
abbot Pullini. On 3 November 1843, he returned to Savona to begin a philosophical course but also chose ancient historical sciences to avoid bad companions that had forced his earlier departure from the school. In spring 1844 he listened to the
Capuchin friar Vincenzo Oliva give a
Lenten sermon about Hell which had a profound impact on Murialdo to the point where he decided to consecrate himself to
God. He decided he wanted to become a Capuchin in the spirit of detachment though the
canon Lorenzo Renaldi - a close friend - dissuaded Murialdo and suggested he just become a diocesan priest instead. Murialdo's confessor during his time in Savona was
Marcantonio Durando; Durando would be the one leading him in a spiritual retreat in preparation for his
ordination. He completed his philosophical course (which he commenced in 1843) on 6 November 1845 and was then vested in the
cassock for the first time after the abbot Pullini blessed the cassock in the Santa Chiara church once Murialdo began his ecclesial studies. Murialdo later wrote that "he never had a thought" about becoming a priest. Upon his return to Turin he began his ecclesial studies in 1845 at
the college (as an external cleric student) there. He never believed he would become a priest and it was believed that his brother Ernesto would do so. In his childhood, he wanted to pursue a career in the armed forces while in Savona entertaining notions of learning
civil law. During his philosophical course, he set himself on becoming an
engineer. He began a theological course in Turin from 1845 to 1850 as an external clerical student and his two tutors during this time were the theologians Augusto Berta and Pietro Baricco. His academic course ended on 8 May 1850 and he received excellent results.
Priesthood He received his ordination to the
priesthood on 20 September 1851 in the Church of the Visitation from
Monsignor Giovanni Domenico Ceretti; the latter also made Murialdo a subdeacon (21 September 1850) and a
deacon (5 April 1851). He celebrated his first Mass at San Dalmazzo church with abbot Maximo Pullini and canon Lorenzo Renaldi co-celebrating alongside him. Murialdo's first focus after his ordination was to work in the poor Vanchiglia neighbourhood close to the Oratorio dell'Angelo Custode which his cousin Roberto Murialdo managed. It was one of the first oratories in Turin to minister to poor and abandoned children on the fringes of living. From 1857 until 1865 he was - at the request of John Bosco, the director for the Oratorio di San Luigi. Murialdo conferred and collaborated with Don Bosco as well as
Joseph Cafasso. On 28 September 1865, he left Turin and went to the
Saint-Sulpice church in
Paris to further his theological studies in moral matters and to further himself in
canon law. It was during this time that he attended a conference of the
Vincentians and later visited
London. In Paris, he wanted to become a
Sulpician but the superior Henri Icard dissuaded him from this. Murialdo returned to Turin in October 1866 and was put in charge of the Artigianelli Boarding School where adolescent men were educated and taught a trade. In 1870 he became the director of the Oratorio di San Martino. In 1871 he organized the Union of Catholic Workers on behalf of the women and other people who worked in factories. In 1871 he also was among the promoters of the popular Catholic libraries. In 1858 he met
Pope Pius IX in a private audience after Bosco wanted Murialdo to go with him to meet the pontiff. In 1873 he established the Congregation of Saint Joseph in honour of
Saint Joseph as a model for
labourers and did this with
Eugenio Reffo as his collaborator in this venture. He conferred with Father Icard and the theologian William Blengio to discuss his dream while also conferring with the
Bishop of Alba Eugenio Roberto Galletti and the
Archbishop of Turin Alessandro Riccardi di Netro as well as his successor Lorenzo Gastaldi. The aim was to support apprentices and people in trades. He further founded an agricultural school in addition to a centre for delinquents. In 1876 he founded the Association of the Good Press to improve Italian journalism while - alongside Pio Paolo Perazzo - founded the newspaper
The Voice of the Worker which became the diocesan paper known as
The Voice of the People. Murialdo contracted a grave illness in 1877 but his friend Don Bosco said that he would live for much longer and would not die from his illness. In 1878 he founded an agricultural centre in Rivoli and later in 1892 - in the spirit of
Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum - wrote to the local council to denounce the exploitation of workers. He also presented a reform project including schooling until age fourteen and the abolition of
night work. His last surviving siblings Aurelia and Ernesto both died in 1890 causing Murialdo great grief since all his friends and relatives were deceased at this stage.
Declining health and death In 1885 he suffered serious
bronchitis that lasted from 1 January until 17 February; Murialdo believed he would die during this time due to the seriousness of his illness. Don Bosco visited him and blessed him. Murialdo died on 30 March 1900 in Turin due to
pneumonia; his final words were: "I'm waiting". His remains were interred after his funeral but later transferred to the Santa Barbara church in Turin. ==Sainthood==