On the 27th of March 2013, the Holy Father Pope Francis authorized Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to Promulgate the Decree on the Martyrdom of the Servant of God Giuseppe Girotti, a professed priest of the Order of Preachers. His beatification will take place on Saturday, 26th of April 2014 at Duomo di Alba in Cuneo, northern Italy, the city of his birth.
The solemn celebration will be presided over by the delegate of the Holy Father, Cardinal Giovanni Coppa. Also expected at the celebration are; Bishop Giacomo Lanzetti, Bishop of the Diocese of Alb with the priests, religious and faithful of the diocese and other bishops. The Master of the Order, Fr Bruno Cadoré will also be there, accompanied by a host of Dominican brothers, sisters and laity.
The entire preparation is a combined effort of the office of the Postulator General of the Order in Santa Sabina, the Organizing Committee of the Province of St Dominic in Italy (frs Lodovico Montoli, Igor Barbini and Massimo Rossi) and the Diocese of Alba. After the joint meeting of the group, the following were decided; the official image which will be used for posters and other souvenirs, a booklet of about 40 pages on his life and process, a
documentary film on his life and testimonies about his life and a programme of events to create the necessary awareness.
Special thanks goes to fr Ludovico Montoli who laboured for 30 years on the cause of our brother Giuseppe Girotti. Thanks also goes to all other brothers, living and dead, who have contributed in one way or the other towards the cause. Not forgetting the other members of the Dominican family especially the Dominican Nuns who prayed earnestly for the beatification.
Come April 26, all roads will lead to Alba where we shall celebrate our communion as Dominicans in union with the
Universal Church. For promotional materials, please contact, Convento S. Bartolomeo, Largo Belotti, 1, 24121 BG;
assimoros@domenicanibg.it.
Fr Giuseppe Girotti was born in Alba, in the northern part of Italy on the 19th of July, 1905. He was born of a humble family that were esteemed for their hard work and godliness. At the age of 13, he was convinced of his aspiration for the priesthood which led him to enter the Dominican Seminary of Chieri (TO). He was a brilliant student, very lively and cheerful too. In 1923, he made his religious profession in “La Quercia”, near Viterbo and on August 3, 1930 he was
ordained to the priesthood at Chieri.
He specialized in the interpretation of Scriptures at Angelicum, Rome and the Ècole Biblique of Jerusalem. At the Ècole Biblique, he was a student of the Servant of God Marie-Joseph Lagrange, OP and under him, he published his academic work, “Prolita in Sacra Scrittura” in 1934. He dedicated his life to the teaching of Scriptures at the Dominican Theological Seminary of Turin (S. Maria delle Rose). As a result of his extensive study of Scriptures, he published an extensive commentary on the Wisdom Books and the Prophet Isaiah.
Esteemed for his vast learning, he loved to exercise his priestly ministry among the poor and lonely especially at the hospice of the elderly which was close to his convent of S. Maria delle Rose, Turin. There came a period of trial and suffering for him, which he accepted in humility. He was deprived of further education and was transferred to the Convent of San Domenico in the historic centre of Turin. Despite this, he continued his research in Scriptures while intensifying the exercise of his priestly and charitable activities.
“Everything I do is for charity”, he candidly said once, indicating his continued growth in the virtue of charity.
After September 8, 1943, with the German occupation and the birth of the Italian Social Republic, Girotti began a centre for a vast network of support for Jews. His cultural affinity to Jews was nourished during his years of study in Jerusalem and further deepened by his actual study of Scriptures. It is in this sense that we understand his expressions “Carriers of the Word of God” and “Elder brothers” as referring to Jews. At this time, many of them, while facing persecution and much suffering, sought for safe havens and false documents for a new identity. Girotti was able to assist them in many ways.
His activities with Jews which were contrary to the Laws of the Fascist and Nazi led to his arrest on the 29th of August, 1944. He was betrayed by a spy who disguised as someone in need of help and he was taken to Villa Cavorette, the place where Girotti had hidden the Jewish Professor Joseph Diena. Girotti was subsequently arrested and imprisoned in the new prison at Turin. Despite the efforts of his prior to have him released, he was transferred first to San Vittore prison in Milan, then to the camp of Gries, Bozano and finally on the 5th of October 1944, he was taken to Dachau, Germany. According to Don Angelo Dalmasso, another priest with whom he was imprisoned, Girotti stood out for his generosity and openness toward the other inmates with whom he frequently shared the Word of God. He was imprisoned in Cabin 26 with a thousand other priests in a space that was originally meant for 180 inmates. Due to this condition, he became ill and was admitted at the infirmary.
On Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945, at barely 40years old, Girotti died. His death was probably aided by a lethal injection of gasoline as was the custom then. On his bunk, his fellow inmates wrote, “Here slept Saint Guiseppe Girotti”.
In 1988, the curia of Turin started the formal process for his canonization. On the 14th of February, 1995, 50years after his death, he received a posthumous medal as “Righteous Among the Nations”, a recognition from the State of Israel to all those who worked for the salvation of Jews during the Holocaust. His name is inscribed on the official list and a tree is planted in his honour at the Avenue of the Righteous at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. (The Postulator General of the Order)
...and then I read in The Pilot, (June 24, 2011, p. 17) that the Vatican Museum opened a new room for "Matisse designs for French chapel." I don't know why I read this. I wasn't thinking of my postcard, at all. But when I read the article, I knew exactly that the reporter was referring to my postcard. The article tells us that the Vatican Museum will house the drawings and models that Matisse did for a small chapel in Vence, on the French Riviera. It went on to explain that Matisse's son, Pierre donated the collection. It is interesting, because Matisse wasn't religious. He never gave religion a thought. (Hard to imagine that someone so blessed with artistic talent to portray God's beauty could not help but reflect upon the creator of it all!) Henri Matisse was inspired to design this chapel by his nurse and model, Sister Jacques-Marie, O.P., aka Monique Bourgeois. She asked him for ideas and perhaps a mural; but he was very generous and magnanimous, (as his art) and undertook designing the windows, the chapel, the altar, the furnishings, etc. Matisse collaborated with Fr. Marie-Alain Couturier, O.P., for four years. And the result---Matisse considers the Chapelle du Rosaire, his masterpiece. 
This little Pilot article whetted by curiosity about Henri Matisse. I've been googling and reading about the Chapelle du Rosaire a Vence, and it's artiste extrodinaire, ever since reading that article. It was when Matisse was sick and needed a nurse that he met Monique. She was very kind and beautiful on the inside, as well as the out. They confided in each other. Henri and Monique became soul mates, in that she supported him, and he supported her. He must have been amazed at her discernment of a religious vocation. No wonder he desired to undertake the chapel project. I bet he was as excited in giving his talents to God, as Monique was in giving hers. 
He used a Dominican friar as a model for the drawing of St. Dominic. That is who the drawing of the friar, behind the altar, is suppose to represent. And since Matisse was ill, he had cancer, he would use long bamboo poles with his pencil attached, to draw. He also had teams of artists to help him. You see, it was a mammoth project and Matisse poured his soul into it. 
Image via Wikipedia
To you Saint Martin de Porres we prayerfully lift up our hearts filled with serene confidence and devotion. Mindful of your unbounded and helpful charity to all levels of society and also of your meekness and humility of heart, we offer our petitions to you. Pour out upon our families the precious gifts of your solicitous and generous intercession; show to the people of every race and every color the paths of unity and of justice; implore from our Father in heaven the coming of his kingdom, so that through mutual benevolence in God men may increase the fruits of grace and merit the rewards of eternal life. Amen.
