Clemente Marchisio

Clemente Marchisio (1 March 183316 December 1903) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest who served as a parish priest in the Archdiocese of Turin. Marchisio served as an assistant priest before travelling across Italian cities as word of his mission and holiness spread. In the spirit of evangelical and devotional zeal he established the Daughters of Saint Joseph of Rivalba to suit the religious needs of females. The order had an emphasis on the Eucharist and on Saint Joseph himself.

On 30 September 1984, he was beatified after one healing was recognized as a miracle attributed to his intercession.

Life Clemente Marchisio was born on 1 March 1833 in Cuneo as the first of five children to a shoemaker. As a child he lived near a Dominican-run church and attended Mass there on a frequent basis; he also harbored a great devotion to the Blessed Mother as well as the rosary.

Marchisio was ordained to the priesthood on 20 September 1856 from the Bishop of Susa Giovanni Antonio Oddone since the Archbishop of Turin was in exile in France; he required a special dispensation to be ordained since he had not reached the canonical age limit for it. After he was ordained he went for further studies in a boarding school for priests named in honour of Francis of Assisi. He was named as an assistant priest in 1858. He established it on a formal level on 12 November 1877 and had with him Rosalia Sismonda - a recruit - at his right side in managing it. The order was dedicated to the Eucharist and to Saint Joseph. In 1883 the order opened a house in Rome and Pope Leo XIII said of it in praise: "At last, our Lord!" The pontiff also referred to its members as the "Sisters of the Host".

Both processes were declared valid and were ratified in order for the boxes of documents to be taken to Rome for further investigation and allowed - after extensive research and consideration - for Pope Paul VI to declare Marchisio on 4 May 1970 to be Venerable.

Pope John Paul II - in the beginning of 1984 - signed a decree recognizing a healing as a miracle and allowed for the beatification of Marchisio to take place; he was beatified on 30 September 1984.