St. Joseph Allamano was born in 1851 in Castelnuovo d 'Asti. His father was called Giuseppe Allamano while his mother was called Marianna Cafasso, the sister of Saint Cafasso. His father died when he was still under three. Finding herself a widow with five children, Marianna Cafasso confronted the situation with the terse resoluteness characteristic of the times as she took charge of the work of caring for her family as Joseph Allamano would say many years later, ''On our modest patrimony, she managed to send three of us to school and she still increased our possession by some 12000 lire.’’ Marianna Cafasso distinguished herself as a faithful, generous and committed woman making St. Joseph Allamano refer to her as “that holy woman.’’
After Kindergarten, St. Joseph Allamano joined elementary school in Castelnuovo, where he completed the five grades always with good results. At the age of eleven, he entered Valdocco where he completed the entire five-year syllabus in four years only, for on the advice of the superior, he skipped the fourth year moving directly from the third year to the fifth year. It was during these years at Valdocco that St. Joseph Allamano had contact with Saint Don Bosco who became his regular confessor. About him, St. Joseph Allamano wrote, “I confessed to him throughout the four years of my stay at the Oratory and, even though he was superior, I always trusted him completely, for it seemed to me as his penitent that he could read my heart and foresee many things about me.’’
It was within this circumstance that Don Bosco probably saw St. Joseph Allamano as a promising Candidate as a Salesian. He might have thought of advising him to join the Salesian congregation that was at its zenith at that time. However, before the wheels of this plan were turned into motion, St. Joseph Allamano having completed the junior school, left Valdocco for the customary holidays with his mind made up that he would not be going back there anymore. He had not even said goodbye to Don Bosco wanting to spare him the pain of what was a kind of desertion and possibly fearing that he might not know how to resist if Don Bosco were to invite him to stay. St. Joseph Allamano knew Don Bosco’s power of persuasion for no one found it easy to say No to him.
Could it have been that at this point St. Joseph Allamano had already decided to become a priest, by choosing the diocesan way of the seminary? No one knew what was running in his mind. However, one might hypothesise that there were some tenets of priestly liking and vocation maturing in him. Having stayed at home for a few weeks, St. Joseph Allamano informed every one of the irrevocable fact that he wanted to be a priest. Following this decision, St. Joseph Allamano received the cassock from the parish priest, Fr. Michele Antonio Cinzano, in the parish church of Castelnuovo. This choice was made calmly and firmly so that even when his brother tried to persuade him to give it more thought, St. Joseph Allamano responded, “The Lord is calling me today.’’ Therefore, St. Joseph Allamano entered the Metropolitan Seminary in Turin on 1st November 1886.
It is not an exaggeration when it is said that St. Joseph Allamano discovered the harmony between the Seminary’s rules and his inclinations, for therein, was an order, regularity, and exactness as they used to experience at home. With this experience, St. Joseph Allamano assured himself that every article, prescription, obligation, and prohibition contributed to the unique purpose of making him a worthy priest. Therefore, he accepted them all. He took pains to learn all these rules by heart so as not to break any one of them, not even those that little accorded with his not particularly robust health.
Yes, not his particularly robust health, for as he affirms, “In my youth, my health was much more delicate than it is now: once a fortnight I had a migraine which would bring me to a standstill. I would go into the refectory and eat a few scraps so that no one noticed what was going on; in class, I would sit holding my forehead in my hands as if I was studying, so no one ever noticed that there was something wrong with me.’’ It was this delicate health that stopped St. Joseph Allamano from realizing his dream of becoming a missionary.
In 1866, just before St. Joseph Allamano joined the seminary his mother Marianna Cafasso had already begun suffering from pains in the spine. Her illness grew more and more serious until she became invalid and confined to her bed. But this was not the end for she went blind and later lost her hearing too. Joseph Allamano could not be there when she died on 15th December 1869 for at that time he was in the seminary. He could not even attend her funeral since the person who was supposed to bring him the message had forgotten the letter in his pocket.
On 21 December 1872, St. Joseph Allamano received the subdiaconate and on 23rd March 1873, he received the diaconate. He was ordained a priest on 20th September 1873 by Bishop Lorenzo Gastaldi after which he entered the pastoral Institute in Turin to complete his training. Shortly after this, a new proposal came to him from the Bishop requesting him to go back to the seminary with the post of first assistant. This was then followed by another appointment as the spiritual director of the seminary.
In 1880, the Archbishop appointed him the rector of the Consolata shrine which also comprised the rectorship of the Pastoral Institute and the shrine of Saint Ignazius. St. Joseph Allamano tried to resist this new appointment claiming that he was young to which the Archbishop responded: '' all the better if he was young, since if he made mistakes, he would have time put them right.'' It was at Consolata Shrine that St. Joseph Allamano founded his Institute, ‘’ The Consolata Institute for Foreign Mission’’ in 1901. The work of St. Joseph Allamano of training young men and women for the missions made him popularly known as ‘’ a missionary to the entire World’’ which was attributed to his extraordinary ability to see and to some extent live the situations and problems of missionary apostolate without moving off his home ground.
“For you my dear missionaries and missionaries sisters, I have lived all these years and for you, I have used up possessions, health and life. I hope in dying to become your protector in heaven.’’ To the Institute St. Joseph Allamano left this brief and marvellous message. He died on February 1926 at 4:10 am. His death was described in this manner by Bishop Philip Perlo: ‘’ he remained lucid right to the last, he responded to the prayers for the dying which were being said around him. And without any struggle, he serenely expired in the early hours of the morning of 16th February 1926. His death was so peaceful that those present were barely aware it had happened and had to wait a little before being sure he was dead.’’
St. Joseph Allamano’s body was eventually taken to the general cemetery to be buried not permanently, for in 1938, his remains were transferred to the Motherhouse of his missionaries and have remained there ever since. From his resting place in the Motherhouse, the advice of Saint Joseph Allamano to his missionaries resounds: ‘’ the missionary’s holiness must be something special. My words may perhaps make an impression on you or even bewilder some of you. Well, that cannot be helped. What I say is for those who desire to acquire the holiness proper to a missionary. Holiness is one, but varied is the form and differing are the ways to attain it. The Lord who inspired this foundation has also inspired the necessary ways and means of achieving perfection and making yourselves saints.’’
St. Joseph Allamano was beatified on October 7, 1990, by Pope John Paul II. The Pope confirmed the tributes St. Joseph Allamano had received during his life and after he died in these words, '' The Consolata Saint’’, “Provident Father’’, “Formator and Teacher of the Clergy’’, “A priest for the whole World’’. During his homily on this occasion, the Pope had this to say: “At this moment when his name is added to the list of the Blessed, Joseph Allamano reminds us that, to be faithful to our Christian vocation, we must share the gifts we have received from God with brothers and sister from every race and culture. We must proclaim Christ with courage and coherence to everyone we encounter and especially to those who do not yet know Him’’.
On May 23rd, 2024, Pope Francis officially recognized the miracle attributed to the intercession of Saint Joseph Allamano, the Founder of the Consolata Missionaries. The miracle attributed to the intercession of Saint Joseph Allamano took place in the Brazilian Amazon forest, in the State of Roraima, where Sorino, a man of Yanomami ethnicity, was attacked by a jaguar that seriously injured his head, breaking his skull; it was on 7 February 1996, the first day of the novena to St. Joseph Allamano (at the time still Blessed). He was transported to the hospital in Boa Vista and cared for by the Consolata Missionaries, who did not cease to ask for his healing through the intercession of Joseph Allamano. Sorino miraculously recovered his health in a few months and still lives in his Indigenous community. This miracle paved the way for the canonization of Saint Joseph Allamano on the 20th of October 2024 by Pope Francis.
May we receive blessings from St. Joseph Allamano so that we too, remain faithful to our Christian vocation bearing in mind the words of Saint Paul to the Romans: ‘’ I urge you, then, brothers and sisters, remembering the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, dedicated and acceptable to God; this is the kind of worship for you, as sensible people.’’ (12:1).