Gioacchino La Lomia

Venerable Gioacchino La Lomia

Padre Gioacchino La Lomia (Canicatti, Sicily March 3, 1831 - July 30, 1905) was a priest of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (OFM Cappuccino), a missionary and a preacher. He was born Gaetano La Lomia on March 3, 1831 in Canicatti, Sicily in Italy. The son of Don Nicolo' and his wife Eleonora, the Barons La Lomia, a very wealthy family.

Gaetano La Lomia entered the monastery as Gioacchino La Lomia in 1852 and was ordained a priest into the OFM Cappuccino in Palermo, Sicily in Italy in 1855. He served his papal missionary in the Amazonian Forest of Brazil for twelve years. Together with other missionary brothers, he preached the Gospel to thirteen villages, and dedicated himself to the improvement of health and the well-being of the Brazilian people and to the improvement of the culture in the region.

He returned to Italy in 1880 and started the Convent of the OFM Cappuccino of Canicatti, Sicily in the Madonna della Rocca church. Although he was born to a wealthy family, he chose a life of poverty and humility. He was famous for performing many miracles both in Brazil and in Italy. His humility and charisma was recognized by all Sicilians as well as the Emperor Don Pedro II of Brazil whom he also heard confessions.

Padre Gioacchino became a candidate of the stages for Canonization in the Roman Catholic Church in the Diocese of Agrigento, Sicily, in 1928. There are four stages leading to Canonization with the title of Saint. First is Servant of God, second is Venerable, third is Blessed, then Saint. The candidate to these higher honors becomes "Venerable" when his or her case has been officially accepted by the Sacred Congregation of Rites and when a special Papal decree announces the candidacy, asserting that the person had spiritual virtues of heroic degree or had suffered martyrdom.

On April 23, 2002, in the Clementine Hall of the Vatican Palace, Pope John Paul II proclaimed Father Gioacchino Venerable. On September 29, 2005, Pope Benedict XVI removed the custom which had previously called for Beatification rites to be held in the Vatican with the Pope presiding and delegated the Beatification liturgical ceremony to the Cardinal in the location where the subject lived. The Canonization process normally requires a 5 year waiting period. All of us who pray for and to Padre Gioacchino hope that he is Canonized into Sainthood soon.

Special thanks to my father and mother, Thomas and Maria Villareale for their help in translating this article from the Italian Wikipedia Article: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gioacchino_La_Lomia --Calogero C. Villareale 19:58, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

In 1970 the book of Padre Gioacchino La Lomia was written by Pietro Candiano. "PADRE GIOACCHINO LA LOMIA Vita-Apostolato-Miracoli" (in in Sicilian). It was published by ATEC (Azienda Tipografica Editorialo Canicattinese). pp. 106 pages. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |accessdaymonth=, |month=, |accessyear=, |accessmonthday=, and |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) Around that same time The Padre Gioacchino Song was recorded on 45rpm vinyl by Cesare d'Ambra and the orchestration was performed under the direction of Maestro Giuseppe Buttice'. The lyrics for the song are on page 89 of the book and have been recited by many generations of Sicilians. The following audio clip will give you a sample of the song.