By CAROLE BRESLIN
In our human frailty, it is easy to become discouraged when there is so much tragedy, corruption, and sorrow in our lives. However, that is when God is especially close to us. It is a normal way of life for the Christian to suffer, but also a normal way of life for true Christians to see the grace in the midst of suffering. “Now the law entered in, that sin might abound. And where sin abounded, grace did more abound” (Romans 5:20). Blessed Giacomo Cusmano was an angel of mercy, bringing solace to the suffering of the island of Sicily in face of its trials from the revolutions.
On March 15, 1834, a man of God was born in Palermo, Italy. Blessed Giacomo was the fourth of five children born to Giacomo Cusmano, a wealthy surveyor, and his wife Magdalene. When Giacomo was only three years old, his mother died.
Pious from his earliest days, Giacomo followed his father around, seeking more religious instruction. He finally began his formal studies with a priest tutoring him in their home.
Giacomo possessed an uncommon love of the poor, always looking for ways to ease their suffering. He gave so many of his clothes away that the family finally had to lock them up before he ended up with nothing to wear.
When Giacomo was of age, his father enrolled him in the Collegio Massimo, a Jesuit school. This prepared him to withstand the secular attacks on Catholicism emerging at the University of Palermo. Despite the anticlerical 1848 Sicilian revolution, he remained even firmer in his devotions. He breezed through the most difficult subjects, graduating from medical school as a physician in 1851. He was only 17 years old.
His first career opportunity led him to the royal University of Palermo where he taught in the medical school. Sadly, his father died the next year, necessitating Giacomo’s return home to manage the family’s affairs.
This did not stifle his love of learning nor his quest to serve the poor. He continued his studies while attending to the family business and managing the estate. Soon he became a certified surgeon, graduating with honors on June 11, 1855 at the young age of 21.
His devotions and spiritual life increased with his knowledge. In fact, after all his medical training, he had a strong inclination to enter the religious life. Nevertheless, he continued to practice medicine from 1855 to 1860 with great compassion at San Giuseppe Jato. He demonstrated great wisdom and zeal for the saving of souls as well as for treating the illnesses of the body.
During this time, Enrico Albanese, an old and dear friend from his school days, asked him to join the second war for Sicilian independence, but Giacomo refused to leave the poor who were suffering so much from this conflict. He spent most of his time treating those who could not afford to pay for a doctor. Once he even gave his horse to a fellow traveler who had no other means of transportation.
This work with the social outcasts revealed to him that these people had a much greater need — they needed food for their souls. He saw that they needed instruction in Catholic teachings and better access to the sacraments.
Thus, Giacomo turned his learning prowess in another direction. As he treated the bodies of the poor, he studied theology so that he could treat their souls — a far more treasured part of the human person.
At first he considered becoming a Capuchin friar, but he followed the advice of his spiritual director and studied for the priesthood. In his home Diocese of Palermo, Giacomo, after becoming a physician, then a surgeon, was ordained a priest on December 22, 1860. Like most saints, Blessed Giacomo fasted frequently and practiced penances such as sleeping on a wooden cross rather than a bed.
As he served the people of Palermo, trudging through the streets to assist the poor and tend the sick, he yearned to do even more for the downtrodden citizenry. More and more he pondered this aim and finally, with 40 other parishioners, he founded an institution for them.
This institution, Boccone del Povero (Food for the Poor), began by collecting and distributing medicines, food, clothing, and other items to be delivered to the poor in their lodgings.
As this apostolate grew it became an official organization of the Catholic Church when Archbishop G.B. Noselli of Palermo gave it formal authorization in 1867. Pope Pius IX also gave his approval and blessing.
Since no saint has ever said, “There! I have done enough!” Blessed Giacomo decided to provide his institution with more people — to expand the services to the poor. Around 1868 he organized a group of auxiliaries consisting of both lay men and lay women.
Eventually, after 12 years of such service, these also gained approval when an association of lay brothers and sisters came into being. On May 13, 1880, Giacomo presented the habit to the first sisters; and on October 14, 1884 — after much doctrinal and spiritual formation — he presented the habit to the Brothers of the Servants of the Poor.
To cap these two organizations, he founded a third one: The Congregation of Missionary Fathers. These priests would serve as ministers to the Servants of the Poor. They would also help to preach the Gospel to the poor.
Eager to do even more, Blessed Giacomo then worked to establish hostels, hospitals, and orphanages around the island of Sicily. Of course, this work soon expanded to the rest of Italy and beyond to Europe, Africa, and North and South America.
Giuseppe Cardinal Guarino, one of Giacomo’s supporters, explained the ideal of Blessed Giacomo’s work. His motivation was “unlimited charity.” He further wrote, “God has placed deep within the bosom of this physician and priest the heart of St. Vincent de Paul. The fervor of his love for the poor was unsurpassable; the integrity of his blameless conduct was truly angelic; the kindness beaming from his face recalled St. Francis de Sales….I have never met a priest who was so zealous for the salvation of souls, so amiable and so holy as he.”
Blessed Giacomo Cusmano worked tirelessly for many years until he could work no more. As he experienced the pangs of pleurisy — a painful inflammation of the membrane surrounding the lungs — he addressed the inaugural meeting of the committee of the Ladies of Charity. He told them, “My mission is now finished.”
For the next few weeks he serenely endured the agonizing pain of the illness. He died just a few weeks later on March 14, 1888 just one day before his 54th birthday.
Dear Blessed Giacomo, when there is social upheaval, the level of suffering increases. Help us to open our eyes and our hearts to those in our lives who are in need. May we, by the grace of God, serve them as readily as you served the people of your time. Amen.
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(Carole Breslin home-schooled her four daughters and served as treasurer of the Michigan Catholic Home Educators for eight years. For over ten years, she was national coordinator for the Marian Catechists, founded by Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ.)
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