Biography. Joseoh (Giuseppe) Allamano was born in 1851 in Castelnuovo d 'Asti, the same town as Saint John Bosco, whom he had as spiritual director as a child and adolescent at the Salesian Oratory in Valdocco.
Ordained a priest in 1873, he later accepted, out of obedience, the position of Rector of the Consolata Shrine, which no one wanted because the ancient building was in ruins and because of the difficult situation of the residence for the preparation of young priests. He therefore worked hard to ensure that the Consolata would once again become a spiritual centre for the city of Turin. He also took an interest in the problems of workers and became a pioneer of the Catholic press.
Attracted from a young age by the missionary ideal, he conceived with extreme clarity the mission ad gentes as the maximum realisation of the priestly vocation and for this reason he gave life, in 1901, to the Missionary Institute of the Consolata. He then felt the urgent need for women consecrated full-time to the cause of evangelisation and, nine years later, he founded the Consolata Missionary Institute. He died on 16 February 1926. He was beatified by St John Paul II on 7 October 1990.
The miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed 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 who seriously injured his head, breaking his skull; it was on 7 February 1996, the first day of the novena to Blessed Giuseppe Allamano. Transported to the hospital in Boa Vista, cared for by the Consolata Missionaries, who did not cease to ask for his healing through the intercession of the Founding Father, Sorino miraculously recovered his health in a few months, and still lives in his indigenous community.
Giuseppe Allamano and Don Bosco. During the process for the canonisation of Don Bosco, Fr Allamano stated that he had met and spoken with Don Bosco already in Castelnuovo, when he was a boy. The real meeting, however, took place in Valdocco, in 1862, when Allamano entered the Oratory, together with his brother Natale, accompanied by his uncle Father Giovanni Allamano. We know nothing of the first meeting between Don Bosco and Allamano, but it is known with certainty that between the two, a good understanding began to be established from then on: "The Venerable Don Bosco was loved by all for his goodness, and from all he received signs of reverence and affection. His system was to attract hearts, and I did not know anyone who complained about him.”
As is obvious given his exquisite pedagogical skill, Allamano was also helped and encouraged by Don Bosco on the path of formation: “That I had and have special affection and devotion for the Venerable, for the good he did me in my early education, and for having been at that time my regular confessor, is true.” The young Allamano was also reprimanded by Don Bosco when he left Valdocco on August 19, 1866 without greeting him: "You made a mistake...You left without saying good-by to me!" Allamano always retained a positive memory of Don Bosco, educator and founder, along with admiration for the work of the Salesians. Here is one of his spontaneous confidences to Fr G. Nepote Fus, towards the end of his life: “I have asked myself many times why the Lord has blessed and continues to bless the Salesians in such an extraordinary way; and I think that one of the reasons, if not the main one, is that they respected Don Bosco. They respected him alive and they respected him when he was dead. I bear witness to this, and I remember how in my time Don Bosco’s wishes and desires were carried out in the Oratory. That is why the Lord has blessed them and continues to bless them.”
