Father Giovanni Gaddo (8Th Provost General)
Father Giovanni Gaddo (8th Provost General) by Domenico Mariani (Translated by J. Anthony Dewhirst) Is it possible that a little boy of 12 could be convinced that he had a religious vocation, to the point of devoting himself to serve the Lord all his life with the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in a religious Institute? Would he have sufficient maturity and knowledge of his own powers and human life to be definitely sure about it? Or would it not rather be autosuggestion, domestic economic problems, or the influence of some good person influencing his choice? We know how modern psychologists would answer these questions. But we can say positively and absolutely ‘yes’. This is borne out by the reality of the facts; for instance, his life, the supernatural gift of a religious vocation, in which grace is grafted on to human nature, and incessant prayer reinforcing his human efforts. Giovanni Ferdinando Angelo Gaddo was born of Carlo and Maria Amiotti at Vercelli, the Casa Borgogna in the Via del Duomo, on 7 February1895. His father was a worker in marble, and this work provided for the upkeep of the family. His mother was a housewife and died early (1903?), so little Giovanni and his sister Lucia (a year his junior) were looked after by their grandmother. But she also passed away in 1907 and the Parish Priest of Crescentino, Don Pietro Gianotti, taking an interest in the family, wrote to Don Policarpo Garibaldi, the Novice Master at Calvario in Domodossola, in order that he might intercede with the Provincial, Giambattista Pagani, to accept the boy into the Institute of Charity.
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