Blessed Alfredo Cremonesi

February 7th, we celebrate the feast of Blessed Alfredo Cremonesi (15 May 1902 – 7 February 1953), zealous Italian missionary priest and martyr in Burma and missionary of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) and beatified by Pope Francis in October 2019.

Alfredo Cremonesi was born on 15 May 1902 in Ripalta Guerina in Cremona as the first of seven children to Enrico Cremonesi, a grocer, and Maria Rosa Scartabellati. It was in his childhood that he read the journal of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux and from that point fostered a deep devotion to her and like her to becoming a Missionary.

Alfredo was a sickly boy, and his time in school was interrupted due to a severe disease and he was forced to spend most of that time confined to his bed. He attributed his recovery to the intercession of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.

His brother Ernesto was also a devoted Christian whom the Nazis arrested and jailed in a concentration camp where he would die in 1945 before the European Theatre conflict ended. Upon his recuperation on 17 September 1922, he transferred to Milan to study in an institute that the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions ran, to prepare new missionaries. He became known for being both impetuous and a gifted writer who published a collection of poems.

Cremonesi felt a desire to become a missionary when he was 20, already in the seminary. He read magazines and books on missionaries that fascinated him.
Cremonesi was just 23 when he left for Burma, where arrived on 10 November 1925. Soon he was sent to Donoku, a mission area in Bago Region inhabited by ethnic Karen, not far from Toungoo, the first diocese founded by the PIME missionaries.

His mission proved difficult in an isolated mountain village and he often had to travel long distances to visit the people. Cremonesi had a great devotion to the Sacred Heart and Saint Thérèse. He performed the Eucharistic Adoration each night for one hour before the tabernacle and woke up the following morning at 4:00 am to celebrate Mass.

Alfredo was often exhausted from his extensive walking missions and also contracted malaria. The outbreak of World War II saw the British-run Burma enter the conflict to the detriment of Italian missionaries who soon found themselves as enemies, due to Benito Mussolini declaring his alliance with Hitler. Near the end of the war he was forced to live in the forest where he ate herbs in order to survive.

In January 1947, when Burma was freed from the Japanese invasion and independent of England, Fr. Alfred returned to Donoku. With renewed enthusiasm he began to rebuild everything that had been devastated. He taught catechism and also English, assisted and healed the sick, resumed his pastoral activities.

When the Second World War ended, a local civil conflict between the Karen rebels and government forces erupted. Despite the danger, Cremonesi was not keen to abandon the Catholic villages because his presence was often a good deterrent to violence.
In 1950, unfortunately, two other PIME missionaries, Mario Vergara and Pietro Galastri, lost their lives.On February 7, 1953, after the Burmese military operation failed to flush out Karen rebels from the region, government troops entered Donokù and accused Fr Alfredo and the villagers, of supporting the rebels.

The missionary tried to convince the soldiers, who then fired their machine guns at him and the village chief.Right after his death, he was declared a Martyr by popular sensus fidei. “A victim of his charity” and “a good shepherd who gave his life for his flock,” they said of him. He was beatified by Pope Francis on 19 October 2019.

Prayer:

Father of mercy, You chose Blessed Alfredo Cremonesi to be a tireless apostle of peace and a zealous witness to the Gospel, until shedding his blood. Grant that through his prayer, we may be inspired to be courageous missionaries in every environment and may his intercession sustain those who work hard today to spread the Gospel throughout the world.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Blessed Alfredo Cremonesi, pray for us.