Venerable Giovanni Merlini
Third Moderator General of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood

Merlini's early life

Giovanni Merlini was born on August 28, 1795, in Spoleto. His father Luigi was from Sicily; his mother Antonia was from Umbria in the center of the Italian peninsula. At that time, Italy was not a unified country; Spoleto was part of the Papal States. Luigi and Antonia named their third child Giovanni because he was baptized on the next day, August 29, the feast of the beheading of John the Baptist. Giovanni was their first son, so from the start Luigi assumed that Giovanni would be his partner and successor in the family grocery and confectionery. (Antonia was the one who baked and made the sweets.)

Giovanni's prayerfulness and desire to serve God as a priest were evident from a very early age. His mother was supportive, but his father was opposed, because although Luigi and Antonia's family continued to grow, all the children born after Giovanni were daughters, except for Lorenzo, who died before he was five years old. Giovanni was not dismayed; he confidently prayed that a healthy son would be born. His prayers were answered when his brother Pietro was born in 1809. As he began to study for the priesthood, Giovanni continued to live at home. He was an outstanding student, excelling in both law and moral theology. He was ordained by the bishop of Spoleto in 1818, at age 23.

The young priest engaged in a variety of apostolates, especially education. Since he did not accept a resident position that obliged him to say Mass for a particular community, he was free to travel as a mission preacher, which he did from the time he was ordained. Don Giovanni regularly spent time in recollection with a friend from Spoleto, Don Antonio Lipparelli. In July 1820, Don Antonio suggested that they make a retreat at San Felice in Giano. There, they met Gaspar del Bufalo, who immediately invited the two young priests to join the institute he had founded, the Missionaries of the Precious Blood. "One just can't say no to this man," Don Giovanni remarked to his friend; at the end of their retreat, Gaspar took off for a mission, leaving Don Giovanni to give another retreat for clergy. In August, Gaspar asked him to help with a mission, and on August 15, 1820, the fifth anniversary of the founding of the Missionaries, Giovanni Merlini became a Missionary of the Precious Blood. (It took Don Antonio a number of years more, but he, too, became a Precious Blood Missionary.)

Merlini becomes a Precious Blood missionary

The Missionaries of the Precious Blood preached in teams, so Merlini got to work closely with all the early members of the community. In cooperation with the local clergy, these missions often lasted two or three weeks. To reinforce their effects, the Missionaries would set up a number of associations, separate ones for the women and the men, for the girls and the boys, and return to support and encourage the people.

Giovanni Merlini was involved in the Missionaries' spiritual campaign against the brigands. At this time, the mountains of central Italy were the territory of gangs. Although many of the brigands originally took to the hills to avoid conscription into the armies levied by the Papal government and the series of occupying powers, the rough and desperate nature of the life led to violence and atrocities against the villagers. The barbaric measures taken by the Papal troops made the situation even more explosive. The Missionaries of the Precious Blood condemned all brutality and urged clemency for the brigands, which brought them much opposition from the authorities.

Although Merlini loved preaching missions and giving retreats for clergy, the growing community needed his other talents even more. He was gifted at renovating buildings. The early mission houses were all established in houses abandoned by other communities during all those wars and civil strife. In particular, Merlini was instrumental in the development of the house in Albano, which came to serve as the community's principal house and most important seminary. Merlini was willing to spend a good deal of his time and energy in administration and teaching. He was also deeply involved in the formation of the brothers, who were essential to the Missionaries' success. He travelled constantly, making official visits to existing houses and overseeing renovations, spiritual and material. Giovanni Merlini was entrusted with the position of secretary general of the community in 1823, a duty he carried out faithfully until Gaspar's death in 1837.

Gaspar del Bufalo and Giovanni Merlini made quite a team--Gaspar was impulsive and determined, Giovanni was hard-headed, practical, and methodical. Merlini's value of good order was always backed up by his willingness to pitch in. Whatever trade he needed, he learned--masonry and farming included. There is a famous incident of him being mistaken for a brother by an imperious priest who arrived at San Felice for a retreat and ordered the tall, unassuming red head with the blue eyes to carry his bags up to the room and make his bed. Merlini did all this calmly and without complaint. When the priest found out that he had been ordering the Father General around, his conversion was assured!

Another task Gaspar del Bufalo entrusted to Giovanni Merlini was the direction of Maria de Mattias, who became the foundress of the Adorers of the Precious Blood. Establishing an institute of teachers, whose work with girls and women would complement the work of the Missionaries, was an integral part of the vision that Gaspar inherited from his spiritual guide Francesco Albertini.  

Merlini continues the vision

After Gaspar died, Merlini continued to direct the life of the mission house in Albano. The second director general, Don Biagio Valentini, resided in Rome. Merlini's caution and concern for thoroughness--he did inherit his father's business sense--were not always understood and appreciated, and he was gradually cut out of the decision-making loop by those in Rome who advised Valentini. Merlini refused to become discouraged; out of his prayer came the Litany of the Precious Blood. After Don Biagio became disabled due to a stroke, he delegated Don Giovanni Merlini to serve in his place. When Valentini died in 1847, Merlini was elected director general.

Merlini was instrumental in the expansion of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood--those who planted the community in France, Switzerland, and the United States got their formation with him at Albano. He was tireless in his insistence that the spirit and vision of the founders of the Missionaries and Adorers be kept alive; he encouraged the collection of reminisences and letters and established archives. After Maria de Mattias died in 1866, Merlini put together a short summary of her life. With modesty, he considered this Compendium a rough draft, but everyone assured him it could not be improved upon.

Merlini's death and legacy

Giovanni Merlini was strong-willed and passionate; the calmness and ability to dialogue for which he was noted was the result of hard work and prayer. In his later years, he was limited by deafness and had to use a cane. As his energy diminished, he wanted to be relieved of the responsibility of serving as director general, but the community would not let him. He died on January 12, 1873, of the aftereffects of being hit by a coach.

As they mourned, the community and people shared stories of Giovanni Merlini's example in prayer, his energetic service, and his compassion. In addition to drawing on their memories of Merlini to encourage and sustain each other, people began to invoke his assistance in prayer. After a careful study of his life and testimony of those who knew him, the church officially declared him Venerable, one step below Blessed, on June 22, 1972.