Today, November 26, is the memorial of Blessed James Alberione.
Founder of the Society of Saint Paul (SSP), the Daughters of Saint Paul (DSP), the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master (PDDM), and the Sisters of Jesus Good Shepherd (SJBP), among others.
James was born in 1884 to a farming family in Cuneo, Italy. He entered the Alba seminary at 16 and had as spiritual director Venerable Francesco Chiesa.
During the night of December 31, 1900 to January 1, 1901, while doing nightly Eucharistic adoration in Alba, he suddenly felt he was called on to do something for the people of the new 20th century.
That “something” was founding 10 religious congregations, institutes, and lay co-operators. Among these were the Society of Saint Paul (SSP), the Daughters of Saint Paul (DSP), the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master (PDDM), and the Sisters of Jesus Good Shepherd (SJBP).
These congregations, under his leadership and up to the present, spread the word of God and help in personal devotions through the use of modern media.
James died of natural causes in the SSP Generalate House in Rome in 1971. Pope St. Paul VI visited him an hour before he died.
Pope St. John Paul II beatified him in 2003.