（慈幼通訊社 ─2025年11月10日橄欖鎮）在2025年11月9日，祝聖拉特朗大殿慶日，在橄欖鎮（位於帕維亞會省和托爾托納教區）的基督徒和民政團體，與教區神父Luca Ghiacci和市長Andrea Difilippi博士，一同紀念聖類斯．雷鳴道主教。Andrea Difilippi博士回顧了這位聖人的見證，他於1873年在這個小鎮出生，並於1930年2月25日在中國殉道，與他的同伴聖加里斯多．高惠黎神父一同殉道。他們於2000年10月1日在羅馬被冊封為聖人，今年正是封聖25週年紀念。
在慈幼會聖人冊封總申請人Pierluigi Cameroni神父主持的莊嚴的感恩祭中，強調了兩位慈幼會殉道者如何成為教會的活石，正如聖若望保祿二世在為他們列真福品的講道中所說，「他們的鮮血是中國教會的基礎，就如伯多祿的鮮血是羅馬教會的基礎。」Cameroni神父展示了聖類斯．雷鳴道主教曾使用的玫瑰念珠和苦修帶，並強調了他在傳教服務中所經歷的許多犧牲和淚水、汗和血，但這一切都因著對聖母進教之佑堅定的信賴而受到激勵。
感恩祭後，介紹了Gianna Bruni博士所著的書籍《聖類斯．雷鳴道主教：在中國傳教與殉道的歲月》（San Luigi Versiglia. Gli anni della missione in Cina e il martirio）。該書匯集了關於雷鳴道主教的同行者和傳教服務的文件和見證，是經過長時間且深入的研究結果。調查從各個方面進行，涵蓋了各個方面，從他的家鄉和意大利各地，到他的傳教區—中國，以及雷鳴道主教在1922年到訪的歐洲各國，以及他於1926年時停留了一年多的美國。特別值得關注的是雷鳴道主教和他的同行傳教士所寫的信件和報告，這些資料在二十五年間（1906-1930）刊登於《鮑思高家庭通訊》。Bruni博士指最初的目的是尋找一些關於雷鳴道主教的影片，後來卻演變成深入了解這位傳教士。這本書邀請讀者走進20世紀初飽受苦難和內戰蹂躪的中國，了解那裡的文化和風俗傳統。同時也邀請讀者探索慈幼會傳教士們的獻身服務，他們畢生致力於向中國人民傳播福音，並關愛青年、孤兒、窮人、被遺棄者和痲瘋病人。
隨著11月11日的來臨，這是聖若望鮑思高所渴望和推動的第一個慈幼會往遠方傳教團隊的150周年，他派遣首批傳教士前往阿根廷巴塔哥尼亞地區。在啟程前他對那十位傳教士士所說的話，至今仍頗具前瞻性：「我們以此開啟一項偉大的事業，並非因為我們認為幾天之內就能感化整個世界，不！但誰知道這小小的啟程，會不會像一粒種子，最終長成大樹？誰知道它會不會像一粒小黍或芥籽蔓延，逐漸擴展並獲得豐收？」這次遠航開啟了慈幼會傳教傳統的序幕，此後，慈幼會的傳教足跡遍布各大洲。其中包括雷鳴道主教，他是首位前往中國傳教的領隊，也是與聖加里斯多．高惠黎神父一同殉道的首批慈幼會士。Cameroni神父希望，這些見證者的親身記憶「能成為我們提升傳教意識、不斷學習如何成為可信的希望見證者、並在這個日益充滿自私和冷漠的世界中播下善良的種子。並以此為起點，開啟一段為紀念他們殉道一百週年（2030年）而進行的準備之旅。」
Italy – Oliva Gessi remembers St Louis (Aloysius) Versiglia
10 November 2025
(ANS – Oliva Gessi) – On Sunday 9 November 2025, the feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, the Christian and civil community at Oliva Gessi (province of Pavia and diocese of Tortona), with the parish priest Fr Luca Ghiacci and the mayor Dr Andrea Difilippi, commemorated St Louis (Aloysius) Versiglia. Andrea Difilippi recalled the testimony of the Saint, who was born in this small town in 1873 and died a martyr’s death in China on 25 February 1930, together with his confrere Callistus Caravario, and whose 25th anniversary of canonisation in Rome on 1 October 2000 occurs this year.
In the solemn Eucharist, presided over by Fr Pierluigi Cameroni, Postulator General for the Causes of Saints of the Salesian Family, it was highlighted how the two Salesian protomartyrs were living stones of the Church, and how their ‘blood is to the foundations of the Chinese Church, what the blood of Peter is to the foundations of the Church of Rome’, as St John Paul II said in his homily for their beatification. Presenting the rosary and the cilice used by St Louis Versiglia, Fr Cameroni highlighted how his missionary work was marked by many sacrifices and tears, sweat and blood, but animated by a great trust in the maternal help of Mary Help of Christians.
After the Eucharist, the book San Luigi Versiglia. Gli anni della missione in Cina e il martirio [St Louis Versiglia. The years of the mission in China and the martyrdom], by Dr Gianna Bruni., was presented The publication brings together documents and testimonies relating mainly to the apostolic and missionary action of Bishop Versiglia and is the result of a long and passionate research. The investigation was conducted on all fronts, extending from his homeland and various locations in Italy, to the territory of his Mission, China, to the European countries where Versiglia went in 1922, to the United States of America where he spent little more than a year in 1926. Of particular interest are the letters and reports written by Louis Versiglia and his fellow missionaries and published in the Salesian Bulletin over a period of twenty-five years (1906-1930). Dr Bruni reported how from the original intention of finding some films presenting Louis Versiglia, she arrived at a deep and living knowledge of this missionary. The book is an invitation to dive into the China of the first decades of the 20th century, marked by misery and continuous civil wars, to get to know its customs and traditions. It is an invitation to discover the tireless work of the Salesian missionaries who dedicated their lives to the evangelisation of the Chinese people and the support of young people, orphans, the poor, the abandoned and lepers.
As we approach 11 November, the 150th anniversary of the first Salesian missionary expedition desired and promoted by St John Bosco, who sent the first missionaries to the lands of Argentinean Patagonia, the words he said to the ten departing Salesians are prophetic: “In this way we are beginning a great work, not because we think we will convert the whole universe in a few days, no! But who knowsif this departure and this little bit is not like a seed from which a great plant will grow? Who knows if t it will not be like a grain of millet or mustard seed, which little by little spreads out and has great good to produce?” That first expedition represented the beginning of a missionary tradition that saw the Salesians take their work to all continents. Among them was Bishop Louis Versiglia, leader of the first expedition to China and the first Salesian martyr with St Callistus Caravario. May the living memory of these witnesses, Fr Cameroni hoped, ‘be an opportunity to increase our missionary sensitivity, to learn more and more to be credible witnesses of hope and to sow seeds of good in a world increasingly marked by selfishness and indifference. And mark the beginning of a journey of preparation for the centenary of their martyrdom that will fall in 2030.’