The Sons of Divine Providence (Figli della Divina Provvidenza), or Orionine Fathers, was founded in 1893 by Saint Luigi Orione (1872-1940) in Turin, Italy. Over a century later, this Roman Catholic organization dedicated to helping the poor is still active in 23 nations throughout the world.
Saint Luigi Orione's motto, and that of the SDP, is: "Fare del bene a tutti, fare del bene sempre, del male mai a nessuno." ("Do good to all, help everyone, harm no one.")
Currently, the Sons of Divine Providence number 1023: 3 bishops, 728 priests, 82 brothers, 8 monks. In formation there are 201 clerics and 19 brothers of temporary vows, 45 novices. The SDP have centers in 296 localities in 28 nations. In the United States, the headquarters of the congregation is at the National Shrine of the Madonna, located on a historic hill in East Boston, Massachusetts, known as Orient Heights.
Famous quotes containing the words sons of, sons, divine and/or providence:
“The sons of Judah have to choose that God may again choose them.... The divine principle of our race is action, choice, resolved memory.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“Being the sons of mothers whose husbands had blundered rather brutally through their feminine sanctities, they were themselves too diffident and shy. They could easier deny themselves than incur any reproach from a woman; for a woman was like their mother, and they were full of the sense of their mother. They preferred themselves to suffer the misery of celibacy, rather than risk the other person.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“Let us have compassion for those under chastisement. Alas, who are we ourselves? Who am I and who are you? Whence do we come and is it quite certain that we did nothing before we were born? This earth is not without some resemblance to a gaol. Who knows but that man is a victim of divine justice? Look closely at life. It is so constituted that one senses punishment everywhere.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
“Who can ... guess how much industry and providence and affection we have caught from the pantomime of brutes?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)