Early Life
He was born at Limone sul Garda, Brescia, Italy, into a family of cultivators employed by one of the rich local proprietors. Luigi and Domenica, his parents, were very attached to Daniel, being the fourth of eight children, but the only one to survive into adulthood: all the others died young, six of them in their infancy. Because of this tragedy, the family formed a very close unit, rich in faith and human values, but poor in material things. This poverty is the reason that Daniel went away to school in Verona, at the Institute founded by Father Nicola Mazza. During the years spent in Verona, Daniel discovered his calling to the priesthood, and completed his studies of Philosophy and Theology. Above all he was is entranced by the mission to Central Africa, drawn by the descriptions of the missionaries who returned from there to the Fr. Mazza's Institute. On 31 December 1854, the year of the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, Daniel was ordained a priest by Blessed John N. Tschiderer, Bishop of Trent. Three years later he left for Africa along with five other missionaries of the Mazza Institute. He also had the blessing of his mother Domenica, who finally tells him: “Go, Daniel, and may the Lord bless you”.
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