(ANS – Chiari) – Once again this year the “Auxilium Don Silvio Galli”, a non-profit Association bringing initial assistance to the marginalized, and the Salesians of Don Bosco, Chiari, planned a “Three days with Don Galli” event for the 13th anniversary of the death of Servant of God Fr. Silvio Galli, SDB (Palazzolo Milanese, September 10, 1927 – Chiari, June 12, 2012).
On Thursday, June 12, monthly adoration took place in the church of San Bernardino.
Saturday, June 14, saw the presentation of ‘Domenichino del Sacro Monte di Varese,’ a book by Carla Tocchetti, interviewed by Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni, Postulator General for the Causes of Saints of the Salesian Family. The essay recounts many unpublished facts, including the historical framework of Domenichino’s life (1936-1950) at Sacro Monte. Fr. Silvio Galli’s significant text on Domenichino embellishes the publication. The evening was interspersed with organ pieces performed by Maestro Maurizio Scalvini and the testimony of Fr. Adriani Sandri.
Domenico Zamberletti was born in Santa Maria del Monte, now a suburb of Varese, on August 24, 1936, the second of three children. He grew up under the guidance of his parents, educated in charity and generosity towards the poor. He attended the sanctuary of Santa Maria del Monte, on Varese’s Sacro Monte, with his family, where he performed liturgical service as an altar boy and, from the age of nine, as titular organist. In October 1947, Domenichino, as everyone called him, became a middle school day student at the Salesian College in Varese. During those years, the thought of becoming a priest began to arise. In January 1949, symptoms of leukaemia began to appear, which would lead to his death on May 29, 1950. Domenichino offered his suffering for the Pope, for priests, for poor children, and for educators.
During his time at the Salesian house in Varese, and particularly during the serious illness that would lead to his death, Domenichino formed a special friendship with Silvio Galli, a young cleric who showed him great kindness and comforted him during his illness. But another great worry for Domenichino was the idea of having to renounce his much-dreamed-of priesthood. So a pact was made between the two: they would go halves! Domenichino promised his friend that he would always be close to him. He would help him in difficulties, advise him in difficult cases; he would always pray for him, for the souls that the Lord would allow him to meet, for the effectiveness of his mission. And when his friend raised his hand to bless, Dominic would also raise his; when he spoke, he would lend him his voice, when he approached a soul, he would interpose all his intercession so that it might be docile to divine grace. “So I am happy! I will be a priest!” said Dominichino, radiant with joy and with an unforgettable expression on his face and voice.
Finally, on Sunday June 15, under the inner roof of the Salesian institute, Mass was celebrated, presided over by Bishop Gaetano Fontana, Vicar General of the Diocese of Brescia, with the accompaniment of the “La Buona Novella” choir. In his homily, Archbishop Fontana spoke of Fr. Galli as a man who knew how to transform his ‘tribulations’ and those of the brothers and sisters he met in his priestly ministry into paths of “patience,” of ‘proven virtue’ to bring about the ‘hope that does not disappoint.’