In recent weeks I’ve talked with several people who were struggling with the way God’s providence has played out in their lives. In each instance my thoughts immediately turned to the saint of Divine Providence, Saint Joseph Cottolengo.
I have written about Divine Providence elsewhere (see my article here). The life of this saint, however, speaks to us of how much more we can trust in God’s goodness.
Early Life
Born on May 3rd, 1786, Saint Joseph Benedict Cottolengo grew up in small town near Turin, Italy. The oldest child in a well-to-do family, Joseph learned a love for the poor at a young age from his mother. Although he had a quick temper and a sharp tongue, eventually he, as well as his two brothers, would be ordained priests.
In the diocese, Joseph was highly respected by everyone for his preaching, his holiness, and his love for the poor. Just about everyone thought he was the holiest priest around. Yet, Joseph cared little for the opinions of his fellow citizens and family members.
The Little House of Divine Providence
Joseph knew that God was calling him to give his life to serve the poor. He also knew his calling was to build a hospital, and, indeed, an entire series of houses, for the poor, the sick, the handicapped, and the elderly. It was to be the Little House of Divine Providence.
When he showed the first, small hospital to his brother, the brother asked about the need for it. Saint Joseph replied: “It is not man’s place to search into the deep mysteries of Divine Providence. Our duty is to remove all obstacles to its working, and then co-operate with it. . . . I cannot foresee or foretell what might happen, but I know that it is foolish to seek to enclose the mighty working of God’s providence within the narrow limits of our petty minds.”[1]
In other words, we’re simply instruments. To trust in Divine Providence doesn’t mean to sit back and simply let God do everything. Rather, we should get to work, to “remove obstacles,” and to trust that nothing, not even our limitations and failings, can stop God’s work.
The reaction of his friends and family
When he began this work, Saint Joseph went, almost overnight, from being the beloved priest and brother to a hated outcast. His siblings complained incessantly, his creditors always demanded their money, and on numerous occasions people even tried to murder him.
Finally, at a meeting his fellow canons, with the government’s support, ordered him to close that first hospice in Volta Rossa or to move out of the city. Joseph simply smiled and listened. When their clamoring ceased, he replied that he had expected it to end this way: “The Hospice of Volta Rossa is too small. . . . It must develop and expand.”
You can imagine the response. Amidst the yelling and anger, one of his opponents asked, “What[?] [D]o you still cling to that hospital scheme?” Another retorted, “After such a complete failure, I defy you to support a score [of the poor, the old, the forlorn, the sick].” Cottolengo replied, “I will support thousands of them if it so pleases God.”[2]
Notice Saint Joseph’s single-minded devotion to the task at hand. God’s providence will solve all problems and provide solutions. If He doesn’t, then it will be because it’s not what He wants. In Saint Joseph’s own words: “Providence is rich, and will provide for these and for many more. Is it more difficult for God to support a thousand than a hundred?”[3]
On one occasion the ruler of the territory urged Cottolengo to hire an accountant and keep meticulous records, under the pretense that people would be denied their due when Cottolengo died. Cottolengo replied, “Sir, how long has Providence ruled this universe? During that long period, has it been known that Providence has wronged any one, or denied any one his due? Or does it keep books and registers? Has it ever become bankrupt? The Piccola Casa is the House of Providence, ruled by it, provided for by it. It will never be a loser itself, or be the cause of losses to anyone.”[4]
Two instances of Saint Joseph’s trust
There are two stories of Saint Joseph’s life that I love to repeat, because they show how deep his trust in Providence was.
The first story involves one of his religious sisters. She came running to Cottolengo to tell him that the House had no food for lunch, but she had saved a small coin, the only money in the entire house. Father asked for it and, once he had it in hand, he promptly threw it out the nearest open window. “There,” he said, “now we have absolutely nothing, and Divine Providence will have to provide.” Of course, providence provided in abundance.
The story is a good reminder for us: some biographers recount that the sister has the coin “in her bosom,” that is, close to her heart. [5] What would that coin have bought anyways? Certainly not enough for all the people in the house. Yet, she trusted in her coin rather than in her God.
The second story involves a payment that Cottolengo needed to make. He left his house in the morning, without any money to make the payment. As he was walking, a family called him in and offered him the amount needed.[6] Cottolengo would later offer that money to the poor, but, when it was time to pay, God again provided.
I like to reflect on that story: what is my level of confidence in Divine Providence? Would I have even left the house in the morning, knowing I had no money? Would I have accepted the first payment, and refused to give it to the poor who asked for it? Or would I have trusted enough to receive the first donation, give it away, and trust that God would provide it a second time?
The Death of Joseph Cottolengo
Providence even provided for Cottolengo after his death on April 30th 1842.
Towards the end of his life, a merchant approached the Little House, selling a new style of lantern that protected the candle flame from wind and rain. Not given to frivolous purchases, Joseph nonetheless asked the nun in charge of such acquisitions to buy one. He told her, “It is well to have and remember to light it for the first time when, sooner or later, I happen to come in at night when it is dark.”
Joseph died away from the House of Providence, in a room he had prepared for his death over the years. “The remains of Saint Joseph Cottolengo were brought to the door [of the House of Providence], early in the morning, when it was still pitch black. The Sisters were all standing in the courtyard with wax candles in their hands, but the heavy rain and high wind had extinguished every candle-light, leaving only the gleam of that [one] lantern to guide the precious remains of Joseph Cottolengo back home.”[7]
Conclusion
The workings of Divine Providence are indeed often hard to understand. However, as Saint Thomas Aquinas writes: “It is because we do not know His reasons that we think many things happen without order or plan. We are like a man who enters a carpenter shop and thinks that there is a useless multiplication of tools because he does not know how each one is used; but one who knows the trade will see that this number of tools exists for a very good reason.”[8]
God uses many and manifold tools to carry out His designs. We will only see clearly in heaven; until then, our task is to trust in His designs and work with Him.
[1] Pietro Paolo Gastaldi, The Life of the Venerable Joseph Benedict Cottolengo: Founder of the Little House of Divine Providence, 65.
[2] Gastaldi, 81.
[3] Gastaldi, 105.
[4] Gastaldi, 134-5.
[5] Gastaldi recounts this detail, but Ann Ball gives a better description of the event in Modern Saints.
[6] Gastaldi, 147-8.
[7] Gastaldi, 244-45.
[8] De Veritate q. 5, a. 5, ad 5
