Giuseppe was born in 1851 in Verona, a city on the Adige River in Torri del Benaco, Italy.  From his mother he learned a sense of order and precision and from his father, a love of work and the liveliness of character.  His family were devout Catholics and he had an early calling to the religious life, which grew with his adolescence, but also with confliction.  Still he entered seminary training at Verona, Venetia.

At the age of 23, he graduated with his Masters, was ordained a priest, and served as a teacher for 3 years at the parish of San Pietro di Lavagno. 

He was then transferred to the small village of Castelletto, with a population of about 1,000,  where he served as a simple parish priest.  The children were neglected, the youth were uneducated, and religious were living alone without care.  Families were disrupted as they split to find work elsewhere.  They were only connected with a ferry, as they were also lacking in roads, and other means of transportation.  He worked hard to improve living conditions but the burden was great.  He also tried to persuade several congregations to send nuns to the area but none would come. 

After 7 years he was discouraged and gave up as the burden was great.  He appeared before the Bishop with a letter of resignation in his pocket. Instead, the Bishop, Cardinal Bartolomeo Bacilieri, proposed that he found a new religious order for the community.

He then gathered the first 4 girls willing to embrace the religious life, sent them to the novitiate in Verona, and prepared a convent in their village.  Hence the Institute of Little Sisters of the Holy Family was formed, which included Saint Maria Domenica Mantovani.

The new foundation gave him the courage, imagination, creativity, and strength he needed.  He restored municipal utilities of water and electrical while implementing new mail and telegraph services to connect the village with the rest of the country.  He helped establish the local bank and post office, promoted the olive oil industry to keep families together, and oversaw the construction of the parish church, an oratory, a nursery school, an orphanage, and a nursing home.

He cared for his flock spiritually and materially.

He suffered from a stroke on December 31, 1916 and spent the remainder of his life in a wheelchair.  He experienced poor health and was plagued with various illnesses.  He died January 21, 1922, while his Sisters spread around the world.  He was beatified in 1988 by Pope John Paul II.

His feast day is January 22.

For God’s Glory.