Aloisius Variara
Italian missionary (1875–1923)
Feast: 1 February (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Luigi Variara was born at Viarigi near Asti on 15 January 1875. His father entrusted him to St John Bosco at Valdocco in 1887, and he became a Salesian, ordained on 24 April 1898.
Moved by the leprosy patients he served, he conceived the idea of young women consecrated to God even though they had leprosy, and founded the Daughters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. He died on 1 February 1923, aged 49.
The miracles
The Dicastery's biography does not describe the miracles approved in the cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
A Salesian who opened the religious life to women with leprosy and gave himself wholly to the sick.
The cause
The cause continues. No postulation address is published here yet. Favours received through this person’s intercession, and offers of help, are best sent to the religious order or congregation they belonged to, or to the diocese where the cause was opened; either will pass them to the postulation.
Connected on this site
- John Bosco Saint“His father entrusted him to St John Bosco at Valdocco in 1887, and he became a Salesian, ordained on 24 April 1898.” — this site's research
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Luigi Variara
- Wikidata Q721779 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Luigi Variara (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.