Photo Caption: Mary Jo Cleary, Mary Quist, Dianne Conrad, Jo Wrich and Carol Koval stand in St. Peter’s Square. Behind them is a portrait of their famous relative, St. Louis Guanella.

By: By Jennifer Willems

STREATOR — Many people get rosaries when they visit Rome, but Carol Koval’s is truly one of a kind.

It belonged to St. Louis Guanella, a member of her extended family who was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on Oct. 23. She was in St. Peter’s Square for the Mass, at which St. Guido Maria Conforti and St. Bonifacia Rodriguez were also declared saints.

The rosary was given to her by the Daughters of St. Mary of Providence, a religious community founded by St. Guanella, while visiting their motherhouse. There is a museum there with his vestments, chair and other items he used.

“I feel almost guilty to have it,” Mrs. Koval told The Catholic Post after returning to Streator from a weeklong family pilgrimage. “What I’m thinking about doing is making a wall plaque with the rosary and a picture of him.”

Accompanying her on the family pilgrimage were her husband, Dan, and daughters, Mary Jo Cleary of Epiphany Parish in Normal, and Dianne Conrad of Cadillac, Mich., with her husband, Alan. Also making the trip were Mrs. Koval’s sister-in-law, Pat Thompson, and her daughters, Mary Quist and Jo Wrich.

A member of St. Michael the Archangel Parish here, Mrs. Koval is related to St. Luigi, as the family knows him, through her great-great-grandmother, Mary Ursula Guanella. Mary Ursula and the new saint’s father, Lorenzo Guanella, were brother and sister.

IN HIS FOOTSTEPS
Over the years there were conversations about their famous relative, especially among her older sisters, Mrs. Koval said. She credits one of them, Carmen, for piquing her curiosity. Four years ago the Kovals traveled to Italy to visit the places that were significant in St. Luigi’s life and to see his incorrupt body, which is encased in a glass coffin at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Como.

St. Guanella was born on Dec. 19, 1842, in Fraciscio, Italy. Mrs. Koval said his father was the mayor of Campodolcino and the future saint tended sheep. Interested in becoming a priest, he was sent to the seminary in Como and ordained in 1866.

During his ministry he was befriended by St. John Bosco and Pope Pius X and it was with the pope’s blessing that he opened a shelter for homeless children in Rome and built the Church of St. Joseph. Mrs. Koval said Pope Pius X sent St. Luigi to the United States in 1911 to help the Italian immigrants here.

In addition to the Daughters of St. Mary of Providence, he founded the Servants of Charity, a community of priests and brothers, and the Confraternity of St. Joseph, whose members pledge to pray for the sick and dying.

St. Luigi died on Oct. 24, 1915, and was beatified by Pope Paul VI in 1964.

“SO BLESSED”
Mrs. Koval said St. Luigi must have been looking out for them during their most recent visit, because some members of their group found the Daughters of St. Mary of Providence convent by accident. They saw his picture over the door while they were out for a walk, she told The Post.

“They were so happy to see us and to know that we were related to him,” she said. “They invited us to dinner the next day. It was a holiday for them.”

In addition to the seven-course meal, the Americans went to a celebratory Mass with the Sisters and the church was filled with the handicapped men and women they serve. “It was heartwarming to see all these people,” Mrs. Koval said.

Another highlight was their tour of St. Peter’s Basilica, which included the tombs of the popes. They also had dinner with Father Daniel Gallagher, a Michigan priest and friend of the Conrads who serves as a Latinist at the Vatican.

Mrs. Koval said that as members of the Guanella family they had seats at the canonization Mass and she enjoyed “just being near the pope. You always have a special feeling there.”

She said the whole experience was “overwhelming.”

“It makes you wonder why you are so blessed,” added her husband, Dan.

Married since 1954, the Kovals, both 80, are longtime members of the Streator Catholic community. Mr. Koval graduated from St. Stephen’s School and has served as an extraordinary minister of holy Communion at the church and at St. Mary’s Hospital, sung in the choir and taught CCD. Mrs. Koval is a eucharistic minister.

“We keep busy wherever we can help out,” Mr. Koval said.