As a young adult, Arcangelo had an accident that left him with a lifelong limp. He entered the seminary in Brescia, Italy at age 18. Ordained in 1870, but illness forced him to spend his first year of priesthood with his family. Curate in the mountain village of Lodrino from 1871 to 1873. Curate at the Shrine of Santa Maria della Noce near Brescia. Noted for his attention to his parishioners, and his care for refugees. Curate at Botticino Sera in 1885; parish priest there in 1887, a post he held the rest of his life. He revitalized his parish, involved the parishioners, and made the church the center of the community. He founded the Workers’ Mutual Aid Association, a form of social insurance for the sick, injured and aged. He used his own inheritance to build a modern spinning factory, employing local women, and using the profits to build a residence for them. He founded the Congregation of Worker Sisters of the Holy House of Nazareth who worked in factories with other women, teaching them when they could, and leading them by example. Father Arcangelo’s strength came from prayer, much of it spent in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
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