He was born the seventh of eight children. On 6 September 1876, suddenly, his father Lodovico passed away at the age of 35. As bishop, he recalls that every evening his mother said to her five-year-old orphaned son and to her other children: "Kneel down for the holy Rosary: your poor father has given you and left an example". He entered the seminary and was ordained a priest on June 12, 1897.
He was parish priest in Arzo for the first six years, spiritual director in the seminary of Pollegio from 1903 to 1906. He then joined the congregation founded by don Guanella in 1906. Later, in 1911, he fled to Trappa delle Tre Fontane in Rome because he felt the cloistered vocation was strong, but Don Guanella managed to convince him to leave the Trappa and to accept the appointment as parish priest of San Giuseppe al Trionfale, the "Basilichetta".
He became superior general of the Congregation of Don Guanella in 1915. On 12 January 1917 he was elected titular bishop of Daulia and apostolic administrator of Lugano (Switzerland). His commitment is alive in the reorganization of Catholic Action, in the promotion of religious teaching and for the display of the crucifix in public places. He founded many diocesan institutions, among which, in 1926, the "Giornale del Popolo" and the Company of Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus. He is defined as the "Apostle of the Sacred Heart".
He was declared Venerable on March 15, 2008.
