‘You desire a token from me. I have no token to give you other than an invitation to holiness. People seem to live unaware of supernatural realities, indifferent to the problems of salvation. But if a true saint, whether living or dead, passes by, everyone rushes to greet him.’
(Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster)

Milan, 1929. Upon the death of Cardinal Eugenio Tosi, Pope Pius XI appointed Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster (1880-1954), abbot of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, as archbishop of Milan, leaving many clergymen perplexed. A slender monk and scholar of the Benedictine movement and the ancient and medieval Church, Schuster had a deep understanding of the city of Milan: during his episcopate, he promoted important reforms and inaugurated the new seminary in Venegono Inferiore; during the barbarity of the Second World War, he was a true moral beacon, promoting concrete charitable initiatives for all. Upon his death, ‘everyone had the impression that a saint had died.’ .