Mariano Arciero

Blessed Mariano Arciero (26 February 1707 – 16 February 1788) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest who exercised his functions as a priest in Naples. He was a pastor and a theologian and was given the moniker "Apostle of Calabria".
He was beatified in 2012 after the recognition of a healing as a miracle that was attributed to his intercession.

Mariano Arciero was born in Terme in 1707.

The village priest - Emanuele Parisio - took him under his personal care for educational purposes. At the age of 22 he moved from his home to Naples where he attended a Eucharistic Congregation that the Jesuit Francesco Pavone established. At a Jesuit college he enrolled in he did his philosophical studies and also studied literature. Meanwhile, Parisio took charge of his theological studies which allowed for him to be ordained to the priesthood on 22 December 1731.

As a parish priest he soon became a model for fellow priests: he was active in all charitable acts and visited hospitals and other places to be with his people for his pastoral mission. The canon - Gennaro Fortunato - became bishop of Cassano in 1729 and desired that Arciero be in his diocese. Arciero devoted himself to the education of children and was known for astonishing conversions. To that end he was granted the moniker "Apostle of Calabria". After the death of Fortunato in 1751 he returned to Naples.

In 1768 he was named as the spiritual director of a diocesan congregation for the supervision of priests. He was named the director at the direction of Cardinal Antonio Sersale.

Arciero died on 16 February 1788 at 4:00pm. After his death Mary Frances of the Five Wounds - future saint - saw the angels guide his soul to Heaven. His body lay in state for three days in order to accommodate the stream of Neapolitans who came to pay their respects to him.

The beatification process commenced on 24 April 1830 and it bestowed the posthumous title of Servant of God upon him. Two local processes in Naples were held and both were ratified on 30 September 1842 so that the cause could continue. Pope Pius IX approved his life of heroic virtue and proclaimed him to be Venerable on August 14, 1854.

The miracle required for his beatification was investigated from 1953 until 1954 in Campagna and received ratification decades later on 31 March 2008. It received the approval of Pope Benedict XVI on 27 June 2011 who appointed Cardinal Angelo Amato - the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints - to preside over the beatification. It was held in Terme on 24 June 2012.