In Pace Christi

Guido Zabeo was born in Cadoneghe (Padua) on 15^th December 1939. He was soon left without his father, and his mother Ida had to provide for him, his three brothers and two sisters. In August 1952, Guido asked to join the Institute of the Comboni Missionaries. Father Alberto Buffoni, vocation recruiter at the Apostolic School of Padua, invited him to a month-long experience during the summer. This is his opinion of him: “Very willing and docile. More than sufficiently intelligent.”

In September, Guido joined the seminary in Padua. The following year, however, on the advice of his superiors, he decided to become a missionary brother and entered the Professional Training School (SDP) that the Comboni Missionaries had at Thiene. After the preparatory course in 1953, he enrolled in the two-year specialisation course in mechanics and carpentry, and then in a complementary course in masonry, obtaining a “certificate of qualification” in June 1956.

On 13^th September 1953 he went to the novitiate in Gozzano. On 15^th September 1958, he took his first vows and was sent to Mirfield (England), where the Comboni Missionaries were building a house to host a new community. Guido was a good bricklayer and threw himself into his work with enthusiasm.

In July 1962, he was requested as a construction worker in the prelature of Balsas (Brazil), headed by Msgr. Giovanni Battista Parodi, mccj. On 9^th September 1964, in the mission parish of Loreto, Maranhão, Guido made his perpetual religious profession. He remained in Brazil until June 1977, always engaged in construction, but also a member of the regional council for some periods.

In Italy, in October 1976, the general administration “is looking for a solution to the increasingly serious problem of assistance to elderly and sick confreres who need care in Verona,” wrote father Severino Peano, Vicar General, on behalf of Father General, Tarcisio Agostoni, to father Florio Chizzali, superior of the Combonian region of North-East Brazil. The letter continues: “Some time ago, they made an appeal to various regions and provinces in this regard, but the appeal has so far remained unanswered. Now, however, during the dialogues with the Brothers who are attending a course in Rome, we have ascertained that Brother Guido Zabeo is willing to accept this assignment and would also be happy about it, because – he told us –, after 14 years of work in the mission, he would have the chance to have a new experience and lend a hand to his home province. His only concern is that of creating a problem for you, who have always given him all your trust, as well as not being able to complete the work of promotion that Msgr. Rino Carlesi, new Bishop of Balsas, had entrusted him and to which he had committed himself. He does not intend to say his full ‘yes’, without your approval and blessing.”

It was only after many months of frequent correspondence between the general management, the provincial superior of Italy and the regional superior of North-East Brazil, with the complication of an operation which Brother Guido was forced to undergo in July 1977, that the Verona Centre for the Sick had the joy of having a nurse entirely dedicated to them.

Brother Guido remained at the Centre in Verona until the end of June 1983, when he was given the green light to return to North-East Brazil. He reached Balsas in July of the following year, and was appointed provincial treasurer-procurator, a post he filled for eight years, until June 1992.

In July, he returned to Italy and spent a year in the Comboni community of Messina. The following year, he moved to Florence, as a house maintenance worker. From July 1993 to July 1994, he was in the postulancy community in Florence, looking after the house and then moved to the Centre for the Sick in Verona, as a nurse, until 1997, when he was required, again as a nurse, at the ‘Ambrosoli Centre’ in Milan, where he was placed in charge. He continued in this role until 2005, when the Superior General, Father Teresino Serra, told him that he could return to Brazil: “I know you left your heart in that mission land and that leaving again is a source of great joy for you”.

In February 2006, Guido went to the house of Msgr. Gianfranco Masserdotti, new bishop of the diocese Balsas, in. His joy was brief. He received a new letter from Father Teresino Serra reassigning him to the Italian province from 1^st July 2007. His new appointment was to Brescia Centre for the Sick but he was also involved in various missionary animation activities and initiatives of the diocese.

At the beginning of 2010, he was sent to the Rebbio (Como) Centre for the Sick, responsible for the care of sick confreres. In November 2012, he was needed in Arco, again as a nurse for the elderly confreres. After just over a year, he returned to Rebbio, where he stayed for two and a half years.

But he was now growing old and in May 2016, he was admitted for treatment to the ‘Brother Alfredo Fiorini’ Centre” in Castel d’Azzano until September, before settling permanently at the Milan Centre until 2022.

On 28^th August 2022, he returned to Castel d’Azzano. He had given 20 years of service to his sick brothers, but now he is the one who needs to be cared for. He accepted it as the most natural thing in the world.

In early September 2023, his general situation rapidly deteriorated. He is immediately taken to the emergency room. A quick visit suggests to the doctors that he be admitted immediately to the medical department of the hospital in Borgo Roma, Verona, where he is diagnosed with a severe lung infection. Unfortunately, Brother Guido did not respond to medicine or to the administration of oxygen. On 11^th September, around 2.30 pm, he passed away.

On the 14^th, his funeral was celebrated with Father Renzo Piazza, superior of the community, presiding. Father Fabio Baldan, provincial superior, and other confreres of the community concelebrated the Mass. Brother Guido’s relatives and friends were also present. Immediately after the ceremony, the remains were taken to the Verona cemetery for burial. (Father Franco Moretti, mccj)