DURANDO, MARCANTONIO. – Missionary of St. Vincent, founder of the Nazarene Sisters, brother of the well-known general D. N. Born in Mondovì on 22 May 1801, he died in Turin on 10 Dec. 1880. He entered the Congregation of the Mission on 18 Nov. 1818 and was ordained a priest on 12 June 1824; subsequently he was superior of the provincial house in Turin and then visitor (provincial) for 46 years. He governed the community during the difficult period of the revolutionary movements, with wisdom and firmness.
He had the merit of introducing the Daughters of Charity into Italy (1834), where they soon multiplied, with the support of the Savoy sovereigns, in a great number of works; he established the “Houses of Mercy,” which became the charitable centers of the urban parishes of Upper Italy; assisted by the servant of God Luigia Borgiotti, on 21 Nov. 1865 he founded the Institute of the Daughters of the Passion of Jesus Nazarene (Nazarene Sisters), with the purpose of assisting the sick in their homes. The particular feature of the Institute is that only young women of illegitimate birth may belong to II. For approximately half a century D. played a prominent part in many other charitable or religious initiatives that arose in Piedmont. The cause of beatification was introduced on 11 March 1941.