Having met Fr. Bosco in 1845, he began to attend the oratory directed by him in 1847 and gave himself entirely to it in 1855, thus becoming the first Salesian of the future society. Ordained priest in 1860, he immediately received important assignments, which he carried out to the satisfaction of all who knew him: director of the schools and the oratory at Vanchiglia and of the first college in Turin, prefect of the Salesian Society, first visitor of houses; in 1884 vicar general, in 1888 successor of Fr. Bosco in the governance of the Congregation.
He wished to be entirely like him and made it his program to sustain and develop the works begun by the founder, to follow faithfully the methods taught by him, and to imitate him as a model. Under his watchful and paternal guidance, the Society grew greatly and spread widely, not only in Europe but also in distant missions. So great was the common reputation of holiness that he enjoyed that on 15 January 1936 the cause of his beatification was introduced (AAS 28 [1936], pp. 237-40).