DON PIETRO OMIT was born in Grosotto, in the province of Sondrio on 15 September 1866 to Orsola Noli and Cristoforo Osmetti. The faith of pious parents took care to assure him the grace of regeneration to heavenly life, bringing him three days later to the sacred baptismal font. God took possession of that soul never to abandon it again. In Grosotto the mothers had nothing dearer than placing all their little ones under the protection of the Madonna delle Grazie: the good Orsola certainly could not fail in what was considered a sacred duty.
Pietro's family is very poor: bread is increasingly scarce and Cristoforo makes a resolution that would have cost so many tears. He borrowed a sum of money, in 1869 he left for America with many hopes in his traveling bag. But for him, as for many other people, America was not the "promised land" hoped for. Two years after his departure, he let it be known that he still couldn't send anything... then there was no more news.
Meanwhile, in Grosotto's house, poverty reached the limits of misery. In those years, Pietro would later recall, the poor mother had to work hard to support herself with the three little ones, but God's Providence, however, never failed to help them in different ways. Pietro grew up in hardship, getting used to the spirit of sacrifice and trust in Divine Providence from those tender years.
At the age of 6 he began to attend school. But in those days, in peasant homes, the boys alternated study with work in the fields and sheep farming to help their families. So it was for Peter.
He received Confirmation on 12 September 1873, at the age of 7 and a few years later was admitted to First Holy Communion.
After finishing school, he devoted himself entirely to agricultural work on his fields and, on a day-to-day basis, on other people's fields. A good support to the meager income of mother Orsola.
Pietro's adolescence passed like that of all the young people of the village: work and some entertainment, simple and naive amusements and amusements, perhaps with some bravado characteristic of the age, but which left a sense of guilt in our delicate soul , which he will repent several times, considering himself a great sinner, in need of conversion. The testimonies of his companions, on the other hand, agree in declaring Peter's exemplary nature, "... an excellent young man of judgment and virtue ... if everyone were like him the world would be a Paradise ..." Yet Peter will always remember as a great thanks the moment of his "conversion", "the hour of grace" as he used to call it. He recalled that one year due to his enthusiasm for work he fell ill and had to leave the work in the fields to go to bed..."in that time of rest and convalescence I returned to myself and the grace of God made its way into me and I knew better the purpose of life which is to know, love and serve God, giver of all good and all happiness. And therefore I turned to Him, fearing Him and praying to Him and adoring Him more than in the past. He became more assiduous at functions, at good works; long and intense hours of prayer in search of his way.
Brother Pietro Osmetti's path to holiness
With Don Guanella
Peter felt strongly the Lord's call, but he didn't know what exactly he had to do. He was thinking about religious life, but where and with whom? Providence wanted a very dear friend of his, a certain Giuseppe Trinca, to be found in the same search. Now Trinca's sister, named Orsola, like Pietro's mother, after raising her brother to replace her mother who died prematurely, felt strongly her vocation to become a religious in order to devote herself totally to God.
Having talked about it with the parish priest, in 1893 he sent her to Como to don Guanella, by then known in the Diocese as the Apostle of charity and who had started, even if not yet in a formal way, two Congregations: one for girls and one for the youth. Ursula was accepted. But Giuseppe also went to accompany his sister to Don Guanella and with him our Pietro and another young man. Don Guanella accepted them all and so on the morning of December 10, the Feast of the Holy House of Loreto, Pietro and his two companions left Grosotto definitively to serve Jesus in the person of the poor with Don Luigi Guanella.
At the time of Osmetti, the Casa don Guanella was a Noah's ark that opened its doors to all sorts of shipwrecked people. Don Guanella's "clinical" eye immediately identified the right place for Peter: among the sick old men to heal his body and spirit wounds.
He made his first profession on March 17, 1898 and perpetuated it on April 5, 1908, a few days after the first perpetual profession in the history of the Congregation, made by Fr Guanella with his first confreres on March 24, 1908.
The nurse of the poor
And so the young farmer, who grew up in the free air of the fields, first became a good waiter for the poor and then a valid and diligent nurse. Those who lived with him testify that he had a good word for everyone, with great patience and charity, always with a smile on his lips, attentive in his service and available to everyone. Night and day is between them. There is no shortage, as always happens, of ingratitudes and even insults, but he doesn't seem to notice, indeed he reciprocates with new and more exquisite attentions and proofs of love.
In this work, or rather mission, which lasts until death, he completes his journey towards the goal of holiness. Strength is drawn from mainly Eucharistic prayer, as Don Guanella invited us to do. He prayed, he himself says, as a son prays to his father. Even during his work he never ceased to turn his mind and ejaculations to the Father of all good, Providence for him and for his poor old men.
Nor with less fervor did he address the Blessed Virgin to whom he felt indebted for his "conversion" and the heavenly Mother responded with ever more abundant and new favours.
Love for God and for the Virgin became zeal for charity and apostolate throughout his life. Peter was zealous for the honor of the Lord in the souls of his old and infirm ones, while he cared for their bodies and healed their wounds with maternal delicacy. He spent hours and hours in the infirmary assisting his patients.
Don Guanella taught in omnibus charitas and Pietro followed this invitation of the Founder to perfection. It was always everything for the others. He used to repeat.” We are not here for ourselves, but we are here for these poor people! ... ”and this until the end of his days.
Sunset
After 70, the ailments worsened rather rapidly until he was forced to bed throughout the winter of 1940-41. The bed became a true altar of piety and immolation; true teaching chair with the example and with the simple and sublime word.
He lived and died for the Congregation. And yet, even in those moments of serious illness, she never ceased to think of others.
Sick, he never ceased to be a nurse, so much so that he often brought aid to the room neighbor who was certainly no worse off than him...
The illness had ups and downs, as often happens in these cases, there was also a small recovery and Pietro resumed his job, but it didn't last long... he went back to bed so as not to get up again.
On December 27, 1943, around 23 pm, his beautiful and holy soul united with the Founder and with the various confreres who had already preceded him in Heaven.