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Saint Freinademetz - Alta Badia

Saint Father Freinademetz is a highly spiritual figure worthy of devotion in the Val Badia.
His image is present in all the churches of the Val Badia villages and in many homes, as if to protect this marvellous valley and its inhabitants.
Born in Oies, near San Leonardo/Pedraces in 1852 to a family of peasants, he was ordained a priest in 1875.

Shortly afterwards. his strong vocation spurred him to become a missionary in China where he stayed until his death in 1908 from typhoid.
During his years in China, Father Freinademetz, sustained by his great faith, had to brave a life full of danger, persecution, disease and poverty in a land that was so far away and different from his Val Badia which he was never to forget, as shown by his many letters with vivid memories of its green mountain pastures and lofty peaks.

The first definite and documented miracle performed by Father Freinademetz dates back to 1939, but it was not until 1975 that Pope Paul VI beatified him and his canonisation is currently under way, with his proclamation as a saint due in the year 2003.
The church built to commemorate him and the house where he was born near Oies are the most evocative and intimate places to remember the life and works of this "great" man of Val Badia.


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