You are cordially invited to celebrate the 90th Birthday and 65th Anniversary of Priestly Ordination of Father Xavier Colleoni on Monday, May 8, 2017, beginning with Mass at 6:30 p.m. in the temple. After Mass we will continue the celebration in the Comboni Hall.
Fr. Xavier Colleoni
Fr. Xavier Colleoni was born in Bergamo, Italy in 1927. For 65 years he has been a faithful Comboni Missionary. He currently works at Holy Cross Parish in Los Angeles doing pastoral ministry among the Latino community. He first came to the United States in 1948 as a seminarian. During and shortly after World War II, many German and Italian Comboni Missionaries were not free to mission in Africa. So the superiors started sending students to other countries, including the United States. After his ordination in 1952, Fr. Colleoni taught Latin at Sacred Heart Seminary in Cincinnati. He has served in parishes throughout the United States, mainly in California. For more than 20 years Fr. Colleoni has served at Holy Cross Parish in Los Angeles. During his time there the parish has grown significantly, at times having up to 10 masses with 9 of them in Spanish. Besides his pastoral work, Fr. Xavier also makes candles. This started out as a hobby. A local business man used wax for his business and donated the extra wax to the mission. Fr. Xavier still makes candles on a regular basis for Holy Cross.
Since he no longer travels long distances to keep his energy for pastoral work at Holy Cross, the Comboni Community asked his brother priest Enrico Colleoni, who is a Comboni Missionary in Zambia, to come and visit him here, in Los Angeles. Tina Colleoni, their sister, will accompany Fr. Enrico to visit Fr. Xavier from May 3 to May 13, 2017.
The leaders of the parish of Holy Cross want to take this opportunity to join both anniversaries into one big heartfelt celebration, Fr. Xavier’s 90 birthday and 65th anniversary of priestly ordination! The Mass and celebration are May 8, 2017 at 6:30 p.m. at Holy Cross Parish 4705 S Main St, Los Angeles CA, 90037.
