The birth of a child is usually considered a “blessed event” for parents, and so it was for Italian Catholics Domenico and Rosa Luciani Sulprizio on April 13, 1817 when a son, Nunzio, was born. It was roughly a week after Easter that year and Nunzio, who was named for his recently departed grandfather, was the bright spot in a year of widespread famine in his native Pescara, (Kingdom of the Two Sicilies), Italy. His devout parents had him baptized before sunset that same day. Three years later, they presented him to the bishop of the newly created Diocese of Sulmona for the Sacrament of Confirmation. Two months later, in mid-summer, his father died leaving a widow, Nunzio and a baby daughter Domenica. Sadly, Nunzio’s sister died five months later on Dec. 7, 1820.