His childhood education was spent in Breno and he would later move in with his uncle Giuseppe Antonio Tovini in Brescia at the age of nine in order to continue his studies.
After the death of his uncle in 1897 he left his studies and enlisted in the Italian military where his personal piety had a profound effect on his fellow soldiers.
He ministered to the sick during the Spanish flu epidemic and assisted veterans after the war who cut short their studies for the priesthood.
He continually emphasized a devotion to the Eucharist, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the pontiff as the pillars of a priestly life.
Pope John Paul II recognized that he had lived a life of heroic virtue and named him to be Venerable on 12 April 2003.