The Apostolate of the Suffering has been in existence for 78 years.

 Founded in 1947 by a young priest, Msgr. Luigi Novarese, who lived and worked in Rome, Italy.  

As a young child of nine years of age, Luigi suffered a terrible fall and became very ill, staying motionless. Doctors diagnosed his condition as Tubercular Bone Disease. He was placed in a body cast, in an attempt to keep his legs straight.  

His journey from hospital to hospital brought him neither relief nor results, but this young boy was far from loosing hope. Since his childhood he retained a tender and filial devotion to the Mother of God. This Marian dimension is evident in the foundation of what would later become his life's work. He suffered quietly while he continued to pray with full confidence for a miraculous healing of his serious condition.

At the age of 17, he received his longed-for miracle, a complete and instantaneous healing. The events took the following path:  he wrote a letter to Fr. Filippo Rinaldi, successor of Don Bosco, in which he asked the favor of praying for his healing, saying:  "Don Bosco loved young people.  Well, I am young too!  Will you please pray and ask others to pray for me to be healed?" The response from Fr. Rinaldi read:  "Join our prayers and be confident!"  After three novenas, his open wounds healed, and he regained the use of his legs. This took place quite rapidly and unexpectedly on May 17, 1931.

Young Luigi never forgot his suffering and the sufferings of others which he witnessed while being sick for so many years.  He planned to further his education in the medical field, but God had different plans for him.

  Following God's calling, he was ordained a priest.  Then by God's providence, he met Sister Elvira Psorulla who shared the same special vocation for the suffering and together they formed a new Apostolate that would serve as an invitation for the suffering individuals to live their lives with courage and perseverance, realizing their purpose and mainly achieving something great for the Kingdom of God through their suffering.

Msgr. Novarese opened the whole new world of hope for the suffering individuals, for now they would be able to respond to the call of Our Lady of Lourdes and Fatima by surrendering their sufferings to God for the salvation of souls. In Fatima, Our Lady showed the three shepherd children how many souls go to eternal damnation because there is no one to pray for them.  In this new Apostolate, the suffering persons can now volunteer to offer up their crosses to Jesus, Who carried His cross up Mount Calvary for us all.

In this Apostolate, the sick and suffering are helping Jesus in saving the world by freely uniting their sufferings to His, for those who may otherwise be lost. Members of the Apostolate pray each day "The Morning Offering" uniting with other members in presenting to God their suffering as a group, as an Apostolate.

This wonderful message of finding redemptive value in the suffering and pain, (to which we are all exposed to at one time or another), quickly spread throughout Italy.  

It became necessary to form a supportive association to assist and guide the lay members of the Apostolate of the Suffering, thus Msgr. Luigi Novarese formed the Silent Workers of the Cross, Silenziosi Operai della Croce (SODC) in 1950, which is made up of Priests, Brothers and Nuns.

Within the last 78 years, the AOS spread to other European countries as well as to Asia, Africa, South and North America. Today the AOS gives spiritual assistance to the suffering individuals of Italy, Portugal, Poland, Israel, Colombia, Cameroon, and the United States.

The missionary priests of the Silent Workers of the Cross in Italy are being sent all over the world to spread the love of Jesus and His Holy Mother. At the time when Msgr. Novarese founded the Silent Workers of the Cross, an Italian Bishop, Constantino Luna, joined the SODC and became very active in spreading the Apostolate wherever he was sent on his mission.  Bs. Luna brought the Apostolate of the Suffering to the United States in the early 1980s.

Msgr. Luigi Novarese died on July 20, 1984, and was beatified on May 11, 2013, by Pope Francis.  

For more information, please visit the links below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Novarese

https://www.luiginovarese.org  (Top, under Italiano, chose Inglese)

Silent Workers of the Cross:

https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/zenit-daily-dispatch-1938