Mary's Castle Library

 THE CATHOLIC FEAST

DATE: MAY 07

FEAST NAME: 

SAINT ROSE VENERINI

          [Foundress And Pioneer 

In The Education Of Women]

BORN: 9 February 1656 at Viterbo, Italy

DIED: 7 May 1728 at Rome, Italy of natural causes

VENERATED: 6 March 1949 by Pope Pius XII

BEATIFIED: 4 May 1952 by Pope Pius XII

CANONIZED: 15 October 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI

HER LIFE PROFILE

Saint Rose was born at Viterbo in Italy, the daughter of a doctor. Following the death of her fiancé she entered a convent, but soon returned home to care for her newly widowed mother. Meanwhile, Rose invited the women of the neighborhood to recite the rosary in her home, forming a sort of sodality with them.

 

As she looked to her future, Rose, under the spiritual guidance of a Jesuit priest, became convinced that she was called to become a teacher in the world rather than a contemplative nun in a convent. 

 

Clearly, she made the right choice: She was a born teacher, and the free school for girls she opened in 1685 was well received.

 

With the approval of the Bishop of Viterbo, Cardinal Giulio Cesare Sacchetti, and the collaboration of two friends, Gerolama Coluzzelli and Porzia Bacci, Rosa left her father’s home to begin her first school. 

 

The first objective of this foundress was to give poor girls a complete Christian formation and to prepare them for life in society. Without great pretense, Rose opened the first public school for girls in Italy.

 

Soon the cardinal invited her to oversee the training of teachers and the administration of schools in his Diocese of Montefiascone. As Rose’s reputation grew, she was called upon to organize schools in many parts of Italy, including Rome. 

 

Her disposition was right for the task as well, for Rose often met considerable opposition but was never deterred.

 

She died in Rome in 1728, where a number of miracles were attributed to her. The sodality, or group of women she had invited to prayer, was ultimately given the rank of a religious congregation. 

 

Today, the Venerini Sisters can be found in the United States and elsewhere, working among Italian immigrants.

 

IN HER FOOTSTEPS

[By Pope Benedict XVI In His Homily On The Canonization Day of Saint Rose]

Saint Rose Venerini is another example of a faithful disciple of Christ, ready to give up all in order to do the will of God. She loved to say: "I FIND MYSELF SO BOUND TO THE DIVINE WILL THAT NEITHER DEATH NOR LIFE IS IMPORTANT: I WANT TO LIVE AS HE WISHES AND I WANT TO SERVE HIM AS HE LIKES, AND NOTHING MORE". 

 

From here, from this surrender to God, sprang the long-admired work that she courageously developed in favor of the spiritual elevation and authentic emancipation of the young women of her time. 

 

Saint Rose did not content herself with providing the girls an adequate education, but she was concerned with assuring their complete formation, with sound references to the Church’s doctrinal teaching. 

 

Her own apostolic style continues to characterize the life of the Congregation of the Religious Teachers Venerini which she founded. And how timely and important for today’s society is this service, which puts them in the field of education and especially of the formation of women. 

 

PRAYER

Dear Jesus, through the prayers of Your humble daughter, Saint Rose Venerini, Please help me to find ways to bring You to my work and to show Your love to others just as she did. Amen.

 

SAINT ROSE VENERINI,

PRAY FOR US. AMEN!