St. Rosa Venerini

Ø  Foundress of the Religious Teachers Venerini , a Roman Catholic religious Institute of women, often called the Venerini Sisters
Born	9th  February 1656 at Viterbo, Italy
Died	7th  May 1728 at Rome, Italy of natural causes
Venerated	On 6 March 1949 by Pope Pius XII
Beatified	4th  May 1952 by Pope Pius XII
Canonized	15th  October 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI
Feast	7th May

Rosa Venerini was born in Viterbo, on February 9, 1656. Her father, Goffredo, originally from Castelleone di Suasa (Ancona), after having completed his doctorate in medicine at Rome, moved to Viterbo where he practiced the medical profession brilliantly in the Grand Hospital. From his marriage to Marzia Zampichetti, of an ancient family of Viterbo, four children were born: Domenico, Maria Maddalena, Rosa and Orazio.           According to her first biographer, Father Girolamo Andreucci, S.J., Venerini made a vow to consecrate her life to God at the age of seven. At age twenty, though, Rosa had questions about her own future and chose to accept an offer of marriage; her fiancé, however, died shortly after this.           In the autumn of 1676, on the advice of her father, Rosa entered the Dominican Monastery of St. Catherine, with the prospect of fulfilling her vow. With her Aunt Anna Cecilia beside her, she learned to listen to God in silence and in meditation. She remained in the monastery for only a few months because the sudden death of her father forced her to return to her suffering mother.            In the years immediately following, Rosa had to bear the burden of serious events for her family: her brother Domenico died at only twenty-seven years of age; a few months later her mother died, unable to bear the sorrow.            Rosa Venerini started to invite neighborhood women to pray the rosary in her home. She had little religious education, so she began to teach them. Rosa's spiritual director, Jesuit Father Ignatius Martinelli, convinced her that she was called to be a teacher instead of a contemplative nun.           August 1685. Each day a little girl passed by the streets of Viterbo ringing a bell and calling all the girls and young women of the city. Lessons began with prayer, followed by Catechesis, female manual work, and learning to read and write well. In a short time, Rosa’s school changed appearance and she received petitions from bishops and cardinals to found other schools. The Teachers (“Maestras”) were not religious sisters, but they lived as such and were called Pious Teachers (“Maestras Pias”), and in Rome they were even called “Holy Teachers”.           Rosa organized schools in many parts of Italy, including Rome, and by the time of her death there were 40 schools under her direction. She was a friend and co-worker with Saint Lucia Filippini.         Rosa knew that the woman is carrier of a plan of love, but if her heart is enslaved by fear, ignorance, and sin, this plan would never be visible. For this reason, her charism today is proclaimed as “Educate to Liberate”.            Rose Venerini died on May 7, 1728 , at  Rome. Her remains were entombed in the nearby Jesuit Church of the Gesu so loved by her. In 1952, on the occasion of her beatification, they were transferred to the chapel of the General Motherhouse in Rome. Rosa Venerini was canonized  On October 15 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI.