Assunta Marchetti (15 August 1871 – 1 July 1948) was an Italian

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

religious sister A religious sister (abbreviated ''Sr.'' or Sist.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to pr ...

and the co-founder of the Missionary Sisters of Saint Charles Borromeo Scalabrinians; she worked in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

from 1895 until her death. She has been beatified as a Blessed Mother. Her priest brother

Giuseppe Giuseppe is the Italian form of the given name Joseph, from Latin Iōsēphus from Ancient Greek Ἰωσήφ (Iōsḗph), from Hebrew יוסף. It is the most common name in Italy and is unique (97%) to it. The feminine form of the name is Giusep ...

is titled as

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cathol ...

on the path to sainthood. Her beatification was celebrated on 25 October 2014; Cardinal

Angelo Amato Angelo Amato, S.D.B. (born 8 June 1938) is an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints between 2008 and 2018. He served as Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of t ...

presided over the beatification on the behalf of

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

Life

Maria Assunta Caterina Marchetti was born on 15 August 1871 to Angelo Marchetti (1846-93) and Carola Ghilarducci as the third of eleven children; she received her

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

on 16 August. In 1880 they relocated to Mulino di Camaiore where her father commenced work as a miller. Marchetti received her

Confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

in 1883 and made her

First Communion First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in many parts of the Latin Church tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Communi ...

at the same time. Her aunt Caterina was an influence for her religious formation. Marchetti led a pious life as a child but suffered hardships with a frail mother and the premature death of her father from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

in 1893 and she had to help her mother and halt pursuing her dream to enter the

Carmelites , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Car ...

. The girl later met Giovanni Battista Scalabrini and made vows as a nun into his hands on 25 October 1895 in Piacenza with her widowed mother and two companions Angela Larini and Maria Francheschini. In 1895 her priest brother Giuseppe invited her to work with him abroad in

to cater to the orphans of Italian immigrants. Marchetti accepted the invitation and travelled there alongside her mother and two companions (Larini and Francheschini) setting off from

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

on 26 October 1895. Both she and her priest brother later co-founded the Missionaries of Saint Charles Borromeo - or the Scalabrinian Sisters - not long after their arrival. Her mother later left Brazil back for her homeland to tend to her children in 1897. In October 1897 she made her perpetual profession to Father Faustino Consoni. She collaborated with Scalabrini in 1904 when he visited Brazil for a month not long before the latter died. Marchetti was hospitalized in 1947 and was treated for varicose veins and

erysipelas Erysipelas () is a relatively common bacterial infection of the superficial layer of the skin ( upper dermis), extending to the superficial lymphatic vessels within the skin, characterized by a raised, well-defined, tender, bright red rash, t ...

. Marchetti's condition deteriorated over the next several months and she later died in 1948 at 3:15 with two priests and others present at her bedside.

Beatification

The beatification process started under

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

on 24 January 1987 and as such she became titled as a

Servant of God "Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in th ...

; Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns inaugurated the diocesan process in São Paulo on 12 June 1987 and later concluded it on 25 October 1991; the Congregation for the Causes of Saints validated this process on 17 December 1993 and received the

Positio In the Catholic Church, a ''positio'' (''Positio super Virtutibus'') is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a person is declared Venerable, the second of the four steps on the path to canonization as a saint. Des ...

from the postulation in 2004. Theologians approved the cause's merits on 17 September 2010 as did the C.C.S. on 18 October 2011. The confirmation of her life of heroic virtue on 19 December 2011 allowed for

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

to title her as

. The process for investigating a miracle took place in

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, twelfth most populous city in the country ...

from 7 April 1999 until 20 July 2000 prior to the C.C.S. validating this process on 16 November 2001. Medical experts approved this healing as a miracle on 9 February 2012 as did theologians on 14 February 2013 and the C.C.S. on 24 September 2013.

approved this miracle on 9 October 2013 and the beatification date was confirmed on 17 December 2013. Cardinal

presided over the beatification on the pope's behalf on 25 October 2014. The miracle was the permanent cure in 1994 of Heraclides Teixeira Filho of

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...

and other related ailments. The current

postulator A postulator is the person who guides a cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Roman Catholic Church. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the ''Norms to be Obse ...

for this cause is Sister Leocadia Mezzomo.

References

External links

Hagiography Circle

Saints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marchetti, Assunta 1871 births 1948 deaths 19th-century venerated Christians 19th-century Italian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns 20th-century venerated Christians Beatifications by Pope Francis Brazilian beatified people Founders of Catholic religious communities Italian beatified people Italian emigrants to Brazil Religious leaders from Lucca Venerated Catholics by Pope Benedict XVI 20th-century Brazilian Roman Catholic nuns