Maria Repetto (1 November 1807 – 5 January 1890) 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 ...

professed religious from the Sisters of Our Lady of Refuge in Mount Calvary. Repetto was an ardent devotee of

Saint Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers of ...

and promoted devotion to him while distributing medals and images of him to those who visited the

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

she was at; she also distinguished herself as an able carer for

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

victims on two occasions of epidemic. Repetto's cause for sainthood was introduced under

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

on 11 March 1949 (she therefore was 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 ...

) and

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

named her 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 ...

in 1968 after confirming her heroic virtue.

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 ...

beatified her in

Saint Peter's Square Saint Peter's Square ( la, Forum Sancti Petri, it, Piazza San Pietro ,) is a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave inside Rome, directly west of the neighborhood (rione) of Borgo. Bot ...

on 4 October 1981.

Life

Maria Repetto was born on 1 November 1807 in

Voltaggio Voltaggio (Ottaggio in Ligurian) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about southeast of Alessandria. Located there is a Roman bridge on the Lemme st ...

as the first of eleven children to Giovanni Battista Repetto and Teresa Gazzale; three sisters became nuns and one brother became a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

and one sister was Josephine. She was

baptized 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 ...

on the date of her birth and later 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 ...

in 1817. Around the time she was thirteen she had seen the death of two of her brothers. Repetto joined the Brignolines at Bisagno near

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 7 May 1829 and later received the habit of the order on 15 August 1829 - the Feast of the Assumption. She professed her final vows in 1831. She worked as a seamstress and embroiderer. Her sight began to fail and so she was made the portress and the gatekeeper of the

that she was stationed at where she would promote a devotion to

and distribute both medals and images of him to people. Repetto also distinguished herself in aiding the ill during two

epidemics in 1835 and 1854. People flocked from all over Genoa to see her at the convent and some religious saw this as a disruption to their activities so removed her from her position. The sisters later re-evaluated this and put her back in her old position. Repetto suffered a minor convulsion and died mere moments later in 1890 and her final words were: "Regina coeli laetare hallelujah". On 8 September 1888 she had asked God to take her to Heaven.

Beatification

The beatification cause commenced in Genoa in an informative process that

Carlo Dalmazio Minoretti Carlo Dalmazio Minoretti (17 September 1861 – 13 March 1938) was a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Genoa. Early life and education Carlo Minoretti was born in Cogliate, Lombardy. He was educated at the Se ...

opened in 1927 and later closed in 1933 while theologians approved her spiritual writings on 18 March 1941; the formal introduction to her cause opened under

on 11 March 1949 and she was made a

. The informative process was validated on 19 January 1958. An antepreparatory committee approved the cause on 28 February 1961 as did a preparatory one on 8 March 1966 and the general committee on 22 May 1967.

named her as

on 4 July 1968 after confirming that she had lived a life of heroic virtue. The cognitional process for a miracle spanned from 1951 to 1953 and was validated on 17 January 1958. A medical approved it on 25 September 1968 as did the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and their consultants on 8 January 1980 before

approved it on 30 March 1981. John Paul II beatified Repetto on 4 October 1981 at

References

External links

Hagiography CircleSaints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Repetto, Maria 1807 births 1890 deaths 19th-century venerated Christians 19th-century Italian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns Beatifications by Pope John Paul II Italian beatified people People from Voltaggio Venerated Catholics