Virginia Centurione Bracelli ( lij, Virginnia Çentrioña, 2 April 1587 – 15 December 1651) was an Italian noblewoman 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 ...

. Her father was the

Doge of Genoa The Doge of Genoa ( lij, Dûxe, ; la, Januensium dux et populi defensor, "Commander of the Genoese and Defender of the People") was the ruler of the Republic of Genoa, a city-state and soon afterwards a maritime republic, from 1339 until the s ...

, and she had a short marriage due to being widowed in 1607.Widower Virginia Centurione Bracelli (1587-1651)
/ref> She is venerated as a

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Life

Virginia Centurione was born on 2 April 1587 in

and was of noble origins. She was the daughter of Giorgio Centurione (who was the

from 1621 to 1623) and Lelia Spinola. Despite her desire to live a

cloistered A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...

life, she was forced into marriage to Gaspare Grimaldi Bracelli, who was a rich noble, on 10 December 1602. She had two daughters: Lelia and Isabella. The marriage did not last long, for she became a widow on 13 June 1607 at the age of 20. She refused another

arranged marriage Arranged marriage is a type of marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures a professional matchmaker may be us ...

brought on due to her father's influence and took up a vow to live a chaste life. After her husband's death she began charitable works and assisted the poor and the sick. To help alleviate the poverty in her town she founded the "Cento Signore della Misericordia Protettrici dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo". The center was soon overrun with people suffering from the famine and plague of 1629–30 and soon she had to rent the Monte Calvario

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 ...

to accommodate all the people that came in. Around 1635 the center was caring for over 300 patients and received recognition as a hospital from the government. Due to declining funds given from the middle and upper classes the institute lost its government recognition in 1647. Bracelli spent the remainder of her life acting as a peacemaker between noble houses and continuing her work for the poor. Bracelli died on 15 December 1651 at the age of 64.

Sainthood

The informative process for the canonization cause commenced on 28 April 1933 and finished its set business in 1957. Theologians approved all of her writings to be in line and respective of the faith in a decree dated 10 April 1959. Historians were tasked to assess whether the cause had obstacles that would impede it and make the process difficult. But the historians cleared it on 1 December 1971 and allowed for the cause to proceed. The formal introduction of the cause came on 7 January 1977 under

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 ...

in which she was accorded the title of

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 ...

as the first official stage of the proceedings. An apostolic process was held after this while both processes were validated in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

so that the Congregation for the Causes of Saints could commence their own investigation. Theologians approved the cause on 18 October 1983 while the C.C.S. approved it on 20 March 1984. On 7 April 1984 she was made

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 ...

when

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 ...

confirmed her heroic virtue. Bracelli was beatified on 22 September 1985 and was later canonized on 18 May 2003.Canonization of four new saints
/ref>

References

External links

Daughters of Our Lady on Mount CalvarySaints.SQPN: Virginia Centurione BracelliSantiebeati: Virginia Centurione BracelliCatholic Online: Virginia Centurione BracelliKatolsk.no: Virginia Centurione Bracelli
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bracelli, Virginia Centurione 1587 births 1651 deaths 17th-century Christian saints 17th-century venerated Christians 17th-century Italian nobility Beatifications by Pope John Paul II Canonizations by Pope John Paul II Christian female saints of the Early Modern era Incorrupt saints Italian Roman Catholic saints Venerated Catholics by Pope John Paul II