Saint Magdalene of Canossa

Magdalene Gabriela was born in 1774 in Verona to the noble marquises of Canossa. Her father died when she was five and her mother soon remarried and left, so she was raised in the family palace, where she later managed the household with great skill. Twice she tried religious life with the Carmelites, but realized God was calling her to serve the poor in the world.

She began by welcoming abandoned girls into her home, and in 1808 she opened a house in Verona's poor district of San Zeno. There she founded the Daughters of Charity, known as the Canossians, to teach, catechize and care for the sick and the poor, with Christ crucified as their model. Houses followed in Venice, Milan, Bergamo and Trent, and she also began a branch for men, the Sons of Charity. She died in Verona on April 10, 1835, and was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1988.

The Canossian Sisters serve in schools, parishes and missions across Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, including Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Paraguay. Her feast is celebrated in their schools with Mass, festivals and works of charity.