Saint Maria Giuseppa Rossello

Benedetta Rossello was born in 1811 in Albissola Marina, near Savona, Italy, into a poor and devout family. Unable to enter a convent because she had no dowry, she cared for the poor and the sick, and in 1837, with the bishop of Savona's support, she founded the Daughters of Our Lady of Mercy, taking the name Maria Giuseppa. The sisters educated poor girls, cared for the sick and opened houses that sheltered young women at risk. She guided the institute for over forty years until her death on December 7, 1880, and was canonized in 1949.

Her sisters, known in Spanish as the Hijas de Nuestra Señora de la Misericordia, today serve in Italy and Latin America, including Argentina. She is remembered for her trust in Providence and her motherly kindness.