Saint Rose Venerini

Rose Venerini was born in Viterbo, Italy, in 1656, the daughter of a physician. After the death of her fiancé and a period of discernment in a Dominican convent, she returned home to care for her widowed mother and began gathering the young women of her neighborhood to pray the Rosary. She soon saw that many girls could not read and had no chance of an education.

In 1685 she opened her first free public school for girls in Viterbo, teaching religion, reading and practical skills. Supported by bishops and later by Pope Clement XI, who visited one of her schools in Rome, she founded more than forty schools and the congregation now known as the Venerini Sisters (Maestre Pie Venerini). She died in Rome on May 7, 1728, and was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006.

The Venerini Sisters continue her work in schools in Italy, the United States, Brazil, India and elsewhere, and celebrate her feast with their students. In Viterbo, her native city, a Mass is celebrated at the church where she is remembered.