St. Maria Crocifissa Di Rosa: Hero of Charity and Courage
Today's saint was born Paolina (Paula) Francesca Maria at Brescia, Italy on Nov. 6, 1813. She was the sixth of nine children of a wealthy noble landowner and industrialist, Clement de Rosa and his wife Countess Camilla Albani. At the age of eleven, Paula’s mother died and she was educated by the Visitandines. At the age of seventeen, she returned home to care for her father's household. As was common in noble families, her father found a proper husband for her. However, Paula had taken a vow of celibacy. With the help of her spiritual director, Msgr. Faustino Pinzoni, she persuaded her father to respect her wishes. She remained at home and spent all her free time performing good works in the community. She organized a women’s guild, for which she planned retreats and special missions. She also tended to the spiritual needs of young women employed at her father's textile mill in Acquafredda. During a cholera epidemic, she and Gabriela Echenos-Bornati cared for the s...