Blessed Maria Gabriella Sagheddu
Today we commemorate Blessed Maria Gabriella Sagheddu, a Trappist nun. Maria was born into a family of shepherds in 1914 in Sardinia, the fifth in a family of eight children. At the age of 18, she taught catechism to the local youth, helped the aged, and developed a deep prayer life. When she was 21, she entered a Trappist monastery in Rome. Her superior was an advocate of ecumenism, and Maria also became devoted to this cause. She offered herself as a victim soul for the unity of the Catholic Church during the week of prayer for Christian unity in 1938. Almost immediately, she developed tuberculosis. After 15 months of intense suffering, she died on April 23, 1939. The Gospel that day included these words which had become Maria’s lifetime motto: “There will be one flock and one shepherd.” (John 10:16) Pope John Paul II beatified her on January 25, 1983. Blessed Maria Gabriella is buried at the Trappistine Abbey of Our Lady of Saint Joseph at Vitorchiano (ne...