Antonia Maria Verna

The heart of Antonia Maria Verna's life lies in the foundation and preservation of the Institute of the Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception of Ivrea (Suore di Carità dell'Immacolata Concezione d'Ivrea).

In 1806, she gathered in Rivarolo Canavese a first group of companions eager to share her ideal of consecrated life, free education for poor children, catechesis, and home visits to the sick. However, the troubled political context of the Napoleonic era delayed the official recognition of her work. In 1819, the community managed to open its first house.

After long years of efforts and patience, King Charles Felix of Sardinia granted the royal patent of approval to the institute on March 7, 1828. Shortly after, on June 10, 1828, with the support of the Bishop of Ivrea, Antonia and her first companions received the religious habit and pronounced their vows. Antonia was elected superior of the new congregation, then called the "Daughters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception."

The institute then went through severe trials. The Lazarists of Turin, in charge of the spiritual direction of the community, and in particular Father Marc-Antoine Durando (Marcantonio Durando), attempted to impose a merger of the young congregation with the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul of France. Antonia firmly opposed this project to preserve the specificity of her charism, which included free assistance to the sick at home, day and night, and without distinction of sex (which the rules of the Daughters of Charity did not authorize at the time).

Faced with this resistance, Father Durando removed Antonia from her position as superior and sent her to Montanaro. To avoid divisions and preserve peace within her religious family, Antonia humbly accepted to renounce her title of superior. On November 27, 1835, the Bishop of Ivrea formally established the community as an institute of diocesan right, protecting it definitively from the forced merger.

Antonia Maria Verna passed away on December 25, 1838, in Rivarolo Canavese, at the age of 65, after a brief illness, while the city bells were ringing for Christmas Mass.

The reputation for holiness of Antonia Maria Verna spread rapidly after her death. The diocesan informative process for her beatification was opened in the Diocese of Ivrea on April 6, 1937, and concluded on March 20, 1939. The decree on her writings was published on May 28, 1941.

On December 19, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI signed the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues, thereby conferring upon her the title of Venerable.

The miracle accepted for the beatification of Antonia Maria Verna is the scientifically inexplicable healing of Sister Maria Gaetana Corbella (born Giuseppina Corbella in Constantinople on April 20, 1877, died June 29, 1954).

In October 1947, Sister Maria Gaetana, then superior of the community managing the orphanage and asylum of the Italian colony in Zurich (Switzerland), fell seriously ill. She was suffering from severe bronchopneumonia complicated by a lung abscess. Despite medical treatment, her condition worsened day by day. On December 26, 1947, the doctor declared that there was no longer any hope of recovery. The sisters of the community then invoked the intercession of the foundress, the Venerable Antonia Maria Verna. During the night of December 26 to 27, 1947, the patient awoke completely healed, without any aftereffects.

The diocesan inquiry into this miracle took place in the Diocese of Chur (Switzerland) from May 24 to June 1, 1966. Its validity was recognized by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on May 27, 1994. The medical commission approved the inexplicable nature of the healing on March 4, 2010, followed by the theologians on July 15, 2010. On January 14, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI authorized the promulgation of the decree officially recognizing the miracle.

The beatification ceremony was celebrated on October 2, 2011, in the Cathedral of Ivrea, presided over by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State, representing Pope Benedict XVI.

The spirituality of Antonia Maria Verna rests on a fundamental principle: absolute gratuitousness for the love of God ("a gratis," in her own words). She bequeathed to her spiritual daughters the mission of serving the most destitute without reservation, by trusting completely in Divine Providence and under the patronage of the Virgin Mary in her Immaculate Conception. Today, the Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception of Ivrea continue the work of their founder throughout the world. They are engaged in the education of children, catechesis, the care of the sick, and assistance to marginalized people. In addition to Italy and Switzerland, the congregation is present in the United States, Albania, Argentina, Kenya, Tanzania, Lebanon, Israel, Turkey, Libya, and Mexico.