Maria Schiapparoli

Upon returning to their home in Voghera, charity moved Maria and Giustina to welcome orphaned, poor, and abandoned young girls into their paternal home, and later into rented lodgings. Very quickly, other young women joined them to share in this mission of hospitality and education. In 1849, Maria and her sister Giustina received the religious habit from the hands of the guardian father of the Franciscan community of Voghera (Father Leonardo Maria Gosio da Maranza) in the chapel of the Franciscan convent (Oratory of Our Lady of Graces). This year, 1849, marks the official foundation of the new congregation: the Benedictine Sisters of Divine Providence (Suore Benedettine della Divina Provvidenza). In 1850, the Bishop of Tortona, Msgr. Giovanni Negri, granted canonical diocesan approval to the institute. The work focused on hospitality, religious instruction, and the learning of manual trades (such as sewing and embroidery) for marginalized young girls, in order to preserve them from poverty and the dangers of the street. Living in absolute poverty and without any property at the start, the sisters relied entirely on Divine Providence. Under the impetus of the two founders, the congregation developed and opened several houses: in Agneto Ligure (1860), Broni (1862), Castel San Giovanni (1865), Pizzale (1868), and Vespolate (1869). In 1869, Maria Schiapparoli was appointed superior of the new community of Vespolate. After the sudden death of her sister Giustina on November 30, 1877, Msgr. Vincenzo Capelli, Bishop of Tortona, appointed Maria Superior General of the congregation on December 2, 1877. However, due to her advanced age, she submitted her resignation, which was accepted in March 1878. She then returned to Vespolate, where she continued to serve humbly as local superior until her death on May 2, 1882.

Maria Schiapparoli distinguished herself throughout her life by a profound humility, willingly accepting to live in the shadow of her sister Giustina, who possessed a more assertive leadership temperament. Nicknamed the "little servant" of all, she constantly took on the humblest and most arduous tasks in the service of the orphans and her sisters. Her gentleness, patience, and maternal devotion earned her a solid reputation for holiness in Voghera, in Vespolate, and within her religious family.

The cause for the beatification of Maria Schiapparoli was conducted jointly with that of her sister Giustina. On March 6, 2018, Pope Francis authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues, thereby conferring upon her the title of Venerable.

The spirituality of Maria Schiapparoli is based on a confident and total abandonment to Divine Providence, lived in simplicity, silence, diligent work, and constant prayer. She fully embodied the Benedictine motto Ora et labora (Pray and work), drawing from the Eucharist the strength for her charitable action. Today, the Benedictine Sisters of Divine Providence continue the legacy of the Schiapparoli sisters. The congregation has become widely internationalized and now works, in addition to Italy (notably through the "Giustina and Maria Schiapparoli" province which also extends into Albania and Romania), in many countries around the world: Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Mexico, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, India, and Romania. The general house of the institute is established in Rome.