Simpliciano Maresca

After recovering from a severe tracheal tuberculosis in 1854, a grace he attributed to Saint Jude Thaddeus, he promoted devotion to this apostle. In 1859, he founded a free school in Portici. Appointed to Rome in 1869 as secretary of the General Procurator of the Friars Minor, he worked with women who were victims of prostitution at the Hospital of the Consolation. In 1879, he founded the Saint Margaret Hospice on the Aventine Hill for their reintegration. To perpetuate this work, he founded on February 21, 1886, the Congregation of the Sisters of the Third Order Franciscan (the "Margheritine"), which would later become the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts.

Afflicted with bone cancer, Father Simpliciano died in Rome on May 25, 1898, with a solid reputation for holiness. In 1989, his remains were transferred to Capua. On March 15, 1997, the Archbishop of Capua, Msgr. Luigi Diligenza, opened the diocesan inquiry for his beatification and canonization, a phase which concluded on June 5, 1999, and was validated by the Vatican in 2000.

Following the examination of the Positio by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Pope Francis authorized on July 16, 2015, the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic nature of his virtues, thus conferring upon him the title of Venerable.

His spirituality is based on the love of Christ, Eucharistic devotion, and the contemplation of the Incarnation. His legacy continues through the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts, active on several continents (Europe, America, Asia). In 2013, the city of Rome inaugurated the Scalea Padre Simpliciano della Natività in his honor.