Pasqualina Luciani

Born into a family of honest workers, Maria Pasqualina was the sixth of six children. In 1927, her family moved to Morrovalle, where she attended the first three grades of elementary school before dedicating herself to domestic and agricultural work to help her parents. From the age of 13, she felt the desire to dedicate herself to God, but chose to remain temporarily with her mother. Despite her family's reservations and the breaking off of two engagements, she pursued her vocation. On June 4, 1945, she crossed the doors of the Passionist nuns' monastery in Ripatransone. She received the religious habit there on August 22, 1946, taking the name Sister Maria Addolorata del Sacro Costato. She made her temporary vows on November 15, 1947, and her perpetual profession on November 30, 1950. Within the monastery, she performed the simplest daily tasks with humility. However, her community life was soon hindered by illness. As early as December 1945, severe knee pain required delicate surgery. To preserve the monastic enclosure, the operation was performed inside the monastery itself, under precarious conditions and without anesthesia. In September 1950, she was hospitalized in Macerata for pleurisy. This was the beginning of a long medical ordeal. In 1951, she underwent another painful operation (for a duodenal ulcer and a gastric resection), again without anesthesia. Diagnosed with advanced pulmonary tuberculosis in December 1952, she had to leave her monastery permanently on July 9, 1952, to receive treatment. She stayed first at the Groppino sanatorium (Bergamo), then at the Ospedale Maggiore in Bergamo, before being transferred on March 31, 1954, to the Teramo sanatorium, where she passed away on July 23, 1954, at the age of 34.

The reputation for holiness of Sister Maria Addolorata, nurtured by her heroic patience in the face of illness and her mystical union with the sufferings of Christ, spread rapidly after her death. The cause for beatification and canonization was officially opened in 1995 at the diocesan level, in the Diocese of San Benedetto del Tronto-Ripatransone-Montalto. The diocesan inquiry concluded in 2001, and the file was transmitted to Rome for examination by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

After an in-depth examination of her writings and testimonies regarding her life by theological commissions, Pope Francis authorized, on November 7, 2018, the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues. This decree, officially published on November 8, 2018, confers upon her the title of Venerable. Her cause is currently ongoing, awaiting the recognition of a miracle attributed to her intercession.

The spirituality of the Venerable Maria Addolorata del Sacro Costato is deeply rooted in the Passionist charism: the contemplation of the Passion of Jesus and devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows (the Addolorata). Despite limited formal schooling, she left behind a diary, written at the request of her confessor, which reveals a mystical life of great depth. She conceived of suffering not as a fatality, but as a privileged means of associating herself with the redemptive work of Christ and interceding for the conversion of sinners. She wrote in particular to her parents: "In this monastery I have found happiness: it is paradise on earth!". Her final words were an act of total love: "My Jesus, I love you with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my strength. I offer myself to you entirely, and down to the most intimate fibers of my heart". Her mortal remains rest today at the Monastery of the Maddalena in Ripatransone, where they continue to be venerated by many faithful.