Giulia Bonifacio

In 1900, she left her congregation with two companions for Carpino. After the failure of a monastery project, they found refuge in 1902 in Tufara Valle thanks to Father Luca De Longis. There, she founded the congregation of the Poor Daughters of Saint Anthony (which became the Franciscan Religious of Saint Anthony) and took the name Mother Miradio della Provvidenza di San Gaetano. The institute was dedicated to the education of poor children and orphans. She opened numerous houses in southern Italy (Cardito, Caivano, Sapri, Secondigliano, etc.), distinguishing herself during epidemics and the First World War. She submitted the Constitutions in June 1926 and died on December 15, 1926, in Secondigliano.

The reputation of holiness of Mother Miradio has been maintained after her death. The diocesan process for her beatification opened in 2003. After the diocesan inquiry, the Positio was submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. On April 4, 2017, the historical consultants unanimously validated the historical file, paving the way for the examination of the heroic nature of her virtues by the theologians.

On December 17, 2022, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Miradio della Provvidenza di San Gaetano (Giulia Bonifacio), after receiving Cardinal Marcello Semeraro. She is thus declared venerable. Her beatification now requires the official recognition of a miracle attributed to her intercession.

Mother Miradio's spirituality is rooted in the Franciscan school, marked by a love for the Eucharist, the crucified Christ, the Child Jesus, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as well as a total abandonment to Divine Providence. Her motto was: "Tutto è nulla per la gloria di Dio, la nostra santificazione e il bene delle anime". Today, the Franciscan Sisters of Saint Anthony, of pontifical right since the 1940s, have their motherhouse in Ariccia, where her remains rest. They continue their mission in Italy and internationally (Brazil, Colombia, Australia, Philippines, Tanzania, etc.).