Blessed Armida Barelli

Armida Barelli (1 December 1882 – 15 August 1952) was an Italian Roman Catholic who served in the educational field during her life and was also a professed member of the Secular Franciscan Order. Barelli was also the co-founder of the Secular Institute of the Missionaries of the Kingship of Christ. Alongside Father Agostino Gemelli the pair sought to spread the message of the Gospel through their educational facilities and through their congregation that sought also to spread the Franciscan charism. Barelli's cause for sainthood commenced in 1960 when she was accorded the posthumous title Servant of God and advanced on 1 June 2007 when Pope Benedict XVI declared her to be Venerable on the account of her heroic virtue. Pope Francis approved the miracle that is required for her beatification; she was beatified in Milan on 30 April 2022. Armida Barelli was born into the upper class on 1 December 1882 in Milan to Napoleon Barelli and Savina Candiani; her siblings were brothers Gino and Fausto and sisters Maria, Gemma, and Vittoria. Barelli studied in Milan under the Ursulines and then travelled to Menzingen in Switzerland where she studied in a boarding school under the Franciscan Sisters of the Holy Cross from 1895 to 1900. It was during her time with the Franciscans that she discovered her religious vocation and the Franciscan charism. This linked with her ardent desire to deepen her relationship with God and to devote herself to His work. From 1900 until 1908 she received proposals from her parents to wed but despite this she decided to devote herself to others and in particular wished to cater to the needs of the poor and the orphaned. In 1910 she met Father Agostino Gemelli who guided her towards an active apostolate and introduced her to the fullness of the charism of the Secular Franciscan Order. Barelli became a professed member of the order in 1910.