Saint Caterina Volpicelli

Caterina Volpicelli (21 January 1839 – 28 December 1894) was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious and the foundress of the Maids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. She was beatified on 29 April 2001 by Pope John Paul II, and canonized on 26 April 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI. Caterina Volpicelli was born in Naples on January 21, 1839, to Peter and Teresa de Micheroux. Her family belonged to the Neapolitan high bourgeoisie and she had a deep Christian faith. She spent her adolescence loving the theatre, music, literature, and after a strong existential crisis, began to gain awareness of a calling to religious life. At first, she thought her vocation was to contemplative life, which she tried but had to abandon due to frail health. A priest, Saint Ludovico of Casoria, helped her understand she was instead called to live the evangelical counsels while "remaining in the midst of society." She devoted herself to the diffusion of the Apostleship of Prayer along with some assistants. Thanks to Father Ramière, Volpicelli found a French foundation matching her objectives. The French institution was aggregated to the new Congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Jean-Jules Chevalier. It was called the "Third Order of the Sacred Heart" and it was led by Louise-Thérèse de Montaignac. The Archbishop of Naples, Sisto Riario Sforza, having understood the nascent Neapolitan foundation had its own personality versus that of de Montaignac, decided the two institutions were to be separated. In 1874, Volpicelli's foundation was approved by the Archbishop of Naples with the official name Pia Unione delle Ancelle del Sacro Cuore ("Pious Union of the Handmaid’s of the Sacred Heart"). However, Catherina felt the need to receive approval also from the Holy See.