Venerable Maria Velotti

Maria Velotti (16 November 1826 - 3 September 1886), religious name Maria Luigia del Santissimo Sacramento, was an Italian religious sister. She was a member in the Third Order of Saint Francis and the founder of the Suore Francescane Adoratrici della Santa Croce. In her childhood she was raised in two different households after her parents died and she was exposed to the Franciscan charism under her second spiritual director. In 1854 she was professed into the Franciscan Third Order and in 1877 founded her religious order. Velotti also experienced several visions in her life such as visions of Jesus Christ and Francis of Assisi. Pope Francis beatified her in 2020. Maria Velotti was born in Soccavo in Naples on 16 November 1826 to Francesco Velotti and Teresa Napoletano. Her baptism was celebrated on that same date in the Santi Pietro e Paolo church in Soccavo. Her parents died before she turned two circa 1828 and she was sent to live with her unmarried aunt Caterina (who lived in Sirico near Nola) who would over time come to mistreat and abuse her. Her half-brother Giovanni (from her father's first marriage) remained in Soccavo and a chance meeting between the two in adulthood revealed their familial connection. Her initial education came from the local parish priest since there were no public schools in the area at that time and in her childhood was sometimes referred to as "Mariella". Her aunt's abuse extended to her spiritual life and she would often be assigned to housework so that she could not reflect on God in silence; her housework often took over two hours. But her situation became untenable at home and her married (and childless) neighbors Lorenzo Sabatino and Giuseppa Tuzzolo took her in and raised her as their own. Velotti could barely read or write.