Venerable Teresa Merlo

Maria Teresa Merlo (20 February 1894 – 5 February 1964) – in religious life "Tecla" – was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious and the co-founder of the Daughters of Saint Paul that she established alongside Blessed Giacomo Alberione. Merlo was an indefatigable writer and traveler as she penned articles for her order and made visits across the world to communities that were established in nations such as the United States of America and Australia. Pope John Paul II conferred the title of Venerable upon her in 1991 after confirming that she had lived a model life of heroic virtue. Maria Teresa Merlo was born on 20 February 1894 in Cuneo as the second of four children of peasant farmers Ettore and Vincenza Rolando Merlo; her siblings, Leone Costanzo, Giovanni Battista, and Carlo all became priests. She received the sacrament of baptism on 22 February 1894 in the parish church of Saint John the Baptist from Father Pietro Palladino; her godparents were Leone Merlo and Margherita Rava Rolando. From 1901 until 1903 she commenced her initial education though in 1903 her studies halted after her parents decided to arrange private studies under the teacher Maria Chiarla. She received her First Communion in her parish church on 23 April 1902 and received her Confirmation from Bishop Giovanni Francesco Re on 29 September 1907 in the same church; her sponsor was Carolina Zocca Barbero. She received initial training as a seamstress and then began learning sewing in Alba from 1908 to 1911 at "Ritiro della Providenza" institute trun by the Sisters of Saint Anne; her parents later sent her to Turin to complete her training as a seamstress. In March 1912, she wrote to her parents from the town of Susa. Later that year, she established in her parents' home, a sewing school. On June 15, 1915, Father Alberione, a teacher at the local seminary, opened the Feminine Workshop in Piazza Cherasca.