Saint Virginia Centurione Bracelli

Virginia Centurione Bracelli (Ligurian: Virginnia Çentrioña, 2 April 1587 – 15 December 1651) was an Italian noblewoman from Genoa. Her father was the Doge of Genoa, and she had a short marriage due to being widowed in 1607. She is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. Virginia Centurione was born on 2 April 1587 in Genoa and was of noble origins. She was the daughter of Giorgio Centurione (who was the Doge of Genoa from 1621 to 1623) and Lelia Spinola. Despite her desire to live a cloistered life, she was forced into marriage to Gaspare Grimaldi Bracelli, who was a rich noble, on 10 December 1602. She had two daughters: Lelia and Isabella. The marriage did not last long, for she became a widow on 13 June 1607 at the age of 20. She refused another arranged marriage brought on due to her father's influence and took up a vow to live a celibate life. After her husband's death she began charitable works and assisted the poor and the sick. To help alleviate the poverty in her town she founded the "Cento Signore della Misericordia Protettrici dei Poveri di Gesù Cristo". The center was soon overrun with people suffering from the famine and plague of 1629–30 and soon she had to rent the Monte Calvario convent to accommodate all the people that came in. She created a community which was dedicated to Our Lady of Refuge, but this was later split into two congregations: the Sisters of Our Lady of Refuge in Mount Calvary, and the Daughters of Our Lady on Mount Calvary. Around 1635 the center was caring for over 300 patients and received recognition as a hospital from the government. Due to declining funds given from the middle and upper classes the institute lost its government recognition in 1647. Bracelli spent the remainder of her life acting as a peacemaker between noble houses and continuing her work for the poor. Bracelli died on 15 December 1651 at the age of 64.