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Blessed Maria Catalina Troiani

Blessed Maria Catalina Troiani Also known as

Maria Caterina of Saint Rose

6 May

Profile

Third of four children born to Tommaso Troiani and Teresa Panici, her mother died when the Maria was six. Franciscan tertiary, dedicated to the teachings of Saint Francis, and to the care and education of girls. Franciscan nun, taking the habit on 8 December 1829, and taking the name Sister Maria Teresa of Saint Rose in honour of Saint Rose of Viterbo. Missionary to north Africa. In 1852 the Apostolic Vicar of Egypt requested a Franciscan school for poor girls be established in Cairo; Maria and four other sisters met with Pope Pius IX on 4 September 1859 to offer their service, and he gave them his blessing. The sisters and Father Giuseppe Moden arrived in Cairo on 14 September 1859 to begin their work. On 5 July 1868, the group received approval as a formal congregation under the name Third Order Franciscan Sisters of Cairo; they were later renamed the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Egypt, and in 1950 were renamed the Franciscan Missionaries of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. From the day of their founding until the day of her death, Sister Maria served as Mother Superior to the group. Pope Leo XIII always held her in high regard.

Born

19 January 1813 in Giuliano di Roma, Italy

Died

6 May 1887 in Cairo, Egypt of natural causes
buried in the Latin cemetery in Cairo
re-interred in the chapel of Clot-Bey, church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Franciscan Missionaries of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Rome, Italy on 3 November 1967