Gaetana Sterni

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Gaetana (Cajetana) Sterni (born June 26, 1827 in Cassola , † November 26, 1889 in Bassano del Grappa ) was an Italian nun and founder of the order . She was beatified by the Roman Catholic Church .

Life

Gaetana Sterni was born on June 26, 1827 as one of six children. Her father Giovanni Battista Sterni was an administrative officer in a public authority and lived with his wife Giovanna Chiuppani in good circumstances. In 1835 the family moved to Bassano del Grappa. Several strokes of fate followed here, after a short, serious illness, her father and her sister Margherita died at the age of only 18. Her young brother Francesco now had to look after the family's financial security.

Her mother raised her to believe, and she was valued and respected in those around her. At the age of 16 she met an entrepreneur; the widower had three children from his first marriage. After careful consideration, Gaetana married the noble businessman. The couple lived in contentment and harmony, Gaetana cared for and loved the children as if they were their own. When Gaetana was expecting her first child, her husband fell ill and died before the child was born. The child also died a few days after birth. The family of her late husband created a troubled relationship with rumors and suspicions. Eventually the family members managed to expel Gaetana from the house and separate her from her stepchildren. At the age of 19 she returned to Bassano.

In 1847, at the age of 20, she felt the need for a religious life. She entered the postulate of the Canossians in Bassano del Grappa . Since her mother became seriously ill, she left the monastery after almost five months and took care of her mother, who died a short time later. Now Gaetana had to look after her younger siblings. At the age of 26 she started a foster home in a home for beggars and homeless people in Bassano, and later she took over the management of the home. Even during this time she led a life according to the evangelical counsels .

Founding of the order

In the homeless shelter, Gaetana began building a congregation in 1853 , which was initially called "Daughters of the Divine Will". Together with two sisters, she took her religious vows in 1860 . The congregation later called themselves Sisters of the Divine Will with papal approval . Madre (mother) Gaetana held her office for 36 years.

beatification

Mother Gaetana died on November 26th, 1889, her final resting place was in the mother house in Bassano del Grappa. She was beatified with Giovanni Antonio Farina , who was her diocesan bishop . Her feast day in the liturgy is November 26th. On the day of beatification, Pope John Paul II stated:

“Blessed Gaetana Sterni also devoted herself to the marginalized and the suffering with untiring love, because she had recognized that the will of God is always love. She always treated her brothers and sisters with the care and affection of all those who serve the Lord Himself in their service to the poor. She admonished her spiritual daughters, the "Suore della Divina Volonta", to adopt the same ideal; in the rules she wrote, she called on them to "be ready and content to accept hardship, hardship and every sacrifice just to help the needy neighbor in all that the Lord could ask of them." The testimony of charity in the spirit of the Gospel, which Blessed Gaetana Sterni gave, encourages every believer to seek God's will in a trusting devotion to Him and in generous service to the brothers. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Congregation of the Sisters of the Divine Will ( Memento of October 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) in the Archdiocese of Cologne
  2. Beatification of Gaetana Sterni on vatikan.va