Maria Teresa Casini

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Maria Teresa Casini

Maria Teresa Casini (born October 27, 1864 in Frascati , † April 3, 1937 in Grottaferrata ) was an Italian Roman Catholic religious and founder of the Congregation of the Oblates of the Sacred Heart of Jesus . In the Catholic Church she is venerated as a blessed.

Life

Mother Maria Teresa Casini was born on October 27, 1864 in Frascati, a village of the Castelli Romani near Rome. She was the first child of the married couple Tommaso Casini and Melania Rayner. Two days after she was born, she was baptized Teresa Maria Adelaide Lutgarda on October 29th in Frascati Cathedral . When Teresa was 10 years old, her father died. That is why she moved with her mother to Grottaferrata to live with her maternal grandparents.

From 1875 she attended the Santa Rufina College in Rome. There she received her first communion on May 7, 1876. At this point in time, she also recognized her calling to a consecrated life in a religious community. For health reasons, she had to leave college and return to her family. After returning to the family, she went through a period of great hardship as she had to participate in the life of society and the world. She quickly realized that she didn't belong there. Teresa met Father Arsenio Pellegrini, the abbot of the Byzantine monastery of Santa Maria di Grottaferrata. With this meeting the decisive phase in the life of the young woman began. She opened herself to the will of God and was ready to answer the call of the Heart of Jesus, which she saw in a vision pierced with a thorn. In this vision God asked her to atone for the sins of his priests that offend his heart and to comfort him in his pain. Teresa decided to do so and dedicate her life to atonement and reparation and to prayer for the priests.

In the joy of being able to offer her life to God as a sacrifice, she entered the Poor Clare Convent of the Most Holy Conception in Rome on February 1, 1886. There she confidently began her life in the seclusion of the enclosure. After two years, however, due to her poor health, she had to leave the monastery and return to her family. Obedient to her spiritual guide, she joined the emerging community of True Lovers of the Heart of Jesus in Rome. But this path also ended early for her, as the community was spiritually weak and did not continue after the death of the founder.

At the age of 23, Teresa thought about how she should continue her vocation and how she could help sanctify priests. She moved into a small apartment in Grottaferrata. She was soon joined by a number of young girls who shared her spiritual ideal. Against the resistance of her family, she sold part of her property and began to use the money to build accommodation for herself and her companions. The economic difficulties were enormous, but on October 17, 1892 they were able to move into the new house. On February 2nd, with the permission of the Bishop of Frascati, Cardinal Serafino Vannutelli, they were able to open the house chapel, in which the Holy of Holies could be kept and from which Teresa's new work began. The community was named Sacrifice for the Sacred Heart, and the sisters led contemplative lives of uninterrupted adoration for the atonement and sanctification of the priests.

In 1908, Mother Maria Teresa was asked by Cardinal Francesco Spinelli, Bishop of Frascati, that the community should devote itself to apostolic activities and actively support the priests and the population. In 1910 the sisters opened their first institution to educate the daughters of the population. This enabled them to train them to be good mothers of the family and indirectly provide for future priestly vocations.

With the canonical recognition of the community on November 1, 1916, the name of the sisters changed to Oblates of the Sacred Heart of Jesus .

Mother Maria Teresa founded the work of the Little Friends of Jesus in 1925 with the permission of the Bishop of Frascati, Cardinal Francesco di Paola Cassetta , and established a college and a school. The work, from which many priestly vocations grew, spread in Italy and abroad.

Until her death, Mother Maria Teresa always looked after the well-being of the priests and did everything so that the community she had founded could devote itself to its original purpose, the atonement and sanctification of the priests, through the changed needs of the time. With deep humility she lived in seclusion in order to obediently fulfill the will of God. Plagued by illnesses, she spent the last few years confined to bed in pain. At dawn on April 3, 1937, she died in the community motherhouse in Grottaferrata.

beatification

On May 20th, her remains were transferred to the Chapel of the Generalate in Rome (Via Casaletto). Pope John Paul II recognized her on July 7, 1997, the heroic degree of virtue and awarded her the title Venerable Servant of God . On January 22, 2015, Pope Francis recognized a miracle of healing through her intercession. Cardinal Angelo Amato beatified them on October 31, 2015 on behalf of Pope Francis in a solemn mass in front of the Cathedral of Frascati.

Remembrance day

Her feast day in the liturgy of the Church is October 29, her day of baptism.

Works

literature

  • Angelo Scelzo, Dario Busolini: Beata Maria Teresa Casini. Un'offerta d'amore per la santità dei sacerdoti . Editrice VELAR, Bergamo 2015. ISBN 978-88-6671-201-5 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Casini, Maria Teresa
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Casini, Teresa Maria Adelaide Lutgarda
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian Roman Catholic nun and founder of the order, Blessed
DATE OF BIRTH October 27, 1864
PLACE OF BIRTH Frascati
DATE OF DEATH April 3, 1937
Place of death Grottaferrata