Tecla Merlo

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Tecla Merlo (born February 20, 1894 in Castagnito , † February 5, 1964 in Albano Laziale ) was an Italian Roman Catholic religious founder and superior . It was at the beginning of the Paul Sisters .

life and work

The beginnings of the sisters Paul

Teresa Merlo grew up not far from Alba ( province of Cuneo ) in rural but affluent circumstances. In 1912 she set up a tailor's studio in her parents' house and took on apprentices. In June 1915, she met Alba on ten years older priest Giacomo Alberione , the (under the special from him and after the Apostle Paul named Paul family envisioned the spread of Catholicism through the media) the establishment of a women's community. Teresa agreed to support him and increasingly converted her studio into a sales room for devotional objects and pious literature, also into a studio for learning the printing trade, and also used it for catechism lessons. In 1916 she took private vows with two employees. Francesco Chiesa (1874–1946) was the spiritual director.

Susa

At the invitation of the Bishop of Susa , Giuseppe Castelli, Alberione sent Teresa Merlo and some staff to Susa in December 1918 to take over the orphaned diocesan weekly La Valsusa . The printing house taken over for this purpose was called Paulus Printing House. A Paulus bookshop was also opened. The designation "Paul Sisters" became public for the first time in Susa. In 1922 the official profession of nine sisters came, among whom Teresa Merlo (now under the religious name Tecla , after Thekla of Iconium , the apostle Paul’s pupil) was appointed superior by Alberione for 12 years. In 1923 Alberione called his Paul sisters back to Alba.

Superior in Alba and Rome

After the Paul family was constituted according to diocesan law in 1927, this also succeeded in 1929 for the congregation of the Pauline Sisters and their constitutions. From 1928 onwards, a number of subsidiaries were founded, first in Italy (the first in Salerno ), then also abroad (Brazil, Argentina, United States). After being confirmed as superior in 1935, Tecla Merlo made numerous visits to the daughter communities (1961 also to Africa). From 1931 to 1938 the Paulus Sisters were in charge of the innovative magazine Famiglia Cristiana (French imitation 1978: Famille chrétienne ), from 1955 to 1966 they published the weekly magazine for girls Così .

From 1936, Tecla Merlo officiated in the generalate of the Pauline family in Rome, where she was re-elected Superior General in 1957. After falling ill in June 1963, she witnessed the publication of the council decree Inter mirifica on the means of social communication and the press apostolate in December 1963 and died two months later. Her grave is in the church of Santa Maria Regina degli Apostoli alla Montagnola . She is considered to be the co-founder of the Paul Sisters. The process of her beatification has begun.

Works (posthumous)

  • Vi porto nel cuore. Lettere circolari alle figlie di san Paolo . Rome 1989.
  • Saggezza di vita. Pensieri di Tecla Merlo . Turin 1993.
  • Un cuor solo un'anima sola. Conference. Meditazioni 1954-1963 . Rome 1993.
  • Semi di sapienza per il cristiano di oggi , ed. from Mercedes Mastrostefano. Milan 2005.
  • Do not be afraid! The power of a promise. Thoughts . Düsseldorf 2015.

literature

  • Domenico Agasso: Tecla Merlo. A woman “on the air” . Ed. St. Paulus, Düsseldorf; Verlag Neue Stadt, Munich; Zurich; Vienna 1993 (first Spanish, Madrid 1993).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Merlo, Tecla
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Merlo, Teresa; Merlo, Tecla Teresa; Merlo, Teresa
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian nun, superior and founder of the order
DATE OF BIRTH February 20, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Castagnito
DATE OF DEATH 5th February 1964
Place of death Albano Laziale