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Caterina Volpicelli (1839–1894) was an Italian nun, foundress of the Congregation “Ancelle del Sacro Cuore di Gesù” (Maids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus). She was proclaimed Blessed by John Paul II in 2001 and Saint on April 26, 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI. ==Biography== Caterina Volpicelli was born in Naples January 21, 1839 to Peter and Teresa de Micheroux. Her family belonged to the Neapolitan high bourgeoisie and she had a deep Christian faith. After an adolescence spent loving theater, music, literature,and after a strong existential crisis, she began to gain awareness of being called to religious life. At first she thought that her vocation was for contemplative life, which she experienced, but she had had to leave due to her frail health. Especially Father Louis from Casoria helped her understand that she was called to live the evangelical counsels "remaining in the midst of society." She devoted herself to the diffusion of the Apostleship of Prayer with some assistants. Thanks to Father Ramière, Volpicelli encountered a French foundation that had her same objectives. The French institution was aggregated to the new Congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Jean Jules Chevalier. It was called the "Third Order of the Sacred Heart" and it was led by Louise-Thérèse de Montaignac. The archbishop of Naples, Sisto Riario Sforza, having understood that the nascent Neapolitan foundation had its own personality confronted with that of de Montaignac established that the two institutions were to be separated. In 1874, Volpicelli’s foundation received the approval of the archbishop of Naples and was named the "Pia Unione delle Ancelle del Sacro Cuore" (Pious Union of the maids of the Sacred Heart). However, Catherina felt the need to receive approval also from the Holy See. The originality and the novelty of the form of her foundation, which desired to be recognized as an authentic religious institution, with a public profession of vows, aroused many perplexities and open hostility, especially in the Roman ecclesiastic environment. The various difficulties were overcome, and in June 1890 the “Istituto delle Ancelle del Sacro Cuore di Gesù” (Institute of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus) obtained the Decree of Praise by the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, without changing its innovative design. Caterina Volpicelli ended her earthly existence on December 28, 1894, leaving great uncertainty in the young institution, which would have still needed her charismatic presence. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Caterina Volpicelli」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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