Bartolomea Capitanio (13 January 1807 – 26 July 1833) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

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professed religious and the co-foundress of the Sisters of Charity of Lovere that she established with Vincenza Gerosa. Capitanio's rather short life was dedicated to the educational needs of children and the poor and she served as a teacher for most of her life while using her order to achieve this aim.

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

beatified her in 1926 and

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

canonized her - alongside her old friend Gerosa - in 1950.

Life

Bartolomea Capitanio was born in

Bergamo Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...

in 1807 as the eldest of seven children to the merchant Modesto Capitanio and his second wife Caterina Casnossi; she had two brothers and four sisters. All her siblings died as infants except for Camilla. Her father ran a business dealing in grain and also a small greengrocers. Her mother educated her children with great care and also a deep faith. Her father soon became an

alcoholic Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Hea ...

and became aggressive at home. Capitanio was educated at the

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

of the

Poor Clares The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare (Latin language, Latin: ''Ordo Sanctae Clarae''), originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and also known as the Clarisses or Clarissines, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Or ...

and

Lovere Lovere (Bergamasque: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Bergamo, in Lombardy, northern Italy, at the northwest end of Lake Iseo. The houses in the city have overhanging wooden roofs, typical of Switzerland, combined with the heavy sto ...

after her mother sent her there in 1818; she remained there as a teacher, until 1825 when she returned home. The girl would have entered the order of those

nuns A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of Evangelical counsels, poverty, chastity, and obedience in the Enclosed religious orders, enclosure of a monastery or convent.' ...

but her parents would not consent to her request but approached her

spiritual director Spiritual direction is the practice of being with people as they attempt to deepen their relationship with the divinity, divine, or to learn and grow in their personal spirituality. The person seeking direction shares stories of their encounters ...

, the priest Angelo Bosio, for guidance. Reading the life of

Aloysius Gonzaga Aloysius de Gonzaga, SJ (; 9 March 156821 June 1591) was an Italian people, Italian aristocracy (class), aristocrat who became a member of the Society of Jesus. While still a student at the Roman College, he died as a result of caring for the v ...

enlightened and inspired her and she attempted to emulate his virtues. After the conclusion of her studies she opened a private school for girls where she encouraged the devotion of the "Six Sundays of Saint Aloysius" that

Pope Clement XII Pope Clement XII (; ; 7 April 16526 February 1740), born Lorenzo Corsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 July 1730 to his death in February 1740. Clement presided over the growth of a surplus in the papal ...

had approved back in 1739. The Austrian government - which controlled the northern Italian region at the time - issued her a teacher's diploma upon her passing the requisite examination in 1822; she began teaching first grade schoolgirls at her old school though left on 18 July 1824 to go back home and teach at the local school. In 1824 she first became acquainted with Vincenza Gerosa who also happened to hail from Lovere. The two became close friends and together they embarked on a mission to start a hospital to care for those who could not afford medical care. They co-founded their own religious order as a means to teach children and nurse the sick. The Bishop of Brescia allowed for Bosio and Father Rusticiano Barboglio to purchase a house for the two women to found their order at. On the

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- on 21 February 1832 - the pair dedicated themselves to

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

(in Bosio and Barboglio's presence at San Giorgio in Casa Gaia) and began to live a communal life in accordance with the order the two founded. The formal founding was on 21 November 1832 after the women began their work for the founding the previous 26 April 1831. Bartolomea Capitanio died from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

in 1833 in Lovere.

School

Bartolomea Capitanio- santuario delle sante Gerosa e Capitanio

Bartolomea Capitanio is also the name of a school in the

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state in

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Sainthood

The beatification process started under

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

on 8 March 1866 and she became titled as a

Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

while the confirmation of her

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is the translation of a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs. The phrase is used by the Roman Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman a ...

allowed for

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

to name her as

Venerable ''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom. Catholic In the Catholic Churc ...

on 6 January 1902;

beatified her on 30 May 1926 while

later canonized her as a saint - alongside Vincenza Gerosa - on 18 May 1950.

References

Sources

External links

Hagiography CircleSaints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Capitanio, Bartolomea 1807 births 1833 deaths 19th-century Christian saints 19th-century Italian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns Beatifications by Pope Pius XI Canonizations by Pope Pius XII Christian female saints of the Late Modern era Founders of Catholic religious communities Italian Roman Catholic saints Clergy from the Province of Bergamo