Lucy Filippini (; 13 January 1672 – 25 March 1732) is venerated as a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

. With the assistance of Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Barbarigo,

Rose Venerini Rose Venerini (9 February 1656 – 7 May 1728), also called Rosa Venerini, was an Italian Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion ...

founded schools for young women, especially the poor, in Viterbo. The cardinal's relative Cardinal Marcantonio Barbarigo invited Venerini to establish schools in his diocese of

Montefiascone Montefiascone is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Viterbo, in Lazio, central Italy. It stands on a hill on the southeast side of Lake Bolsena, about north of Rome. History The name of the city derives from that of the Falisci (''Mons Fa ...

. When Venerini had to return to Viterbo to look after the establishments there, Marcantonio entrusted the schools to Lucy Filippini. She then founded ''the Institute of the Maestre Pie'' to staff the schools and continue her work. They are known as the "Filippini Sisters".

Life

Lucy Filippini was born on 13 January 1672 in Corneto-Tarquinia. She was the fifth and youngest child of Filippo Filippini and Maddalena Picchi. She had not yet reached her first birthday when her mother died and was buried in the Church of San Marco. Her father, whom she loved dearly, also died six years later and was buried in the Church of Santa Margherita in Corneto. She was

orphaned An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ...

at an early age. At the age of six, she went to live with her aristocratic aunt and uncle who encouraged her religious inclination by entrusting her education to the Benedictine nuns at Santa Lucia."The Life of St. Lucy Filippini", St. Nicholas of Tolentine, Philadelphia
/ref> Her career began under the patronage of Cardinal

Marcantonio Barbarigo Marcantonio Barbarigo (6 March 1640 – 26 May 1706) was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the founder of the Pontifical Institute of the Religious Teachers Filippini and also founded both the Religious Teachers Filippini o ...

, who entrusted her with the work of founding schools for young women, especially the poor. In 1692, with

to train school teachers, she co-founded with Barbarigo the Pious Teachers (

Religious Teachers Filippini The Pontifical Institute of the Religious Teachers Filippini (abbreviated as M.P.F. from the ), known also as the Sisters of St. Lucy Filippini, or simply the Filippini Sisters, is a Catholic religious institute devoted to education. They were foun ...

), a group dedicated to the education of girls. The young ladies of

were taught domestic arts, weaving, embroidering, reading, and Christian doctrine. Twelve years later the Cardinal devised a set of rules to guide Lucy and her followers in the religious life. Fifty-two schools were established during Lucy's lifetime. In 1707, Pope

Clement XI Pope Clement XI (; ; ; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721. Clement XI was a patron of the arts an ...

called Lucy to Rome to start schools which he placed under his special protection. ''Religious Teachers Filippini'', is credited with the religious and social improvement of Italian women well before compulsory education. She died of breast cancer in 1732, aged 60, at

. She is buried at The Cathedral of Montefiascone.

Veneration

Lucy Filippini was canonized 22 June 1930. She was given the last niche at

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (; ), is a church of the Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the city of Rome, Italy. It was initiall ...

and her statue can be seen in the first upper niche from the main entrance on the left (south) side of the nave of the Basilica. Her feast day is 25 March.

References

External links

Profile
catholic.org; accessed 31 October 2014.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Filippini, Lucy Italian Roman Catholic saints 1672 births 1732 deaths 18th-century Christian saints Incorrupt saints Deaths from breast cancer Deaths from cancer in Lazio Christian female saints of the Early Modern era

Life

Veneration

See also

References

External links