Maria Ripamonti (26 May 1909 – 4 July 1954), also known by her religious name Lucia dell'Immacolata, 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 ...

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and a professed religious from the Ancelle della carità. Ripamonti worked at a

spinning mill Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

before leaving her hometown in 1932 for

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

to enter a

religious congregation A religious congregation is a type of Religious institute (Catholic), religious institute in the Catholic Church. They are legally distinguished from Religious order (Catholic), religious orders – the other major type of religious institute – i ...

after having met a visiting nun in her hometown. In 1938 she made her perpetual profession and started residing in the order's

motherhouse A motherhouse or mother house is the principal house or community for a Catholic religious community.YourDictionaryMotherhouse/ref> One example is the Missionaries of Charity's motherhouse in Kolkata, which functions as the congregation's headquart ...

in Brescia and was later diagnosed late with a serious illness that led to her death in 1954. Her order after her death started to request for an official beatification process to be launched and this took place in the Brescia diocese in 1992 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 ...

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

later confirmed her to be

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 ...

in 2017 upon the acknowledgement of her life of

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 ...

; the same pope confirmed a miracle attributed to her intercession which shall enable for Ripamonti to be beatified in Brescia; it was scheduled to be held on 9 May 2020 but the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

forced its postponement. She was beatified on 23 October 2021.

Life

Maria Ripamonti was born in

Acquate Acquate (in Lecchese dialect ''Quàa'') is a ward of Lecco, Italy, located north-east of the city centre. It is situated at the foot of the hill between the Bione and Caldone creeks. History The village of Acquate, consisting of an urban center ...

in the

province of Lecco The province of Lecco (; Lecchese: ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lecco. As of 2017, the province had a population of 337,211 on a surface of divided into 85 ''comuni'' (: ''com ...

on 26 May 1909 as the last of four children to Ferdinando Ripamonti; her

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

was celebrated on 30 May. Ripamonti made her

First Communion First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in many parts of the Latin tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Communion (ot ...

in 1916 and then made her

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later in 1918. In her adolescence she began working in a

in order to support her siblings and was a frequent attendee at

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

while she also would tend to children and would collaborate with those in the

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movement for parish initiatives. The parish priest Luigi Piatti was a confidante of hers and would provide her with religious instruction and formation. In 1932 she left for

in order to be admitted into the Ancelle della carità after she met one of the order's religious in her hometown around that time. In 1938 she made her perpetual profession and assumed the religious name "Lucia dell'Immacolata" and started to live at the order's

in Brescia. Ripamonti was later diagnosed late with a serious illness and she began to offer herself to

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as a victim for the reparation of souls while receiving treatment in hospital. Ripamonti had a deep devotion to Nostra Signora di Lourdes and would often serve the priests that visited the motherhouse to undergo the

Spiritual Exercises The ''Spiritual Exercises'' (), composed 1522–1524, are a set of Christian meditations, contemplations, and prayers written by Ignatius of Loyola, a 16th-century Spanish Catholic priest, theologian, and founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesui ...

. Her devotion also extended to the order's foundress, Maria Crocifissa di Rosa, who was canonized just under a month before Ripamonti died. Ripamonti died in 1954 at the Ronchettino Hospital and her remains were interred in Brescia in the motherhouse's chapel.

Beatification

The order's ninth

Superior General A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of an 'order' of religious persons (nuns, priests, friars, etc) or, in other words, of a 'religious institute' in the Catholic Church, and in some other Christian denominations. The super ...

Eugenia Menni made a formal request for the cause to be launched and the Brescia diocese started to prepare for the cause to be launched. The

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, passi ...

issued the formal "

nihil obstat (Latin for 'nothing hinders' or 'nothing stands in the way') is a phrase traditionally used by Catholic Church authorities to formally declare that there is no objection to the publication of a book. It also has other uses. Publishing The ...

" (no objections) decree on 1 December 1992 that titled Ripamonti as a

and allowed for the cause to be launched. The diocesan process was conducted in Brescia under Bishop Bruno Foresti and upon its closure was transferred to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

where the C.C.S. would begin their own work on the cause; the congregation issued a decree on 10 November 1995 that validated the diocesan process. Ripamonti became titled as

on 27 February 2017 after

signed a decree that acknowledged that Ripamonti had practiced

throughout her life. The process to investigate a miracle attributed to her intercession (the prerequisite for her to be beatified) opened in the Bolzano-Brixen diocese on 7 August 2012 and closed just a few months later on 20 November. The miracle investigated was the 1967 healing of Irene Zanfino (then aged seven) who was involved in a near-fatal car crash. Pope Francis approved this miracle in a decree on 13 May 2019 that henceforth enables for Ripamonti to be beatified in Brescia; it was scheduled for 9 May 2020 but postponed due to the

though later rescheduled and celebrated on 23 October 2021. The current

postulator A postulator is the person who guides a cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Catholic Church. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the ''Norms to be Observed i ...

for the cause is Paolisa Falconi who comes from Ripamonti's order.

References

External links

Hagiography Circle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ripamonti, Maria 1909 births 1954 deaths 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns 20th-century venerated Christians Beatifications by Pope Francis People from the Province of Lecco Venerated Catholics by Pope Francis