Teresa Maria of the Cross, SCST (born Teresa Adelaide Cesina Manetti; 3 March 1846 – 23 April 1910) was an

Italian Catholic The Italian Catholic Church, or Catholic Church in Italy, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the Pope in Rome, under the Conference of Italian Bishops. The pope serves also as Primate of Italy and Bishop of Rome. In add ...

religious sister A religious sister (abbreviated: Sr.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to prayer and ...

and the founder of the Carmelite Sisters of Saint Teresa. She was previously a member of the

Third Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel The Third Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, also known as the Lay Carmelites, is a third order of the Carmelite Order of the Ancient Observance, established in 1476 by a bull of Pope Sixtus IV. It is an association of people who choose to live t ...

. Teresa Maria of the Cross was beatified by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

in 1986 after the recognition of a miracle attributed to her.

Life

Teresa Maria Manetti was born on 3 March 1846 in

Campi Bisenzio Campi Bisenzio () is a (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence, in the Italian region of Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence. History The word Campi in the municipality's name stems from the fields which are widespread in t ...

as the daughter of Salvatore Manetti and Rosa Bigagli. Her brother was Adamo Raffaello. Teresa Maria lived her life in a small village outside of Florence and her father died when she was three. She received 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 ...

on 8 May 1859. At the age of eighteen - at the time that she suddenly realized what her vocation was - Teresa Maria gathered a group of women who were all teachers; the group soon became exposed to the writings of the

Teresa of Avila Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; ) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or reap", or from θέ ...

, and soon enough a devotion to her grew. On 16 July 1876 Teresa Maria joined a group of Carmelite tertiaries, which she joined on 12 July 1888. Following this, Teresa Maria of the Cross started to establish schools in cities surrounding Florence, each with its own Carmelite teachers. The congregation she founded received approval from

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...

on 27 February 1904 as the Carmelite Sisters of Saint Teresa. Their mission was to teach children, with an emphasis on orphans. Houses eventually opened in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

after the approval was granted. Teresa Maria of the Cross contracted a grave illness in 1908 which intensified until she died on 23 April 1910. Her

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

were relocated on 22 April 1912.

Beatification

The cause for beatification commenced in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

in the 1930s. Theologians approved Manetti's spiritual writings on 27 November 1937.

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 ...

formally opened the cause on 30 July 1944, granting Manetti the title of

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 Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

approved the findings of 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 ...

and approved the fact that she had lived a 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 ...

. As a result, on 23 May 1975, he declared 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 ...

approved a miracle attributed to her intercession on 16 November 1985 and beatified her on 19 October 1986.

References

External links

Hagiography CircleSaints SQPNCarmelite Sisters of Saint Teresa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manetti, Teresia Maria 1846 births 1910 deaths People from Campi Bisenzio Grand Duchy of Tuscany people Founders of Catholic religious communities 19th-century venerated Christians 20th-century venerated Christians Venerated Carmelites Italian beatified people Beatifications by Pope John Paul II