She was born in Mornese, in what is now the province of Alessandria, northern Italy, to a peasant family who worked in a vineyard. Our mission is to evangelize and educate young people, especially those who are poor and at risk, in the style of Don Bosco. © CGFMANET - C.F.
Feast day May 13. In every way she was an attentive mother, which is why to this day she is still fondly referred to as “Mother Mazzarello” by the Salesian Sisters.
When Mary was 23 she suffered a serious bout of typhus that left her permanently weakened.
Mary joined these Daughters of Mary Immaculate. [2], In 1867, after meeting with them and receiving the Daughters' enthusiastic response to his proposal, Don Bosco drew up their first rule of life. A fever was ravaging her body and she was in terrible pain. The Daughters were known for their charitable works and Mary soon set herself apart for her sound judgment, dedication, joy, and love of the young. In Marseilles their ship broke down and had to be repaired. The life of Mary Domenica Mazzarello unfolded over 44 years (1837-1881) especially in Mornese, a small farming village in Monferrato, in the province of Alessandria. Spiritually, however, she only drew closer to God. All of the passengers were forced to disembark while it was dry docked. The Mazzarellos lived in a small town in the hill country on the border of Piedmont, not far from Genoa. On 5 August 1872, the date that marks the birth of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, she made her vows together with 11 companions in the presence of the Bishop of Acqui and Don Bosco. [1], Her practicality led her to find other means to sustain herself, so she took an apprenticeship as a seamstress in the town and worked diligently at the craft. The education of girls was a particular need in nineteenth century, and Mary decided to devote herself this work. She made her return journey in stages, as she did not want to push herself too much; she was painfully aware of her delicate condition. The experience of the typhoid illness, with the consequent weakening of her body, determine in Mary Domenica’s life a ‘change of path’, up to the meeting with Don Bosco in 1864, which further increases in her the determination to spend herself for youth in the way traced out by the holy educator.
Impetus, passion, action, sweetness, and gentleness at the service of the least in the spirit of authentic Christian charity. Rome (Italy). Impetus, passion and action, sweetness and benevolence were the special prerogatives of her educational goal based on prevention, in harmony with the pedagogical idea of Don Bosco. When the harsh climate and inaccessibility of Mornese necessitated the motherhouse’s relocation to Nizza Monferrato, she accepted the move with grace. At age thirty-five, donned in a habit, she was now Sister Mary Mazzarello. She was beatified on November 20, 1938 and canonized on June 24, 1951. You have entered an incorrect email address! She received the last rites of the Church and recovered, but the illness left her weak.
The Daughters of Mary Help of Christians were officially founded.
Pestarino and the little circle of young women around him—particularly Mary Mazzarello. Eventually obedience won out and she was the first Mother of the young community at age thirty.[3].
Saint Maria Mazzarello (May 9, 1837 – May 14, 1881) was the Italian founder of the Salesian Sisters. They were hard-working, pious farmers. We use cookies to make sure you can have the best experience on our site.
In fact, her educational experience was born first of all from an innate natural predisposition strongly inclined to help others both from a religious and a more properly pragmatic point of view. Died May 14, 1881, Nizza Monferrato, Italy. Starting from the biography of Mary Domenica, Mother Rosetta outlines the characteristics of feminine Salesianity. Once in St. Cyr she fainted and was in bed for forty days the diagnosis was pleurisy. The assistant pastor of the town, Fr. We Salesians of Don Bosco, Province of St. Philip the Apostle, are part of an international community of consecrated religious, both brothers and priests, founded by Saint John Bosco. Over the next several years Mary and several of the other women began to feel that their future lay with the priest from Turin and not merely in their backcountry town. In two years they opened a second house, and by 1877 they were sending missionaries to South America with their Salesian brothers. Fr Pestarino busied himself with training them in the spiritual life and managed to secure a place for some of them to live in community, thus was the beginning of religious life in Mornese. Shortly after she died at the age of forty-four.