Saint of the day, May 7
“I feel so nailed to the Will of God that nothing else matters, neither death nor life. I want what He wants; I want to serve Him as much as pleases Him and no more.”
May 7 - St. Rose of Venerini
Born: 1656
Died: 1728
Nationality: Italian
Vocation: Lay Teacher
Attributes: Usually pictured with a veil and a book
Patronage: exiles, people rejected by religious orders, tertiaries, and Viterbo, Italy
Canonization: June 3, 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI
“I feel so nailed to the Will of God that nothing else matters, neither death nor life. I want what He wants; I want to serve Him as much as pleases Him and no more.”
~ St. Rose Venerini
St. Rose was born in Viterbo, Italy in 1656. When her fiance died, she entered a convent at the age of 20. Her father encouraged her to enter the Dominican Monastery of St. Catherine but she had to leave to care for her widowed mother after only a few months.
After she returned home, she began to gather a group of women together to pray the rosary in the evenings. It didn’t take long for Rose to discover the ignorance of these women - they knew nothing about their faith or how to pray.
She decided to open a school for young girls of poor families. Each day she would send a little girl out to ring a bell to call the girls and young women. She taught them to read and write well, catechesis, and a profession.
Soon, Rose was called upon to start schools in other towns across the country. Other women joined her mission of teaching, though they were not a religious order. They also sometimes received opposition through physical violence.
In 1713, Rose made a foundation in Rome that received the praise of Pope Clement XI. She died on May 7, 1728, and her reputation for holiness was confirmed by miracles. She was canonized by Benedict XVI in 2007. Her group of women was eventually given the rank of a religious congregation and are now known as the Venerini Sisters.
