Saint’s Life Story

Her Early Life

Caterina, also known as Katarina, was born on January 21, 1839 in Naples, Italy to Peter and Teresa de Micheroux. She was born into an affluent upper middle-class Neapolitan family, receiving a well-rounded education at the Royal Educational Institute of San Marcellino by Margherita Salatino (the future foundress, with Saint Ludovico da Casoria, of the Franciscan Grey Sisters of St. Elizabeth). Here, Caterina was taught literature, languages, and music.

Met Father Saint Ludovico da Casoria

In her youth, Caterina was primarily focused on establishing a reputation for herself in society by frequently going to the theatre and the ballet. But at the age of fifteen, her chance meeting with Father Saint Ludovico da Casoria, a Franciscan tertiary, on September 19, 1854 at La Palma, Naples, changed her life forever. As Caterina herself says, was “a rare stroke of prevenient grace, charity and favor from the Sacred Heart, delighted by the poverty of his servant”. He taught her to make devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus the one aim of her life. So, she soon gave up the transient pleasures of an elegant and carefree life, to adhere with generous decision to a vocation of perfection and holiness.

Joined the Third Order Franciscans

At first, Caterina thought her vocation was to a contemplative life, which she tried but had to abandon due to frail health. Caterina was deeply saddened that she had been unable to complete her vocation. In her disappointment, Saint Ludovico da Casoria helped Caterina understand that she was called to become a “fisher of souls” by “remaining in the midst of society.” He encouraged her to join the Third Order Franciscans, devote herself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. As a result of Saint Ludovico da Casoria’s influence, Caterina joined the Third Order Franciscans (tertiaries) and adopted a more religious lifestyle.

Faced Disappointment

On May 28, 1859, at the age of 20, Caterina entered the Congregation of Perpetual Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament. Unfortunately, she faced severe health problems and had to withdraw from the organization. She was heartbroken when she had to leave the convent after a short time because she was ill. She prayed that God would show her another way to serve others. Her example reminds us to face challenges in our lives with prayer.

This setback did not dampen her dedication. She spent hour upon hour in adoration of the Eucharist. Then, Catarina was approached by her confessor about the French Sacred Heart apostolate known as the Apostleship of Prayer. So, she continued her spiritual journey by becoming a member of the Apostleship of Prayer. Here, she had found what she was looking for but felt there needed to be one with its own personality to publicly “revive love for Jesus Christ in hearts, in families, and in society”.

Apostleship of Prayer

In July 1867, Father Ramière visited the palace of Largo Petrone in Naples, where Caterina was considering establishing her apostolic activities “to revive love for Jesus Christ in hearts, in families and in society”. The Apostleship of Prayer would be the cornerstone of Caterina’s whole spiritual edifice and would permit her to cultivate her ardent love of the Eucharist and her outreach to others. This powerful apostleship dedicates each day to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, finding God in every moment, every task. This prayerful way of life and her devotion to the Eucharist, with hours spent in adoration, marked the next stage of her life.

Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

On July 1, 1874 at the age of 35, Caterina founded the new Istituto delle Ancelle del Sacro Cuore di Gesù (“Institute of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus”). This new institute was, at first, approved by the Cardinal Archbishop of Naples, Sisto Riario Sforza, and later, on June 13, 1890, by Pope Leo XIII. The Institute had three branches from the beginning, one religious (whose adherents did not wear a defined habit) and two lay branches.

Her sisters brought the warmth of Christ to the poor, to the sick, and to the forgotten. They formed hearts in devotion, reminded the weary that God’s heart beats for them, and invited families to make their homes places of living faith.

Opened Orphanage and Other Houses

With a big concern for the young, Caterina then opened the orphanage of the Margherites and founded a lending library. In addition, Catarina developed courses to teach reading and writing as well as catechism for children and adults. With the wise guidance of Venerable Mother Rosa Carafa Traettoand, She also set up the Association of the Daughters of Mary, who provided nursing and great assistance to the cholera victims in 1884.

Soon, Caterina opened other houses throughout Italy: in Naples, in the Sansevero Palace and then at the La Sapienza Church in Ponticelli, where the Servants distinguished themselves in nursing cholera victims and in Minturno, Meta di Sorrento and Rome.

On May 14, 1884, the new Archbishop of Naples, Cardinal Guglielmo Sanfelice, consecrated the Shrine dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus which Caterina Volpicelli had had built next to the Mother House of her institutions.

First National Eucharistic Congress

In 1891, Caterina participated in the First National Eucharistic Congress celebrated in Naples. There, she was crowned the Apostolate of the Foundress of the Servants of the Sacred Heart.

Her Death

Caterina passed away on December 28, 1894 in Naples, Italy, due to natural causes.

At her Canonization, Pope Benedict said:

“St. Caterina Volpicelli was also a witness of divine love. She strove “to belong to Christ in order to bring to Christ” those whom she met in Naples at the end of the 19th century, in a period of spiritual and social crisis. For her too the secret was the Eucharist. She recommended that her first collaborators cultivate an intense spiritual life in prayer and, especially, in vital contact with Jesus in the Eucharist. Today this is still the condition for continuing the work and mission which she began and which she bequeathed as a legacy to the “Servants of the Sacred Heart”. In order to be authentic teachers of faith, desirous of passing on to the new generations the values of Christian culture, it is indispensable, as she liked to repeat, to release God from the prisons in which human beings have confined Him. In fact, only in the Heart of Christ can humanity find its “permanent dwelling place.” St Caterina shows to her spiritual daughters and to all of us, the demanding journey of a conversion, that radically changes the heart and is expressed in actions consistent with the Gospel. It is thus possible to lay the foundations for building a society open to justice and solidarity, overcoming that economic and cultural imbalance which continues to exist in a large part of our planet.”

Born:                   January 21, 1839 in Naples, Italy

Died:                   December 28, 1894 in Naples, Italy

Beatified:           April 29, 2001 by Pope John Paul II

Canonized:        April 26, 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI

Feast Day:         December 28

Patron Saint:    Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Source:

• • CatholicSaints.Info » Saint Caterina Volpicelli
  • Saint Caterina Volpicelli – Real Heros!
  • Saint Caterina Volpicelli – Saint for a Minute: Saints & Blesseds
  • Caterina Volpicelli (1839-1894) – Biography – Vatican
  • Caterina Volpicelli – Wikipedia

Prayers

Video Link

The Saint Who Gave Her Heart to the Sacred Heart (St. Caterina Volpicelli) – YouTube Video (Lisa Monoson)