ST TERESA EUSTOCHIO VERZERI, VIRGIN - 3 MARCH

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MARCH 

Saints celebrated on the 3rd of March

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

ST TERESA EUSTOCHIO VERZERI, VIRGIN

Saint Teresa Eustochio Verzeri (Ignazia Verzeri) was born in Bergamo on July 31, 1801 as the eldest of seven children of Antonio Verzeri and Countess Elena Pedrocca-Grumelli. 

Her aunt Antonia Grumelli was a Franciscan Poor Clare nun and prophesied that she would enter into religious service: "God has destined you for this state to become the mother of holy children". Her brother was Girolamo Verzeri who would become the Bishop of Brescia on September 30, 1850.

HER VOCATION LAY IN RELIGIOUS LIFE

Canon Giuseppe Benaglio, the Vicar General of Bergamo, oversaw her studies; later she studied with the Benedictine nuns of Santa Grata in Bergamo. A devout and intelligent child, Teresa Eustochio desired nothing more than to pursue a life of service to God and to discover that her vocation lay in religious life despite originally being apprehensive about what her vocation would entail.

THE DAUGHTERS OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS

On February 8, 1831, with the assistance of Canon Benaglio, she founded the Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She aimed for this new congregation to be a group that would focus on the lives of girls, particularly their education. Canon Benaglio died in 1836, leaving her the task of leading the congregation alone. She worked tirelessly to establish orphanages and provided assistance in many ways to the old and to the sick.

Teresa Eustochio died on March 3, 1852 in Brescia.

(Information from Wikipedia -

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignazia_Verzeri)