Bartolomea Capitanio
| Saint Bartolomea Capitanio | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Foundress | |
| Born |
13 January 1807 Lovere, Lombardy, Italy |
| Died | 26 July 1833 |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Canonized | 1950 by Pope Pius XII |
| Feast | July 11 |
Bartolomea Capitanio (1807 – 26 July 1833) born in Lovere, Italy was, with Vincenza Gerosa, one of the foundresses of the Catholic religious institute the Sisters of Charity of Lovere.
Life
Bartolomea was born January 14, 1807 in Lovere, at he north end of Lake Isea in the Brescian Alps. She was the eldest daughter of a merchant, Modestus Capitanio and his second wife, Catharina Casnossi. She had two brothers and four sisters, who apart from one named Camilla all died in infancy causing deep sorrow, above all, to their mother. Her father ran a business dealing in grain and also a small greengrocer’s. It was enough to support the family and also to finance some charitable donations. Her mother educated her daughters with care and also a deep Christian faith. As she grew up her father became an alcoholic and became aggressive at home.
She was educated at the convent of the nuns of St. Clare in Lovere. She would have entered the Order, but her parents would not consent. In her early years, she was deeply affected by reading the life of St Aloysius Gonzaga, whose virtues she attempted to emulate.[1]
When she completed her studies, she opened a private school for girls, where she encouraged the devotion of the Six Sundays of St Aloysius, approved by Pope Clement XII in 1739.[2] The Austrian government, which controlled Lombardy at that time, issued her a teacher's diploma upon her passing the requisite examination.[1]
A sodality of the Blessed Virgin owes its beginning to her efforts. It was through the sodality that seventeen-year-old Bartolomea first became acquainted with Vincenza Gerosa, a fellow native of Lovere. They created their congregation to teach the young and nurse the sick. On the Feast of the Presentation, February 21, 1832 they dedicated themselves to God and began to live a communal life, calling themselves Sisters of Charity.[1]
Bartolomea died of consumption in 1833, at the age of twenty-six. Even without support of an established order, they managed to start a home for orphaned girls, school and hospital
Bartolomea Capitanio is also the name of a school, in the state of Amapá in Brazil. The institution praises the Holy Bible and the life of the saint.
References
Sources
- Attwater, Donald; Catherine Rachel John (1993). The Penguin Dictionary of Saints (3rd ed.). New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0140513124.
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