Maria Schininà

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Maria Schininà, known in religion as Maria of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, was born on 10 April 1844 in Ragusa and died there on 11 June 1910. She came from a noble family. After the death of her father in 1865 and her brother’s marriage in 1874, she underwent a deep inner conversion and began to care for the sick and the poor, even giving away her fine clothes to those in need.

She joined the Pia Unione delle Figlie di Maria in 1875 and became its directress in 1877. With guidance from Archbishop Benedetto La Vecchia of Siracusa, she decided to found a new religious community. In 1889 the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus were established, and five others joined in solemn profession on 9 May 1889.

Pope Leo XIII gave her a blessing in a private audience in 1890. In 1908 she helped people affected by the Messina earthquake. She died in 1910.

Her religious order received papal recognition in stages, with full approval in 1946, and in 1955 it was brought under the Franciscan Conventual family. The congregation grew over the years and spread to several countries. Maria Schininà’s writings were approved in 1949. The cause for her canonization began in 1975. She was named Venerable in 1989, and a miracle was recognized, leading to her beatification by Pope John Paul II on 4 November 1990. The postulator for her cause is Sister Concetta Aranzulla.