Colomba Matylda Gabriel

Exiling herself to Italy, Mother Colomba Gabriel arrived in Rome in 1900. On June 3, 1902, she received authorization from the Congregation for Bishops and Regulars to enter the Benedictine monastery of Subiaco (Saint Scholastica). However, faced with the language barrier and difficulties in adapting, she went through a period of depression and requested exclaustration. She left Subiaco in the summer of 1903 to return to Rome, where she stayed temporarily with the Sisters of Charity of Saint Charles Borromeo, before receiving her decree of secularization in the autumn of the same year.

After a period of solitude and prayer, she matured the project of founding a new charitable work of Benedictine inspiration. Guided by Blessed Hyacinthe-Marie Cormier, she was presented in October 1906 to the Cardinal Vicar of Rome, Pietro Respighi. She also consulted Dom Hildebrand de Hemptinne, Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Confederation, who actively supported her project.

On the advice and with the help of Father Vincenzo Ceresi, a Missionary of the Sacred Heart, she opened the first "Casa-Famiglia" (Family House) on May 1, 1908, in the former Sinibaldi palace (Via di Torre Argentina, 76). This structure was intended to welcome, house, and protect poor young female workers who had come to look for work in Rome, often exposed to exploitation.

To perpetuate this work, she gathered companions desirous of sharing her life of poverty and service. On October 12, 1908, she officially founded the institute of the Benedictine Sisters of Charity (Suore Benedettine di Carità). On June 1, 1910, the first two companions (Giuseppina Rosaz and Concetta Raglione) took the religious habit, and on the following June 8, the Cardinal Vicar of Rome formally authorized the birth of the new congregation. The institute received its decree of diocesan canonical erection on March 5, 1926, by Cardinal Vicar Basilio Pompilj.

Mother Colomba Gabriel passed away on September 24, 1926, in Centocelle, a district in the Roman suburbs. Her collaborator and co-founder, Placida Oldoini, succeeded her at the head of the institute to continue and develop the foundation.

After her death in 1926, Mother Colomba was initially buried in a Roman cemetery. In 1958, her remains were transferred to the chapel of the religious house, and then, in November 1983, they were solemnly deposited in the congregation's motherhouse in Centocelle, Rome.

The canonization process officially opened on June 16, 1983, after the granting of the nihil obstat by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, bestowing upon her the title of Servant of God. The diocesan inquiry was validated by a decree on June 20, 1986, and the Positio on her virtues was published in 1988. On July 10, 1990, Pope John Paul II signed the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues, declaring her Venerable.

The miracle required for her beatification was examined and validated by the medical commission on June 2, 1992, and then approved by the theologians on October 9, 1992. Pope John Paul II promulgated the decree recognizing the miracle on December 21, 1992.

Mother Colomba Gabriel was solemnly beatified on May 16, 1993, by Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican. Her liturgical memorial is set for September 24, the day of her birth into Heaven.

The spirituality of Blessed Colomba Gabriel is deeply rooted in the Rule of Saint Benedict, characterized by the balance between liturgical prayer and work (Ora et labora). However, she grafted onto it a charism of active apostolate entirely turned toward concrete charity. She exhorted her sisters to:

"Go where a soul calls to be guided, a heart to be consoled, a suffering body to be relieved."

She knew how to transform the painful trials of her life—exile, slander, and depression—into a total abandonment to Divine Providence.

The institute of the Benedictine Sisters of Charity obtained the pontifical decree of praise in 1978. Today, the sisters continue their mission of assistance and education for children, young girls, and the elderly. The congregation is active in Italy, Romania, and Madagascar, keeping alive the work of charity initiated by their founder.