Maria Anna Donati

The major work of Maria Anna Donati is the foundation of the Congregation of the Poor Daughters of Saint Joseph of Calasanz (Figlie Povere di San Giuseppe Calasanzio), commonly known as the Calasanzian Sisters (Suore Calasanziane). On June 24, 1889, the feast day of Saint John the Baptist, patron of Florence, Maria Anna and four companions (Sister Maria Giuseppa di S. Tommaso d'Aquino, Sister Maura di Santa Caterina da Siena, Sister Antonina di San Leonardo da Porto Maurizio, and Sister Pompilia di San Francesco d'Assisi) donned the religious habit. Maria Anna then took the name Sister Celestina of the Mother of God (suor Giuseppa Celestina della Madre di Dio), in tribute to her spiritual director, Father Celestino Zini. The institute was initially dedicated to the Christian and human education of poor and abandoned young girls in Florence. Very quickly, under the impetus of the foundress and in collaboration with the lawyer Bartolo Longo (founder of the works of Pompeii), the mission expanded in an innovative way to welcome and educate the children of prisoners, a social category that was then totally marginalized and stigmatized. In 1892, Father Celestino Zini, who had meanwhile become Archbishop of Siena, passed away. Mother Celestina then had to assume the direction and responsibility of the young congregation alone. Despite significant financial difficulties and debts incurred to expand the work, particularly during the establishment of a house in Rome, she governed the institute with great wisdom, deep trust in Providence, and disarming humility. The congregation received diocesan approval on September 21, 1892, from Cardinal Agostino Bausa, Archbishop of Florence. It subsequently obtained definitive approval of pontifical right under the pontificate of Saint Pius X on December 18, 1911, and its constitutions were formally approved by Pope Benedict XV on February 28, 1920. Under her leadership, the Calasanzian Sisters spread to several regions of Italy.

After Mother Celestina's death in 1925, her reputation for holiness continued to grow. The diocesan informative process for her beatification was opened in Florence in 1935 and closed in 1962. The decree on her writings was published on April 1, 1969. The cause was officially introduced in Rome on July 12, 1982, under the pontificate of John Paul II. On July 5, 1985, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints validated the informative process. After the examination of the Positio, Pope John Paul II signed the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues on April 6, 1998, thus conferring upon her the title of Venerable.

To pave the way for beatification, a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Celestina of the Mother of God was required. After the scientific and theological examination of a medically inexplicable healing, Pope Benedict XVI authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing this miracle on June 1, 2007. The solemn ceremony of beatification was celebrated on March 30, 2008, at the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. It was presided over by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, representing Pope Benedict XVI. On that same day, during the Regina Caeli prayer at Castelgandolfo, Pope Benedict XVI greeted the new Blessed and presented her as a model of charity and education for the universal Church.

The spirituality of Blessed Celestina of the Mother of God rests on an intimate union between contemplation and action. Deeply marked by the charism of Saint Joseph of Calasanz, founder of the Pious Schools (Piarists), she wished for her sisters to "camp under the Tabernacle." In 1900, she established daily and perpetual Eucharistic adoration in the church of the motherhouse in Florence, a practice that continues to this day. She left behind several major spiritual writings, notably: The Manuale Calasanziano (Calasanzian Manual), a spiritual commentary on the first constitutions of the institute; The Devote pratiche giornaliere (Devout Daily Practices); Meditations on the Passion of Christ; and a rich epistolary correspondence. Her pedagogical legacy is based on a maternal love, imbued with gentleness, respect, and dignity toward the most destitute children. She often reminded her sisters that "children are the temple of the Most Holy Trinity" and that it is fitting to add a "supplement of soul" derived from faith to their educational action. Today, the Calasanzian Sisters continue the work of their founder in Italy, but also internationally, notably in Brazil, Romania, and Nicaragua, working with disadvantaged children, families in difficulty, and immigrants.