Maria Raffaella Cimatti

The life of Sister Maria Raffaella is intimately linked to the mission of her congregation, the Hospital Sisters of Mercy, founded in 1821 by the Roman noblewoman Teresa Orsini Doria Pamphilj Landi to embody divine mercy for the sick and the destitute in hospitals.

In 1893, Sister Maria Raffaella was sent to the San Benedetto Hospital in Alatri, in the province of Frosinone, to study nursing and work as a pharmacy assistant. She was later transferred to the Umberto I Hospital in Frosinone, where she managed the pharmacy for two decades before being appointed superior (prioress) of the local community in 1921. In 1928, she returned to Alatri, once again assuming the role of superior until 1940.

In 1940, after fifty years of religious life, she asked to be relieved of her administrative duties to return to being a simple sister, humbly dedicating herself to the direct service of the sick, the sisters, and the hospital staff. It was during the Second World War, in 1944, during the difficult retreat of German troops after the Battle of Monte Cassino, that she performed her most heroic act. The German occupation forces had mined the Alatri hospital to slow the Allied advance. Sister Maria Raffaella, in collaboration with the Bishop of Alatri, Msgr. Edoardo Facchini, courageously intervened with the German command to convince them to spare the facility, emphasizing that the majority of the patients were untransportable. Thanks to her intervention, the mines were removed and the hospital, as well as the town, were saved from destruction. This act of bravery and her tireless charity earned her the nickname "Angel of the Sick" from the population.

Afflicted by an incurable disease diagnosed in 1943, she refused to be transferred to a specialized center and chose to remain at the Alatri hospital to continue her mission there until her death, which occurred on June 23, 1945.

After her death, the reputation for holiness of Sister Maria Raffaella Cimatti continued to grow, both in Alatri and in her native Romagna. Testimonies regarding her heroic charity, her gentleness, and her life of intense prayer multiplied. The cause for beatification was officially opened on June 6, 1962, in the diocese of Anagni-Alatri. The diocesan process gathered evidence of her virtues and her reputation for holiness. On July 6, 1993, Pope John Paul II promulgated the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues, thereby conferring upon her the title of Venerable. To pave the way for her beatification, the Church examined a miracle attributed to her intercession. This involved the inexplicable healing of a seriously ill young boy, which occurred in May 1970 after an image of the Venerable had been placed under his pillow and prayers had been addressed on his behalf. This miracle was officially recognized by a papal decree on December 15, 1994.

Sister Maria Raffaella Cimatti was solemnly proclaimed blessed by Pope John Paul II on May 12, 1996, on the parvis of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, alongside other figures of holiness such as Cardinal Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster and Father Filippo Smaldone.

Her liturgical feast is set for June 23, the day of her birth into heaven. On March 27, 2010, her mortal remains, found intact, were transferred from the chapel of the former San Benedetto hospital to the Co-cathedral of San Paolo in Alatri, where they now rest in a dedicated chapel, offered for the veneration of the faithful.

The spirituality of Blessed Maria Raffaella Cimatti rests entirely on the contemplation of Divine Mercy and the exercise of the vow of hospitality. She liked to recall the meaning of her religious name, Raffaella (Raphael, meaning "God heals" or "medicine of God"), seeing in it a spiritual requirement.

She knew how to harmonize in an exemplary way a life of intense action among the sick and a deep contemplative life. When she was not at the bedside of patients, she spent long hours in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament or reciting the Rosary. Her legacy remains alive through the action of the Hospital Sisters of Mercy, who continue to embody her charism of compassion and selfless service to the most vulnerable.