Teresa Rosa Ferdinanda de Saldanha

Faced with the ban on religious congregations in Portugal, Teresa de Saldanha sought ways to act as a laywoman. In 1859, she founded the Protective Association for Poor Girls (Associação Protectora das Meninas Pobres) in Lisbon, whose statutes were approved by Pope Pius IX on April 21, 1863. This work was dedicated to the education, literacy, and social advancement of young girls and female workers in the poor neighborhoods of the capital, particularly in Alfama. Conscious of the lack of active religious institutions to care for the sick and educate children, she conceived the project of founding a new congregation. Despite the opposition of her father, who refused to let her go abroad for training, she sent her first companions to complete their novitiate in Ireland. On November 13, 1868, she opened the first free school in Alfama, marking the beginning of the mission of the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of the Portuguese Congregation of Saint Catherine of Siena (Irmãs Dominicanas de Santa Catarina de Siena). Teresa had to wait many years before she could pronounce her own vows. On April 18, 1887, she finally took the religious habit under the name Sister Teresa Catarina Rosa Maria do Santíssimo Sacramento. She made her religious profession on October 2, 1887, and was elected the first Superior General of the institute. Under her leadership, the congregation developed rapidly, opening numerous houses, schools, and dispensaries throughout Portugal. In 1910, the proclamation of the First Portuguese Republic led to a new religious persecution. The congregation's assets were confiscated, schools were closed, and the sisters were dispersed or forced into exile (notably to Brazil, Belgium, and the United States). Stripped of everything, Teresa de Saldanha took refuge clandestinely in a small rented house on Rua Gomes Freire in Lisbon. There, she maintained the spiritual bond with her sisters and passed away peacefully on January 8, 1916, at the age of 78.

The reputation for holiness of Teresa de Saldanha spread immediately upon her death. Her funeral was celebrated at the Corpo Santo church in Lisbon, and her body was interred at the Benfica cemetery. In 1931, the first steps toward her canonization were undertaken within the congregation. To make her life known, Sister Maria Rosa Thiaucourt published a documented biography titled Madre Teresa de Saldanha. Vida e Obra. However, due to the reorganization of the institute, the cause did not advance immediately. At the end of the 1970s, the discovery of important historical archives concerning the foundress revived the process. In 1990, the General Chapter of the congregation formally voted for the request to open the diocesan process. This was officially opened on November 6, 1999, by the Cardinal-Patriarch of Lisbon, D. José da Cruz Policarpo, and closed on November 17, 2001. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints decreed the validity of the diocesan inquiry on January 31, 2003, and the Positio was published in 2008.

On December 14, 2015, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues. Teresa de Saldanha was then declared Venerable. Her cause for beatification is currently underway, awaiting the official recognition of a miracle attributed to her intercession.

The spirituality of Teresa de Saldanha is deeply rooted in the Dominican charism, combining a life of intense contemplation with vigorous apostolic action. Her personal motto, "Espero viver e morrer só de Jesus" ("I hope to live and die only for Jesus"), testifies to her total abandonment to the divine will. She also repeated: "Fazer o bem, sempre e a todos" ("Do good, always and to everyone").

Her legacy endures today through the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Catherine of Siena, which continues her mission of education, care for the sick, and assistance to the most destitute. The congregation is active in Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Paraguay, Albania, and East Timor. Furthermore, the lay movement "Voluntariado Teresa de Saldanha" (VTS), founded in 2002, continues to keep her charism of charity alive in contemporary society.