Teresa Fardella di Blasi

In Mantua, moved by the misery she witnessed, she founded the "Povera Casa di San Giuseppe" in 1897 with the support of Bishop Giuseppe Sarto. In 1902, she founded the Poor Daughters of Mary Most Holy Crowned, Perpetual Adorers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. As a married laywoman, she could not be their superior and was relieved of her leadership in 1906. She settled in Trapani in 1909, engaging in the lay apostolate. After the death of her husband in 1937, she took her religious vows shortly before passing away on August 26, 1957.

The cause for the beatification and canonization of Teresa Fardella di Blasi was introduced on March 16, 1960. The diocesan inquiry was validated on July 6, 2000. Following the favorable examination of the Positio by theologians and subsequently by cardinals and bishops, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing her heroic virtues on November 8, 2017, conferring upon her the title of Venerable.

Teresa Fardella di Blasi is currently recognized as Venerable by the Catholic Church. For her beatification to be pronounced, a miracle attributed to her intercession must be the subject of a rigorous canonical investigation and be officially approved by a decree from the Holy See. To date, no miracle has yet been formally recognized, and the cause is following its course.

The spirituality of Teresa Fardella is deeply Eucharistic and Marian, combining perpetual adoration with concrete charity. Her legacy continues through the congregation of the Poor Daughters of Mary Most Holy Crowned, which has expanded to Benin, India, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea. Her remains have rested since 1967 in the church of the Addolorata in Trapani.