Maria Antonia Solimani

The heart of Maria Antonia Solimani's mission lies in the foundation of two religious institutes placed under the patronage of Saint John the Baptist, whom she considered the perfect model of monastic life. The Hermits of Saint John the Baptist (Romite di San Giovanni Battista): In 1723, Maria Antonia received the spiritual inspiration to found a new contemplative religious family characterized by great austerity. In 1724, she met the priest Domenico Francesco Olivieri, archpriest of the Santa Croce parish in Moneglia. In 1730, she settled in Moneglia with a companion to open the first monastery (then a conservatory) of the Hermits of Saint John the Baptist (also called Baptistine Sisters). The nuns led a life of strict enclosure and penance there, while ensuring a modest apostolic activity for children and the sick at home. In 1737, the community relocated to Genoa, first near the Colle degli Angeli, then in Salita dei Cappuccini (today Salita delle Battistine). In 1742, Maria Antonia went to Rome to solicit papal approval. Received by Pope Benedict XIV, she obtained his support. On January 23, 1744, the Pope authorized the erection of the monastery in Genoa and approved the institute's rule (composed of 24 articles revised by the Barnabite father Mario Maccabei) on the following January 25. On April 20, 1746, Maria Antonia and her first twelve companions received the religious habit. She then took the name Sister Giovanna Maria Battista and was elected abbess. The Missionaries of Saint John the Baptist (Missionari di San Giovanni Battista): Desirous of extending this work, the foundress conceived in 1749 a male branch composed of secular priests living in community, dedicated to the evangelization of distant populations. With the help of Father Domenico Francesco Olivieri, the project was presented in Rome. On September 22, 1755, Pope Benedict XIV approved the congregation of the Missionaries of Saint John the Baptist (or "Battistini"), placed under the jurisdiction of the Congregation of the Propaganda Fide. These missionaries, who committed themselves by a vow of stability, went to evangelize in Bulgaria, the Caucasus, and China. Although this male branch died out at the beginning of the 19th century (suppressed in 1810 under the Napoleonic regime), it bears witness to the missionary zeal of the foundress.

The life of Sister Giovanna Maria Battista Solimani is marked by a constant search for evangelical perfection through rigorous asceticism. The nuns of her monastery sleep fully clothed, walk barefoot, observe perpetual abstinence from meat, and rise at midnight for the Office of Matins.

Despite the many mystical gifts with which she is graced, the foundress strives to live in self-effacement and humility. Her inner balance allows her to overcome the trials linked to the foundations and local political opposition, notably from the Doge of Genoa, Lorenzo de Mari, whom she manages to convince to repeal a republican decree prohibiting the establishment of new orders.

At the beginning of Lent in the year 1758, she falls gravely ill. On February 27, she faints in the choir of the monastery. For forty days, she endures sharp physical suffering which she offers in a spirit of penance and purification. She passes away peacefully on Saturday, April 8, 1758, at 5:00 PM, in her monastery in Genoa.

The reputation for holiness of Sister Giovanna Maria Battista Solimani led to the rapid opening of her cause for beatification. The diocesan informative process opened in Genoa on July 24, 1768, and closed on August 22, 1779. The cause was officially introduced in Rome on January 7, 1784. After a long period of interruption due to the political upheavals in Europe, the supplementary diocesan inquiry was opened on June 25, 2002, and completed on April 8, 2008. The validity of this inquiry was recognized by decree on January 19, 2012. On November 28, 2019, Pope Francis authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues, thus conferring upon her the title of Venerable. Her mortal remains, exhumed in 1924 during the transfer of the community, rest today in the church of San Giovanni Battista in Sturla (a district of Genoa), alongside those of her co-founder, Father Domenico Francesco Olivieri.

The spirituality of the Venerable Maria Antonia Solimani is deeply Christocentric and marked by the desire to unite herself with the Passion of Christ in a dimension of expiation and reparation for the salvation of souls. Her absolute model is Saint John the Baptist, whose three fundamental dimensions she strives to imitate: the eremitic life in the desert, penitential austerity, and the mission of announcing and preparing the ways of the Lord. For prayer, she draws largely from the gentle and confident method of Saint Francis de Sales. The legacy of the foundress endures through the Hermit Nuns of Saint John the Baptist. Having survived the Napoleonic suppressions, the contemplative community maintains its presence in Sturla (Genoa) and founded a new monastery in Brovarone (Piedmont) in 1972.