Margherita Maria Guaini

In 1947, she went to southern Italy, to Atella (province of Potenza), to collaborate with Father Achille Fosco, who was launching the "Pia Associazione dei Misericordiosi" for abandoned youth. On May 8, 1947, with the agreement of the local bishop, she founded with three companions (including Bianca Gorini) the institute of the "Merciful Sisters of Jesus the Priest" (Sorelle Misericordiose di Gesù Sacerdote). She was elected superior general on October 12, 1947.

Quickly, differences in vision appeared with Father Fosco: the latter wished for a work primarily focused on assistance with a male and female branch, while Mother Margherita Maria desired that the sisters dedicate themselves above all to daily Eucharistic adoration and the offering of their lives for priests. The bishop then decided to separate the two realities.

After a brief experience in the diocese of Matera, Mother Margherita Maria transferred the motherhouse in 1953 to Varallo Sesia (diocese of Novara), where the bishop, Msgr. Gilla Vincenzo Gremigni, welcomed her warmly and entrusted her with the convent and the monumental church of "Santa Maria delle Grazie." The institute then took the name of Missionaries of Jesus the Eternal Priest (Suore Missionarie di Gesù Eterno Sacerdote - MGES).

The institute received diocesan approval on April 29, 1964, and was then elevated to the rank of a congregation of pontifical right by the decree of praise granted on December 8, 1975, by Pope Paul VI. Under her leadership, the congregation opened itself to the universal mission by founding its first community abroad in Bolivia in 1975, before expanding to Peru, Uruguay, the Philippines, and India.

In 1990, Mother Margherita Maria Guaini resigned from the office of Superior General of her congregation. She retired to the motherhouse in Varallo Sesia, spending her final years in silent prayer, adoration, and the spiritual accompaniment of her daughters and the priests who came to visit her.

She passed away peacefully on March 2, 1994, in Varallo Sesia, at the age of 91. Her mortal remains were transferred on April 27, 2002, to the church of the Madonna delle Grazie in Varallo Sesia, where they rest under the altar of the Sacred Heart.

The cause for beatification and canonization was officially opened at the diocesan level on April 29, 2011, by Bishop Renato Corti, Bishop of Novara. The diocesan inquiry into her life, virtues, and reputation for holiness concluded on May 7, 2016.

On December 17, 2022, Pope Francis authorized the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues, thus conferring upon her the title of Venerable.

As no miracle has yet been officially recognized by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the process for her beatification continues while awaiting the recognition of an unexplained healing attributed to her intercession.

The spirituality of Mother Margherita Maria Guaini rests on three fundamental pillars: Redemption, the Eucharist, and the Priesthood. Her charism consists of making her life a total offering in union with the sacrifice of Christ at Mass, for the sanctification of priests and the salvation of humanity. She is particularly known for having conceived the Eucharistic Clock (Orologio Eucaristico), a spiritual and visual representation reminding us that the Mass is celebrated without interruption at every hour of the day and night throughout the world. This tool invites religious and the faithful to unite themselves spiritually with the offering of the Blood of Christ at every moment. To extend this charism to the laity, she founded the Apostolic Movement "Nuovi" (MAN) on December 8, 1977 (or 1976 according to some diocesan sources), allowing men and women living in the world to fully live their baptismal priesthood. She also initiated the foundation of a male branch, the Missionaries of Jesus Eternal Priest, whose first group was formally approved in 2003 in Cochabamba, Bolivia.