Pauline of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus

Amabile's life took a decisive turn on July 12, 1890. With her friend Virginia Rosa Nicolodi, she left the family home to settle in a modest hut in order to care for a woman suffering from terminal cancer who was completely destitute. This act of heroic charity marked the foundation of the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Immaculate Conception (Congregação das Irmãzinhas da Imaculada Conceição), the first religious congregation born on Brazilian soil. Soon joined by a third companion, Teresa Anna Maule, the young women pronounced their religious vows in December 1890. Amabile then took the name Sister Pauline of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus. The congregation received official approval from Mgr José de Camargo Barros, Bishop of Curitiba, in August 1895. Thanks to the influx of vocations attracted by their apostolic zeal and evangelical poverty, the community grew rapidly. In 1903, Mother Pauline was elected Superior General "for life." She then left Nova Trento to settle in the Ipiranga district of São Paulo. Under her leadership, the sisters expanded their work by caring for orphans, the elderly, and former slaves abandoned after the abolition of slavery in Brazil in 1888. However, Mother Pauline's work went through severe trials. In 1909, following difficulties and internal tensions, the Archbishop of São Paulo, Mgr Duarte Leopoldo e Silva, removed her from her position as Superior General. Demonstrating heroic obedience and humility, she accepted this decision without complaint. She was sent as a simple nun to Bragança Paulista to work with the sick and the elderly at the Saint Vincent de Paul hospice, stripped of all authority over the congregation she had founded.

In 1918, Mother Pauline was recalled to the Ipiranga motherhouse by the new superior general, with the archbishop's approval. She spent the last twenty-four years of her life there in discretion and silence, dedicating herself to prayer, manual labor, and comforting the sick sisters. She was then recognized and venerated by her fellow sisters as the "Venerable Mother Foundress." In 1933, Pope Pius XI granted the Decree of Praise to the congregation, elevating it to the rank of pontifical right. From 1938, Mother Pauline's health declined seriously due to severe diabetes. She endured her sufferings with admirable patience. The illness led to major circulatory complications, requiring the amputation of her middle finger, and then her right arm. She spent the last months of her life in total blindness. She passed away on July 9, 1942, in São Paulo, uttering her final words: "May the will of God be done."

Mother Pauline's reputation for holiness continued to grow after her death. The informative process for her beatification opened in São Paulo in 1965. On February 8, 1988, Pope John Paul II signed the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues, declaring her venerable. Beatification: The miracle accepted for her beatification was the unexplained healing of a young pregnant woman who suffered from a severe hemorrhage and obstetric shock deemed irreversible following the intrauterine death of her fetus. This miracle was officially approved by a papal decree in 1989. Mother Pauline was beatified by John Paul II on October 18, 1991, in Florianópolis, during his pastoral visit to Brazil. Canonization: For her canonization, the Church recognized a second miracle that occurred in 1992: the scientifically inexplicable healing of a Brazilian newborn suffering from a severe cerebral malformation (a large occipital meningoencephalocele), who survived convulsions and cardiorespiratory arrest after her family invoked the intercession of the Blessed. The decree recognizing this miracle was promulgated on July 7, 2001. Saint Pauline of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus was solemnly canonized by Pope John Paul II on May 19, 2002, in Saint Peter's Square in Rome. She is the first saint of Brazil.

The spirituality of Saint Pauline is deeply Eucharistic and Marian, strongly imbued with the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, transmitted by her Jesuit spiritual directors. She drew her strength from the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and a filial devotion to the Virgin Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception. Her intimate union with God was translated into an unalterable inner joy, as she confided to her spiritual director: "The presence of God is so intimate to me that it seems impossible to lose it; and this presence gives my soul a joy that I cannot describe." The charism she bequeathed to the Little Sisters of the Immaculate Conception is based on sensitivity to the cries of reality and the most destitute, as well as on the desire to serve the Church in humility, poverty, and a life of intense prayer. She left her sisters this spiritual testament: "Be very humble, trust always and greatly in divine Providence; never, oh never, must you let yourselves be discouraged, despite the contrary winds. I repeat to you: have confidence in God and in Mary Immaculate; remain firm and go forward!". Today, her congregation continues its charitable and educational work not only in Brazil, but also in several countries in Latin America, Africa, and Europe. Saint Pauline is also invoked as the patron saint of people suffering from diabetes.