Marianna Orsi

Marianna reflected at length on her vocation. Although she had initially considered marriage, she felt a deeper call to consecrate herself entirely to God. She lived for some time with two of her priest uncles to look after their rectories, then moved to Bedonia to help her brothers Giovanni and Luigi, who were external seminarians. In 1868, she went to Piacenza where she met Father Giovanni Battista Tornatore, a priest of the Mission (Lazarist) and co-founder of a new congregation: the Daughters of Saint Anne (Figlie di Sant'Anna), founded by Blessed Anna Rosa Gattorno. Despite the opposition of her priest uncles, who were skeptical of this young, nascent community, Marianna entered the postulancy on November 4, 1868. She took the habit under the name Sister Anna del Salvatore (Anna of the Savior) and began her novitiate on March 28, 1869. During her formation, she was sent as a nurse to the houses in Sampierdarena and Sestri Ponente, where she distinguished herself by her charity toward the sick. In 1875, she was appointed superior of the community in Florence. She subsequently held this position in Ferrara, Rome, and then Sermoneta. In 1880, she was sent to Palermo, Sicily, to open a new house as superior. It was there that she made her perpetual vows the following year. Appointed delegate of the foundress and visitor of the communities in Sicily, she displayed immense apostolic activity, opening fifteen new houses across the island. In 1884, she became the first provincial superior of Sicily. Exhausted by her tasks and constant dedication, she died in Palermo on June 7, 1885, at the age of 43.

The reputation for holiness of Sister Anna del Salvatore spread rapidly after her death, both in Palermo and in her native region of Emilia-Romagna. The faithful remembered her humility, her self-denial, and her maternal devotion to the poor and the sick. The ordinary informative process regarding her reputation for holiness and her virtues was opened at the ecclesiastical curia of Palermo on September 2, 1896, and closed on November 19, 1907.

The cause for beatification has progressed over the decades. On December 18, 2017, Pope Francis authorized the Congregation (now 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. For her to be proclaimed Blessed, the official recognition of a miracle attributed to her intercession is required by the Church.

The spirituality of the Venerable Anna del Salvatore is deeply rooted in Eucharistic adoration, which nourishes her daily life and supports her charitable work. It is also characterized by an absolute and unwavering trust in Divine Providence, as well as an ascetic life marked by penance and humility. Her legacy endures today through the work of the Daughters of Saint Anne, particularly in Sicily where she structured the religious province, and in her hometown of Albareto, where her memory remains vividly honored.