Flora Manfrinati

In 1929, Flora Manfrinati moved with her family to Piedmont, settling in Testona di Moncalieri. She became actively involved in the local Catholic Action, where she met Baroness Sofia Novellis. Observing Flora's extraordinary spiritual influence on young girls, the baroness associated her with her numerous charitable works. Flora became a valuable collaborator and extended her work to the sick at the Moncalieri hospital, the San Luigi sanatorium, the Villa Roddolo for the mentally ill, nursing homes, and the Cottolengo.

In 1936, encouraged by Blessed Luigi Boccardo, she opened her first nursery school (asilo) in the hamlet of Palera (Moncalieri), with the help of three Cottolengine sisters. During the Second World War, she worked at the San Michele oratory in Turin, managed by the Missionary Sisters of the Consolata. Faced with the incessant bombing of the city, she organized the evacuation of the young girls and nuns to the Palera school, thus saving the institution and giving it a new lease on life during ten years of heroic lay dedication.

In 1950, she left the San Michele oratory to found the Famiglia delle Educatrici Apostole (Family of Apostle Educators). This foundation aimed to meet all the spiritual and material needs of souls, particularly through the education of young girls and social aid. Thus was born the Opera di Nostra Signora Universale (Work of Our Lady Universal), established in Turin at number 42 via San Francesco da Paola. Flora dedicated her final strength to it, stabilizing the work's finances and structuring the institute, which was erected as a pious union.

The life of Flora Manfrinati is a way of the cross accepted with serenity and offered for the salvation of souls. She asked the Virgin Mary for the grace to "suffer without making others suffer," obtaining the closing of the visible wounds on her body so as not to trouble those around her. She led a humble and hidden life, while manifesting a particular charism of insight into hearts and spiritual counsel for those who approached her.

She passed away on March 12, 1954, in Turin, at the age of 47, after unspeakable physical suffering that she refused to alleviate with human remedies. According to the testimonies of her companions, she died while opening her arms in the shape of a cross, in accordance with a prediction she had received.

After her death in the odor of sanctity, the cause for the beatification and canonization of Flora Manfrinati was officially opened in Turin. On October 17, 1960, Cardinal Maurilio Fossati, Archbishop of Turin, ordered the opening of the diocesan informative process regarding her reputation for holiness, her life, her virtues, and her miracles. On January 7, 1976, Cardinal Michele Pellegrino appointed the tribunal tasked with resuming and concluding this ordinary process. On October 6, 1989, Cardinal Anastasio Ballestrero presided over the closing session of the diocesan process at the curia of Turin. On October 3, 1995, the cardinals and bishops of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints recognized the heroic nature of her virtues. On January 12, 1996, Pope John Paul II promulgated the official decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues, thereby conferring upon her the title of Venerable. On March 12, 2004, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of her death, her body was transferred from the Monumental Cemetery of Turin to the chapel of the motherhouse of the Work of Our Lady Universal (via San Francesco da Paola, 42, Turin), where it now rests.

The spirituality of Flora Manfrinati is profoundly Eucharistic and Marian. She defines herself as the "daughter of Our Lady Universal." She propagated devotion to the Virgin under this title of "Nostra Signora Universale" (Our Lady Universal), whom she also called "Mother of all sorrows and all desires." She precisely described the image of this protective Virgin, wrapped in a large white mantle spread over the Vatican and the world, an image she had painted by an artist friend and which received the blessing of Pope Pius XII.

The legacy of Flora Manfrinati continues today through the Family of Apostle Educators and the Work of Our Lady Universal. The institute manages educational establishments in Turin (such as the Istituto Flora) and continues to promote the human, Christian, and professional formation of young people, particularly young girls, according to the pedagogical and spiritual intuitions of its founder. Her birthplace in Mottatonda Nuova has been transformed into a place of retreat and prayer, featuring a chapel dedicated to Our Lady Universal.