Maria Anna Saltini Testi

After the death of her husband, Marianna Saltini felt an imperative inner call to dedicate herself entirely to the poorest and most abandoned young girls. To answer this vocation, she made the painful decision to entrust her youngest children to relatives and to send her eldest sons to boarding school. Her sons Vincenzo and Enzo were sent to the Paulinians in Alba, Sergio went to study in Paris, while her daughter Maria was admitted to the Ursulines of Modena. This choice tore her family apart and sparked general misunderstanding, with the local population labeling her as "the madwoman" (la matta). In 1933, Marianna moved temporarily to San Giacomo Roncole, to the home of her brother Father Zeno Saltini, where she had a spiritual vision of Saint Francis of Assisi. In 1934, she began taking in her first protégées in Carpi. In March 1936, the mayor of Carpi granted her the use of the Palazzo Benassi, which became the Casa della Divina Provvidenza. Supported by Bishop Mgr. Carlo De Ferrari, she was joined by five companions: Ottorina Ballerini, Fernanda Forghieri, Maria Lodi, Ines Lugli, and Erminia Martinello. Together, they formed the community of the Daughters of Saint Francis (Figlie di San Francesco), recognized in 1937. On March 19, 1938, Marianna received the religious habit from the hands of her own son Vincenzo (who had become Father Samuele) and took the name Mamma Nina. Two more of her sons, Enzo (Father Maggiorino) and Francesco (Father Franco), would also become priests. During the Second World War, the Casa della Divina Provvidenza became a refuge. Mamma Nina actively committed herself, alongside Odoardo Focherini and Father Dante Sala, to hiding and saving persecuted Jewish people. After the war, the number of girls hosted exceeded 400 by the early 1950s. In total, she would have welcomed and educated more than a thousand young girls.

The life of Mamma Nina is characterized by an absolute and radical trust in Divine Providence. She categorically refused to solicit official grants or to hoard, affirming that God would provide for the needs of her children every day. Her contemporaries report numerous episodes where, while the kitchens were completely empty, Mamma Nina would have the pots of water set to boil while praying, before unexpected donations of food arrived at the last moment at the door of the institute.

Exhausted by a long illness that darkened her final years, she passed away on December 3, 1957, in Carpi, at the age of 68, surrounded by her "daughters" and the sisters of her community. Her solemn funeral gathered an immense crowd that came from the entire Modena region to pay tribute to the one they already considered a saint.

The beatification process was initiated at the diocesan level in 1985 by the Bishop of Carpi, Msgr. Alessandro Maggiolini. The diocesan inquiry took place from June 9, 1985, to December 4, 1988. On April 23, 2002, Pope John Paul II promulgated the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues, officially conferring upon her the title of Venerable. To date, no miracle has been the subject of an official decree of validation by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. The cause for beatification remains open, awaiting the recognition of a miracle attributed to her intercession.

Mamma Nina's spirituality is based on the concept of "supernatural motherhood." For her, welcoming orphans had to resemble a true family life. She personally oversaw the human, religious, and professional education of her protégées, preparing their wedding trousseaus and accompanying them to the altar herself.

Today, the Casa della Divina Provvidenza continues its welcoming work at the Palazzo Benassi in Carpi. Mamma Nina's spiritual legacy has also spread internationally, particularly in Africa. Sister Ambrogia Casamenti, one of her former adopted daughters who became a nun, founded a nursery school in her honor in Touba, Ivory Coast, while another school project is dedicated to her in Maputo, Mozambique. Each year, the Diocese of Carpi awards the Mamma Nina Prize to reward projects of solidarity, inclusion, and aid to the most destitute within the diocesan territory.