Rev. Sr. Josephine Vannini, the Foundress of the Congregation of Daughters of St. Camillus was canonized on October 13, 2019 by Pope Francis.
Judith Vannini was born in Rome, on July 7, 1859 to Angelo Vannini and Annunziata Papi. She became an orphan at the age of seven and was given shelter in the conservatorio Torlonia, run by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent at Sienna. Following her desire to dedicate herself to God, she entered the novitiate of the Daughters of Charity in Sienna – Italy, but was forced to leave due to poor health. The providential encounter with Fr. Luigi Tezza, a Camillian Priest, during the course of a retreat in 1891 opened for her the way to discern the will of God, making herself available to embrace the new form of religious life which he had in mind. Fr. Tezza discovered in Judith the abilities of the Foundress. Sure of herself; a woman of prayer and of sacrifice; obedient and docile to the councils; it was not difficult for him to choose her as the co-foundress of the new Order.
Thus on February 2, 1892 she and two of her companions were clothed with the scapular which bore a red cross, marking the beginning of the Congregation of Daughters of St. Camillus.
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