Maria Fortunata Viti
Encyclopedia
Blessed Maria Fortunata Viti, O.S.B. (born Anna Felicia Viti; 10 February 1827 – 20 November 1922) was an Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...

 Benedictine nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...

 who has been beatified
Beatification
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...

 by the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

.

Life

Anna Felicia Viti was born in Veroli
Veroli
-History:Veroli became a Roman municipium in 90 BCE. It became the seat of a bishopric in 743 CE, and was occupied by Spanish milices, allied to the Colonna family, in the 16th troops.-Main sights:...

, a comune in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

's Province of Frosinone
Province of Frosinone
The Province of Frosinone is a province in the Lazio region of Italy, with 91 comuni . Its capital is the city of Frosinone. It has an area of 3,244 km², and a total population of 489,042 .The Province was established by Royal Decree on 6 December 1926 with territories belonging to Lazio...

, on 10 February 1827. Her father was Luigi Viti, a landowner who was a gambling addict and a heavy drinker
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...

, and her mother Anna, née Bono, died when Maria was fourteen years old. The third eldest of nine children, Maria was saddled with the responsibility of raising the other children upon the death of her mother. In order to support her family, she worked as a housekeeper. Her father's alcoholism grew worse, and so Maria's employment constituted the majority of the family's income. For a while, she was wooed by a young man from Alatri
Alatri
Alatri is a town and comune of province of Frosinone in the Italian region of the Lazio, with c. 30,000 inhabitants. A part of the traditional region of Ciociaria, it is famous for its megalithic acropolis.-History:...

, but she decided to enter religious life instead.
Maria joined the Benedictines at the Monastery of San Maria de'Franconi in Veroli on 21 March 1851, at the age of 24. After her religious profession, she took the name Maria Fortunata. Though she spent more than seventy years in the Order, she never progressed beyond the office of housekeeper
Maid
A maidservant or in current usage housemaid or maid is a female employed in domestic service.-Description:Once part of an elaborate hierarchy in great houses, today a single maid may be the only domestic worker that upper and even middle-income households can afford, as was historically the case...

: she served the monastery by spinning, sewing, washing, and mending clothing. Sister Maria remained illiterate her entire life, but she had great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament
Blessed Sacrament
The Blessed Sacrament, or the Body and Blood of Christ, is a devotional name used in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic Churches, Old Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches, to refer to the Host after it has been consecrated in the sacrament of the Eucharist...

.

At the age of 95, Sister Maria died on 20 November 1922 in Veroli, of natural causes.

Veneration

After Sister Maria's death, miracles were reported at her gravesite. Also, reports of miracles were attested to during her lifetime, including certain episodes that suggest she had a gift of prophecy
Prophecy
Prophecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...

. According to one story, she began to cry during Mass, because she had seen that the celebrating priest would leave his calling, and she was filled with sorrow for him. She also predicted that another priest would leave the priesthood, but that he would repent and come back. In addition, two women who had been healed of meningitis
Meningitis
Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs...

 in their childhood attributed their cures to her prayers.

In 1935, her remains were transferred from a mass grave to the abbey church, and the process of her canonization was begun. Sister Maria Fortunata was declared venerable
Venerable
The Venerable is used as a style or epithet in several Christian churches. It is also the common English-language translation of a number of Buddhist titles.-Roman Catholic:...

 on 8 April 1964 by Pope Paul VI, and beatified on 8 October 1967 by the same pope. Her feast day is on November 20. The cause for the canonization
Congregation for the Causes of Saints
The Congregation for the Causes of Saints is the congregation of the Roman Curia which oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, passing through the steps of a declaration of "heroic virtues" and beatification...

 of Sister Maria is pending.

External links

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