SUPERIORS

Like all foundations, the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Lord began in a modest house adjoining the Sanctuary of the Lord of the City. Over the decades, it expanded to various parts of the world. In the beginning, for about 40 years, the title Mother General did not exist, we speak instead of a Superior.

 

Sister Giuseppina Ruvolo was the first superior in the early phase of the Institute, a period which began in 1885 and ended on 9 August 1891 with her death. She was a holy and gentle soul, as can be seen in the only surviving photo of her.

Giuseppina was born in Palermo on 3 June 1839, the firstborn of Antonino Ruvolo and Rosa Sveglia, and was baptised in the parish church of St Hippolytus. At the age of 7, she moved with her family to Caltanissetta, where her father opened a wholesale shop on Via dei Fondachi, today known as Corso Vittorio Emanuele. As the eldest of 13 siblings, Giuseppina dedicated herself to helping her mother raise and educate the younger children. For this reason, her parents gently opposed her desire to consecrate her life to the Lord. The death of her mother on 13 April 1872 marked what seemed to be the definitive end of Giuseppina’s religious aspirations.

In 1882, her sister Felicia also felt called to religious life. She left the family home to go to Catania, where she joined the Daughters of Charity. In 1883, she consecrated herself to the Lord with the name Sister Caterina and carried out her apostolate in Naro at the Immaculate Conception Institute.

Giuseppina, for her part, took a different path, one that allowed her to continue caring for her family while living a form of consecration. She joined the Franciscan Third Order, led by Father Angelico Lipani and based at the small church of the Lord of the City. During their meetings and conferences, the poor always held a privileged place in their discussions, as Father Angelico had a special affection for the poor in spirit and in means, those whom the Lord proclaims blessed.

Together with the other tertiaries, Giuseppina generously and humbly worked to collect alms for the poor and, later, to ask the people of Caltanissetta for support in building an institute to welcome the orphaned daughters of miners. In 1883, the construction of a few small rooms for the new institute began, and the following year, it was inaugurated. Giuseppina was there, with her maternal sweetness, to welcome the first twelve orphan girls.

Although the girls were cared for by teachers who offered them cultural education, there was a need for maternal figures, women who could guide them in life and faith. On 10 September 1884, Giuseppina left her family home and settled permanently in the small institute, becoming a mother to those poor children in need of love.

She was 45 years old, yet still full of youthful spirit and vitality: enthusiastic about noble ideals, joyful in life, energetic, captivated by the desire for perfection, and with a heart fully capable of love and self-giving.
She was joined by 27-year-old tertiary Grazia Pedano. Together, the two tertiaries dedicated themselves to the care of the girls and to the glory of God. They “did good for others without seeking applause,” embracing humility and industriousness, values instilled in them by Father Angelico and lived out in their daily service.

Moved by their mission, they both felt called to fully consecrate their lives to the Lord and expressed this desire to Father Angelico. He welcomed their offering with kindness, and after preparing them, on 15 October 1885, Giuseppina and Grazia “put on a coarse brown tunic, girded their waists with a white cord from which hung the rosary, and covered their heads and shoulders with a black veil, symbol of consecration and modesty.”
Thus, in the radiant faces of these two women, the Congregation was born.

With great love, Sister Giuseppina continued caring for the orphans and did not hesitate to go door-to-door begging, asking the people of Caltanissetta to open their hearts to the needs of those innocent little ones, condemned without fault.

In 1888, Sister Grazia left religious life and returned home. Sister Giuseppina remained alone, but was not discouraged by the difficulties of managing the situation alone, nor by the heavy interference of the teacher Filomena Licitri, who managed the funds during the Institute’s construction.
Sister Giuseppina endured everything in silence; she never unburdened herself of the humiliations, injustices, or gossip, not even to Father Angelico, convinced that she was meant to support, not burden, the apostle of the city with human miseries.

Meanwhile, the orphans increased to sixteen. Sister Giuseppina entrusted herself to the Lord; prayer was the breath of her contemplative life. Kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament, she prayed with the same words of St Francis, whom she deeply admired and imitated.
In one of his notes, Father Angelico described her as a “most pious sister.”

When her father died on 18 April 1891, Sister Giuseppina returned home, not to mourn, but to bring her siblings words of comfort and the embrace of the Lord, who does not leave us in the silence of death, but calls us to live with Him a life without pain and without end.
Her words about the joys of Heaven proved almost prophetic.

In the summer that followed, Sister Giuseppina began to feel unwell. On 1 August, she was examined by a doctor, who continued to visit her over the following days.
On 7 August, she made her will and received the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Anointing of the Sick.
The next day, she requested the Holy Viaticum, ready to meet the Lord.

The orphan girls accompanied the Blessed Sacrament in procession, brought by Father Angelico, witnessing that final act of love between Sister Giuseppina and the Lord and receiving from their “mother” one last kiss.

At dawn on 9 August, her breathing grew laboured, her condition worsened quickly, and at 10:00 a.m., with a gentle sigh, she bowed her head and closed her eyes, to open them again before the Lord of Life.

Many people attended her funeral. All recognised in her the radiant figure of a holy woman who had given up everything to receive that “hundredfold” promised by the Lord in this life and the life to come.

Her body was buried in the cemetery of Santa Maria degli Angeli, and the following inscription was carved on her tombstone:

"Giuseppina Ruvolo, daughter of Antonio, aged 53.
A model virgin, flown to her Heavenly Spouse amid the tears of her loved ones on 9 August 1891.

On 10 October 1969, her body was exhumed and found incorrupt. It was placed in a new coffin and transferred to the tomb built by the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Lord, where she now awaits the resurrection".

 

Sister Veronica Guarneri was the first superior of the second phase of the Congregation (the one that continues uninterrupted to this day), serving from 1893 to 1899.

She was born in Resuttano (CL) on 23 July 1874 to the Guarnieri family and, having been left at the foundling wheel, was baptised and registered as Vincenza Melissa. As a newborn, she was sent to Caltanissetta and adopted by a Franciscan tertiary carpenter named Salvatore Guarneri, who was also the caretaker of the church of the Lord of the City and lived nearby. Growing up in that deeply faith-filled environment and attending catechism at the little church, Vincenza once told her adoptive parents of her desire to enter the Institute. She was only ten years old at the time and quickly distinguished herself by her readiness and exactness in observing the rules. At the age of 18, following the death of Sister Giuseppina Ruvolo, she approached Father Angelico together with two other girls from the Institute and asked to be admitted to the novitiate. Father Angelico recognised in her “all the qualities of a good religious” and deemed her worthy to wear the Franciscan habit.

In 1893, she made her Profession and took the name Veronica.

At that time, the city of Caltanissetta established a “soup kitchen” to support the poor, entrusting its management to the Institute. Sister Veronica enthusiastically embraced this new mission, welcoming the poor, seating them in the refectory, and joyfully serving them “as if they were her masters.”

During a visit to the Institute, Bishop Zuccaro was deeply impressed by the charity and faith with which the sisters lived their vocation and carried out their mission. Having come to know Sister Veronica’s lively yet kind spirit and her firm but gentle character, he considered her the ideal person to lead the small community. Despite her humble protests, he appointed her superior. Her delicate constitution posed some difficulties, as life at that time was hard and demanding, but she did not lose heart. With great strength of spirit, she continued to live out her vocation, offering everyone a shining example of self-denial and sacrifice.

Wishing to enhance the solemnity of the liturgies celebrated in the church of the Lord of the City, Sister Veronica taught herself to play the organ, which had been purchased from the church of St Sebastian. Alongside her fellow sisters, she taught the orphan girls to sing, so they could accompany her in joyful sung prayer, “which,” as St Augustine says, “is like praying twice.”

In 1898, she had to bid farewell to her beloved fellow sister Sister Chiara, the cherished novice mistress, who died at a young age. But Sister Veronica, too, was nearing the time of her own meeting with the Divine Spouse. In the autumn of 1899, she began to feel unwell. Just one month before her death, she joyfully received a certificate of appreciation from Bishop Zuccaro. In early November, she took to her bed, suffering from a strangulated hernia. Though in excruciating pain, she never complained. On 9 November, she asked to see the orphan girls. Around midday, her small room was filled with their faces and hearts. Sister Veronica called each one to her, greeted them, kissed them, and offered each a final caress. "Serve the Lord, my sisters, serve the Lord with gladness", she said to the other sisters. She then thanked Father Angelico and added: "With the Lord’s blessing, the Institute will continue to flourish." With those final words, she bowed her head and gently passed away.

 

Sister Angelica Marotta served as superior from 1899 to 1926, appointed by Bishop Zuccaro.

She was born in Piazza Armerina (EN) on 6 September 1874 to Alfonso Marotta and Lucia Venturella, and was baptised with the name Rachele. At the age of 10, she moved to Caltanissetta and was one of the first 12 girls welcomed into the Institute founded by Father Angelico. She grew up under the guidance of Sister Giuseppina Ruvolo and, after the latter’s death, presented herself to Father Angelico at just seventeen years of age, along with two other companions, to ask to begin the vocational path toward becoming a sister. Lacking paternal consent, she had to wait until 9 July 1898 to make her profession, which she did in the hands of Bishop Zuccaro. In the meantime, however, she lived as a sister and distinguished herself especially for her great charity, both toward the orphan girls and young women welcomed at the Institute, and toward the needy of the city. She even sold the gold her father had gifted her in order to help the Institute. As Mrs Michelina Bellomo later testified, whenever she learned of someone in distress or in need, she was the first to respond and offer help. Following the death of Sister Veronica in 1899, she was appointed Superior and led the Institute with great wisdom, always thinking of the wellbeing of both the sisters and the girls. It was Sister Angelica who received the final testament of the dying founder, and she solemnly promised, on behalf of all the sisters, to walk the path of holiness. During her leadership, the Institute was expanded to include a large recreation area, and the first two branch houses were opened: Sommatino in 1924 and Delia in 1926. Sister Angelica prudently accepted the bishop’s invitation to establish new houses, and her act of obedience was richly rewarded with blessings for the entire Congregation. After the tragic accident in 1925, in which two children were killed in the Institute’s courtyard, her health began to decline. Feeling increasingly weary, she eventually asked the bishop to transfer leadership to Sister Immacolata Lapaglia, who had been assisting her in recent times. The bishop granted her request, though Sister Angelica retained the title of Superior of the Caltanissetta Institute. She suffered a stroke and died at dawn on 5 July 1929.

Of her, it was said:

"She was a mother to the sisters, to the orphans, to the neighbours, and to everyone.
She was beautiful, young, bright, and full-figured, she was a mother to all."

 

MOTHERS GENERAL

 

Mother Immacolata Lapaglia, first Mother General of the Congregation, 1926–1938. Appointed by Bishop Jacono.

 

Mother Immacolata Lapaglia was born in Caltanissetta on 19 January 1891 to Calogero Lapaglia and Croce Beata. She was baptised with the names Francesca Margherita Maria, though within the family she was affectionately known as “Checchina.” Good, gentle, and affectionate, she was always cheerful, friendly to everyone, diligent and attentive in her studies. From early childhood, she showed intelligence and a particular love for mathematics. After completing technical school, and since there were no higher institutions in Caltanissetta, her father sent her, together with her sister Ida, to the Collegio di Maria at Olivella in Palermo. There, accompanied by the sisters, she studied at the “Margherita” Institute. During those years, Francesca showed great respect and interest in religious life, although her specific vocation had not yet become clear. Two of her sisters had already consecrated themselves: Elvira with the Daughters of Charity and Agata with the Daughters of St Anne. For this reason, sister Ida tried to dissuade her from pursuing her own vocation, saying, “We can’t leave both Mum and Dad.”

In 1911, Francesca earned her diploma as a primary school teacher, full of joy to finally be able to support her family through her own work. However, difficult years followed: years of poverty, sacrifice, and deprivation.

She was sent to teach in rural and isolated areas, forced to live in modest and often poor conditions. Yet she never lost heart. With dedication and love, she fulfilled her mission not only among children but also adults, bringing both education and faith to forgotten corners of the land.

During this time, she confided to her father her desire to consecrate herself to the Lord. He refused her firmly. Obediently, she accepted his decision. And when her younger sister Ida was granted permission to enter the Daughters of Charity, Francesca offered that further suffering to the Lord, yielding her rightful precedence without protest. In 1921–22, she was called to teach a primary school class at the Institute of the Lord of the City. It was there, through daily contact with that way of life, that her vocation matured. She finally felt at home, ready to give her definitive fiat to the Lord. After her father’s death, she asked her mother for consent. Though initially reluctant, her mother eventually gave her blessing. On 9 September 1922, Francesca was accepted as a postulant, and on 9 December, she received the Franciscan habit, taking the name Sister Immacolata. One year later, on 8 December 1923, she made her religious profession. From the very beginning, she attracted the attention of Sister Angelica, the Superior, who recognised the young sister’s capability and deep spirituality. In her final years of leadership, Sister Angelica increasingly delegated administrative responsibilities to her. It was thanks to Sister Immacolata’s support that Sister Angelica overcame her final reservations about opening a new house outside Caltanissetta. On 22 December 1926, at Sister Angelica’s own request, the bishop appointed Sister Immacolata as the first Mother General of the Congregation, which by then had grown beyond the original walls of the Institute.

Faithful to her conviction that the spiritual formation of both sisters and students should go hand in hand with their cultural development, Mother Immacolata promoted the establishment of girls’ associations, supported by Catholic Action, and catechism schools. She encouraged monthly spiritual retreats for the sisters and began drafting the new Constitutions, written without ever betraying the Founder’s charism. In 1935, she celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Foundation. On that occasion, she had hoped to receive papal approval for the Congregation, but it was not granted, the Constitutions were still regarded as fitting only for a diocesan institute. Under her guidance, the Congregation crossed the borders of the diocese and of Sicily. New houses were opened both on the island and in Calabria. Mother Immacolata followed each of them attentively and lovingly, doing all she could to show her maternal concern for every sister. In 1936, however, she fell seriously ill.

Her illness was long and painful, but she never lost her serenity. She bore every suffering in silence and with a smile. Never wanting to be a burden on the life of the community, she would tell the sister caring for her to rest when she saw she was tired. Yet her worsening condition made it impossible to leave her alone, even for a few minutes. In the last 40 days, she was afflicted by unrelenting fever, day and night. She made a vow to offer herself as a victim for the Institute and the Congregation. Her slow Calvary gradually brought her to the Cross. No one wanted to lose her. Prayers rose unceasingly to Heaven, from the sisters, the girls, and the people, begging the Lord to relieve the Mother of her suffering. Confined to bed, her body covered in sores, she never once complained of the pain. On 17 August 1938, her condition worsened. The doctor, after examining her, said that even the slightest movement could prove fatal. There was great sorrow throughout the community. Many wept. The end was near. On 19 August, offering herself once more entirely to the Lord, she spoke her final words to the sisters: "I bless you, and I ask you to be good, good, good and obedient". At 11:45 p.m., she breathed her last, receiving the reward for the total gift of her life to the Lord and to others. Her funeral, celebrated on 21 August, was attended by the entire city, clergy, religious institutes, nobility, and ordinary people alike. All came to bid farewell to Mother Immacolata, who left behind an indelible memory of faith and charity.

 

Mother Annina Ragusa, Mother General from 1938 to 1964. Appointed by Bishop Jacono and confirmed at the 1st General Chapter (15 October 1957).

Was born in Enna on 7 June 1906. After completing middle school, she moved to Caltanissetta to attend the Technical Institute, where she earned a diploma in accountancy. During her time in the city, she came to know and appreciate the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Lord and began to sense the first signs of her vocation. Her encounters with Sister Angelica and Mother Immacolata helped her to discern God's will for her life. After two years of opposition from her family, she entered as a postulant in Delia in 1926, where her sister Giovanna was already living. On 1 July 1927, she moved to Caltanissetta. On 19 April 1928, in the chapel of the Institute, she received the religious habit, taking the name Sister Annina, and on 14 December 1929, she made her religious profession. From the start, Mother Immacolata recognised her balance, sense of responsibility, and deep spirituality, and entrusted her with important duties, including stepping in for the novice mistress, managing the workshop, and covering various teaching responsibilities. In 1930, she earned her diploma as a kindergarten teacher and was first transferred to Sutera, then appointed superior in Sommatino, though she often returned to Caltanissetta to care for the novices. In the final days of Mother Immacolata’s illness, Sister Annina cared for her and received from her the symbolic handover of leadership. In fact, she was appointed Mother General on the very day of Mother Immacolata’s funeral, 21 August 1938.

During her generalate, the Congregation expanded significantly. In 1954, it reached as far as Brazil, where five houses were opened. Mother Annina also had the joy of seeing the Congregation receive definitive approval from the Holy See, with a decree of praise from Pope St John XXIII on 30 August 1960. She was deeply committed to spiritual formation, continuing the path set by the Founder and her predecessors. She provided the sisters with all the tools they needed to grow in faith and spirituality, encouraging prayer (through the gift of a prayer book) and regular meditation through monthly retreats. A woman of charity, she never closed the doors of the Institute. Especially during the war, she urged every house to welcome the poor and those in need. On 10 October 1957, she presided over the 1st General Chapter of the Congregation, where she was elected Mother General. On 11 April 1964, she led the 2nd General Chapter, which elected Mother Vincenzina Frijia. Both chapters focused on themes of devotion, study, and discipline. During her first generalate (1938–1964), 45 houses were opened. After the untimely death of Mother Vincenzina, the 3rd General Chapter was held on 15 October 1966, and Mother Annina was re-elected. She was later confirmed in the 5th and 6th Chapters as well. In these years, she had to face the many challenges of post-conciliar renewal, not without difficulty. She convened an extraordinary 4th General Chapter, tasked with revising the Constitutions in accordance with the guidelines of the Second Vatican Council, after collecting input from sisters across all communities. On 10 December 1970, the Sacred Congregation for Religious approved the revised Constitutions.

Despite Mother Annina’s great dedication to accompanying all the sisters in this journey of renewal, many sisters left religious life, and some houses had to be closed due to a lack of personnel, causing deep sorrow both for her and the local communities. Nonetheless, new houses were opened, especially in far-off lands like Bolivia (1984).

In addition to spiritual formation, Mother Annina cared deeply about education and culture. Many sisters earned diplomas and degrees, both in teaching and theology. As the 7th General Chapter approached, one that would not permit her re-election, Mother Annina wrote a farewell letter filled with humility, entrusting herself entirely to the new Mother and asking not to receive any privileges for her many years of service to the Congregation. On 15 October 1984, Mother Giacinta Cammarata was elected. Mother Annina withdrew into a life of prayer, living the final years of her life in holiness. She died in Rome on 17 September 1990.

 

Mother Vincenzina Frijia, Mother General from 1964 to 1966. Elected at the 2nd General Chapter (11 April 1964).

was born in Curinga (province of Catanzaro) on 13 June 1915 to Vincenzo and Eleonora Frijia. The fourth of five siblings, Isabella, later known in religion as Vincenzina, showed signs from a young age of a special vocation, drawn not only to beauty but above all to the Lord Jesus. As a child, she was sent to Montesoro, a hamlet of Filadelfia, where she began an extraordinary path of spiritual formation in the home of her uncle, Archpriest Vincenzo Frijia. There, alongside her aunt Isabella and her cousin Maria Frijia, she began to discern a profound call to become an “echo of God’s love.” One felt drawn to religious life, the other,encouraged later by Vincenzina, discerned a vocation to family life.

Beautiful, kind, and cheerful in temperament, Vincenzina lived serenely, with a deep love for music and singing. Her uncle fondly called her “my nightingale.” As she matured, she treasured those early years, showing others that Christian joy could be a gift offered to the lonely and disheartened. With this joy, Isabella helped the poor and the needy something she would continue doing throughout her life, both in Italy and abroad, visiting the first houses of the Congregation in Brazil and France. At 18, already spiritually prepared and with a firm desire to embrace religious life, she donned the Franciscan habit and entered the Institute of the Franciscan Sisters of the Lord in Caltanissetta. Her vocation had already become evident a few years earlier in Curinga, among the women of the Confraternity of the Immaculate, and again in Montesoro. Back in Curinga, she had the providential encounter with the Foundress of the Congregation, Mother Immacolata Lapaglia, who was visiting the first house opened in Calabria in 1934 at the express wish of Bishop Eugenio Giambro of Nicastro. Vincenzina made her decision without hesitation. One night, she would later recount, Saint Francis of Assisi appeared to her in a dream and gently confirmed her path, whispering: “Enter. enter among the Franciscan Sisters of the Lord”. On 24 November 1934, she began her postulancy, and on 29 October 1935, she received the religious habit. In her profession card, she had these words printed: “What shall I return to You, O Lord, for so great a grace You have granted me? Stripped of worldly garments and clothed in the precious habit of penance, I shall live for You alone!” After two years of intense formation, she made her first profession on 2 December 1937 before Bishop Giovanni Jacono, and her perpetual vows on 4 October 1943, the feast of St Francis of Assisi. From then on, her life was a fervent and tireless apostolate, toward the poor, the sick, and her fellow sisters, whom she educated with remarkable dedication as novice mistress.

All the sisters who remember her in this role still speak of her deep spiritual charisma. She also served as a Red Cross nurse, helping wounded soldiers during the war. When the Head of State visited the military hospital in Caltanissetta, Mother Vincenzina was already there, ready, active, and at the service of the sick. Cheerful and discreet, enthusiastic yet gentle, she was always available for service and mission, displaying the moral and human quality of a truly exemplary religious. She earned the love and respect of the entire Congregation, serving for several years as General Secretary and later as Vicar General. It was Mother Annina Ragusa, then Superior General, who strongly supported her election as the third Superior General. These were the years of the Second Vatican Council, and her election affirmed the Congregation’s desire to stay in harmony with the Church’s pastoral renewal and its renewed presence in the world. The humble Sister Vincenzina rose to the occasion, surpassing all expectations. As Mother General, she upheld the Founder’s charism with exceptional clarity and vision, qualities that even today are considered heroic. And indeed, she was heroic. Despite fragile health, she travelled throughout the Congregation, from Brazil to France, preparing the way for future foundations in the Philippines and Bolivia. All this was achieved in just two years and four months as Superior General, years marked by tireless missionary and educational activity. Thanks to her efforts, official recognition was obtained for the schools managed by the Congregation, and new houses were opened in Sicily and Brazil. In Caltanissetta, the Congregation’s teacher training institute (Istituto Magistrale) received official accreditation. In Rio de Janeiro, the Instituto Francisca Paula de Jesus was inaugurated. Elsewhere in Brazil, two orphanages and two hospitals were established. In Caltanissetta, she founded the Aspirantate and began construction on a large House of Hospitality in Contrada Juculia, now also used as a retreat and conference centre. At 4 a.m. on 21 June 1966, she suffered a stroke. After a brief and seemingly calm period, she passed away on 7 July, having promised to offer all her suffering and her life to the Lord and the Pope.

 

Madre Annina Ragusa, Mother General from 1966 to 1984. Elected in the III General Chapter (15.10.1966) and re-elected in the V and VI.

See above.

 

Mother Giacinta Cammarata, Mother General from 1984 to 1996. Elected at the 7th General Chapter (15 October 1984) and re-elected at the 8th.

Was born in Sommatino (CL) on 8 June 1919. She entered the Congregation on 1 May 1937 and received the religious habit on 2 December that same year. She made her temporary profession on 7 December 1937. Remaining at the Motherhouse to continue her studies, she earned her diploma as a nursery school teacher in 1941 and was then sent for one year to Acquaviva Platani to serve as a kindergarten teacher. Upon returning to the Motherhouse, she made her perpetual profession on 10 February 1945, and that same year earned her qualification as a primary school teacher. She was then sent to teach in Catanzaro for three years and later appointed superior in Albaneto, where she served until 22 August 1957, when she was elected General Secretary. On 15 October 1966, she was elected Vicar General. Following the 1972 Chapter, she served as superior of the house in Via Nomentana, Rome, and on 21 May 1979, she was appointed Regional Superior in Brazil. On 15 October 1984, she was elected Mother General and confirmed in the subsequent General Chapter. During her twelve years of leadership, she celebrated the Centenary of the Congregation’s Foundation, placing special emphasis on vocational promotion and the formation of sisters and the schools under their care. She also initiated the preliminary steps for the canonisation process of Father Angelico. After completing her mandate, on 14 January 1997, she departed for Tanzania, where she opened the first African house of the Congregation, in Arusha. She later returned to Italy due to health reasons, receiving treatment in Rome for several months before moving to the house in Juculia for rest. In 2002, she suffered a stroke and was transferred to the house in Mussomeli (CL), where she spent the final years of her life.
She passed away on 8 January 2006.

 

Mother Celestina Dinarello, Mother General from 1996 to 2008. Elected at the 9th General Chapter (12 August 1996) and re-elected at the 10th.

During her generalate, Mother Celestina had the joy of promoting and witnessing both the opening and the closing of the diocesan phase of the cause for the canonisation of Father Angelico, a moment that had been long awaited. Together with several sisters, especially Sister Venanzia, Sister Immacolata, and Sister Annamaria, she devoted herself to ensuring that this important milestone could finally be reached.

 

Mother Arcangelina Guzzo, Mother General from 2008 to 2018. Elected at the 11th General Chapter (7 July 2008) and re-elected at the 12th.

Mother Arcangelina was born in Miglierina, Calabria, on 12 October 1937. Among the various roles she held in the Congregation, she also served as superior of the "Signore della Città" Institute in Caltanissetta.

During her generalate, the 125th anniversary of the Congregation’s Foundation was celebrated, with festivities held in all the houses across the world.

She returned to the Father’s House on 29 July 2021.

 

Mother Priscilla Dutra Moreira, Mother General since 2018. Elected at the 13th General Chapter (10 November 2018).

Mother Priscilla began her generalate with the joy of opening the celebrations for the centenary of Father Angelico’s entrance into Heaven (2019–2020) and receiving the long-awaited news of the promulgation of the decree on the heroic virtues of our beloved Founder, on 5 July 2019.