<p>St. Maria Crocifissa Di Rosa was born in 1813, and was the founder of the Handmaids of Charity, in Brescia, Italy in 1839.&nbsp; She was beatified and canonized by Pope Pius XII.&nbsp; She was born as Paolina Francesca di Rosa, on November 6, 1813, in Brescia, Italy. &nbsp;</p> <p>She was first educated in a convent of the Visitation Sisters.&nbsp; At the age of seventeen, she left that school after the death of her mother, to care for her father.&nbsp; He ran a sawmill with many employees and needed the help.&nbsp; She also was noted for helping the women and girls working at the sawmill.&nbsp; In 1836 there was a cholera epidemic.&nbsp; She also worked in the hospital in Brescia to assist those with cholera.&nbsp; She went on and founded a school for the hearing impaired and created programs to assist women of poverty.&nbsp; Her dedication led to her being nominated as the Mother Superior. &nbsp;</p> <p>Her strong spirituality was grounded in the imitation of Christ&rsquo;s suffering on the Cross.&nbsp; This was the basis of her teaching and contemplation.&nbsp; In her love of the crucified Christ, she translated her dedication to him towards the suffering members of His Mystical Body.&nbsp; In 1840, at the age of thirty, she took the name of Maria Crocifissa di Rosa.&nbsp; She founded a new religious congregation, the Handmaids of Charity.&nbsp; Their chief apostolate was the care of poor, the sick and the suffering.&nbsp; Her new Order was granted Papal approval in 1850.&nbsp; St. Maria Crocifissa di Rose died at Brescia, in 1855, at the age of 42.&nbsp; She was beatified and canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1954. &nbsp;</p> <p><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Pratcial Take Away&nbsp;</strong></span></p> <p>St. Maria Crocifissa di Rosa was a sprititual young girl that entered the convent of the Visitation Sisters and became educated.&nbsp; She was dedicated to serving the Lord, but left the convent when she was seventeen to care for her father, after the death of her mother.&nbsp; She took that opportunity to serve and assist the young women and girls that worked for her father at his sawmill.&nbsp; She was dedicated to serving others, through the Crucified Christ, and could easily see the sufferings in the members of His Mystical Body.&nbsp; At the age of 30, she founded the religious congregation &ndash; the Handmaids of Charity, dedicated to care for the poor, the sick and suffering. &nbsp;</p>