DAUGHTERS OF THE DIVINE ZEAL. – A religious congregation founded by the canon Annibale Maria di Francia in 1887, uniting the first associates who wished to dedicate themselves to the manifold works of charity he had begun in Messina, and approved by the archbishop of Messina on 5 August 1906.
On 19 February 1935 it obtained the decree of praise and the first approval of its constitutions. Its specific aim is the Christian instruction of abandoned youth and constant prayer for priestly vocations, to which the sisters are bound by vow. The mother-house is in Rome. In 1949 the Institute had 25 houses and 300 sisters.
BIBL.: anon., Centri bibliografici del cen. Di Francia Annibale Maria (1851-1957), Messina 1931; Arch. S. Congr. dei Religiosi, M. 123.