POOR DAUGHTERS OF MARY, QUEEN OF THE APOSTLES. – Founded in Mantua in 1897 by Countess De Blasi of the Marquises of Torremara.
She had begun the work in 1895 by distributing soup to some poor elderly in need, to whom orphaned and abandoned girls soon joined. The work began to grow, and the Countess acquired a first house, which she called the “Poor House of St. Joseph” for abandoned children and the elderly. Approved by the diocesan bishop in 1900, the Institute received approval from the Holy See on April 30, 1940. Since 1926, perpetual adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament has been practiced in the larger houses. The Congregation, spread across many parts of Italy, currently has 155 sisters in 18 houses.
POOR DAUGHTERS OF ST. ANTHONY. – Religious institute founded by Sister Miradio della Provvidenza of St. Cajetan (Giulia Bonifacio), a former Alcantarine nun, in Tufara di Valle Gaudina, archdiocese of Benevento, in 1901, with the cooperation and under the guidance of Fr. Luca de Longis, a Franciscan. In 1923 the generalate was transferred to Barile, diocese of Rapolla, and in 1937 to Naples.
The sisters, numbering over 200, have 18 houses, all in southern Italy, and devote themselves to the Christian and civic instruction and education of youth. The Holy See issued a decree of praise and temporarily approved the Constitutions in 1941.