SIEDLISKA, MARIA FRANCESCA de. - In religion Maria of Jesus of the Good Shepherd, foundress of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, b. at Roszkowa-Walla (diocese of Warsaw) on 12 Nov. 1842, d. at Rome on 21 Nov. 1902.

Although her family was estranged from the Catholic religion, she grew up devoted to an intense piety, so much so that at her first

Communion she resolved to consecrate herself entirely to the service of God. Having refused the marriage proposed to her by her father and overcome the gravest difficulties of health and of opposition, she was finally able to establish at Rome, almost under the eyes and care of Pius IX, her new Congregation on 1 Oct. 1873. This aimed at the particular purpose of attending to the education of poor children in suitable schools; of gathering orphans into its own asylums, sheltering poor sick persons in hospitals without any fee, assembling girls and women in its own houses for spiritual exercises, and this also in the missions. The houses multiplied very quickly, especially in Poland and in North America, guided and animated by the frequent letters and visits of the foundress. The cause of beatification was introduced on 4 Dec. 1940.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: V. Sardi, Vita della serva di Dio M. F. de S., fondato della Congregazione della S. Famiglia di Nazaret, Grottaferrata 1921; AAS, 33 (1941), pp. 166-68.

Celestino Testore

@incollection{ec11_siedliska_maria_francesca_de, author = {Testore, Celestino}, title = {Siedliska, maria francesca de}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XI}, pages = {544--545}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1953}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/siedliska-maria-francesca-de} }

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Siedliska, Maria Francesca de

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