VENERINI, ROSA, blessed. — Foundress of the Maestre pie, born at Viterbo on 9 February 1656, died at Rome on 7 May 1728.
Educated with Christian rigor, after a slight hesitation, with firm resolve and under the wise spiritual guidance of the Jesuits, she devoted herself to a life of high perfection. Following the impulse toward practical apostolate, as early as 1682 she began in her own home a kind of catechism school, with an evening rosary for working-class girls and their mothers; from this arose the idea of a genuine public school. The first «Scuola Pia» was opened on 30 August 1685, with the precise aim of instructing working-class girls in religion, forming them in a truly Christian life, and preparing them for civic life. The priest Ignazio Martinelli, her spiritual director for many years (d. 1716), played a major role in her very difficult undertaking. The bishop of nearby Montefiascone, Cardinal M. A. Barbarigo, summoned V. to the diocese in 1692; with his effective support, V. succeeded, within two years, in opening and organizing female Scuole Pie in almost all the towns of the diocese. As long as Barbarigo lived (d. 1706), she retained their superintendence, while the direction was entrusted, on his advice, to s. Lucia Filippini (v.). V. then, overcoming severe difficulties and with admirable firmness, went on to open about forty Scuole Pie before her death. From 1713 she established her residence in Rome; on 24 October 1716 she received a solemn visit from Clement XI, a great admirer and supporter of her work, at the same Scuola Pia in Rome. Her providential institution continues under Maestre Pie Venerini (v.).
V.’s great merit lies in this: until her time, popular education for girls was almost nonexistent. A few rare enclosed monasteries or conservatories, and some cities—often without continuity—had provided for this purpose in some fashion. V. brought the school and the solidly trained Maestre out of the convents and into even small towns, into direct contact with the people, while at the same time ensuring stability through a centralized organization. Equally felicitous was her idea of maintaining, as a rule, lively contact with the girls even after they had completed school, and with their mothers, thus creating around the individual schools a stable and active center of Christian life. V. was beatified by Pius XII on 4 May 1952.