At Ragusa in Sicily, Blessed Maria Schininá, virgin, who chose to live humbly and simply in order to care for the sick, the abandoned, and the poor, and established the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to bring help to every kind of misery.
Lifespan: 1844–1910
Beatified: 4 November 1990 by Pope John Paul II
Memoria liturgica: 11 June
Revolted by the luxury and empty ceremonies of her noble palace, she began a life wholly dedicated to the service of the poor, following the example of Jesus.
Maria Schininá Arezzo was born in Ragusa on 10 April 1844 and was baptized on the day of her birth. She was descended from two families of ancient Sicilian nobility: her father was Giambattista Schininà, of the marquises of Sant’Elia and the barons of San Filippo and Monte, while her mother was Rosalia Arezzo Grimaldi, of the dukes of San Filippo delle Colonne.
Maria led a genteel life until — after her father’s death and the marriage of all her siblings — she found herself alone with her mother. She thus began her journey toward the poor, breaking down barriers not only of wealth and social standing but above all of culture, which in those times were very strong indeed. Reproached by siblings and acquaintances for having divested herself of the family’s possessions, she was called by the Carmelite Salvatore La Perla to lead the Daughters of Mary, devoted to the relief of the poor.
In 1889 she founded the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, who were very active in the relief efforts following the Messina earthquake. She took the name Maria of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and died in 1910. She was beatified in 1990. The palace where she was born now serves as the seat of the Diocese of Ragusa.