St Matia Gabriella

Maria was the 5th of 8 children in her family. At the age of 20, she accepted God’s call to become a nun. She joined the Trappist community just outside of Rome where she devoted her life to prayer and penance (doing something hard because you feel bad for the sins you have done or the sins others have done). She felt called to pray and work for unity (being joined together) between all Christians. She felt so strongly about this cause that she offered herself as a spiritual sacrifice for this unity. Shortly after making her offering, she became sick with tuberculosis. Maria suffered for 15 months, offering all her pain to God so that Christians unity. She died when she was only 25 years old. Maria Gabriella Sagheddu was beatified on January 25th, 1983, at the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity by Blessed Pope John Paul II.