Itala Mela
Italian Benedictine oblate, mystic, and theologian (1904–1957)
Feast: 29 April (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
The Vatican record
- 12 June 2014 — Heroic virtue declared — title Venerable (decree list, 2014)
- 14 December 2015 — Miracle through their intercession approved (decree list, 2015)
Who they were
Itala Mela was born in La Spezia on 28 August 1904 to two schoolteachers with no religious faith, and as a young woman declared herself an atheist. After an intense spiritual experience she converted, and became a Benedictine oblate of the monastery of St Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, taking the name Maria of the Trinity.
Her spiritual life centred on the mystery of the Holy Trinity living within the soul. She died on 29 April 1957.
The miracles
A healing through her intercession was found scientifically inexplicable by the Vatican's medical board on 15 January 2015 and approved by decree on 14 December 2015. The sources checked do not describe it. One more approved miracle is needed for canonisation.
Why that counted as sanctity
Limited information available on this saint.
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography of Blessed Itala Mela
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints — promulgated decrees (causesanti.va), summarised in our own words
- Wikidata Q3804068 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Itala Mela (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.