Maria Mazzarello
Italian saint (1837-1881)
Feast: 13 May (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Maria Domenica Mazzarello was born at Mornese, in Monferrato, on 9 May 1837, eldest of seven children of a farming family, and grew up in the work of house and fields, always, as she gladly said, little educated.
In October 1867 she and other young women formed a community, which in 1872 moved to the college at Mornese given them by St John Bosco; there they began the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians for the education of poor girls. She shone in humility, prudence and charity, and died at Nizza Monferrato on 14 May 1881.
The miracles
The Dicastery's biography does not describe the miracles approved in the cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
A farm girl who, with Don Bosco, founded the Salesian Sisters for poor girls.
Connected on this site
- John Bosco Saint“In October 1867 she and other young women formed a community, which in 1872 moved to the college at Mornese given them by St John Bosco; there they began the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians for the education of poor girls.” — this site's research
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Maria Domenica Mazzarello
- Wikidata Q466565 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Maria Domenica Mazzarello (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.