Blessed Maddalena Caterina Morano was only 8 years old when her father and older sister died and the young girl had to work to support her large family. She was born on November 15, 1847 in Chieri, Italy. She worked and studied and graduated in 1866 as an elementary school teacher. She wanted to enter religous life, but her family needed her so she worked for 12 years to support them.
By 1878 she helped raising her siblings and saved enough to ensure her mother's future, so Maddalena entered the Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians. The congregation founded 6 years earlier by Saint John Bosco. In 1881 she went to Trecastagni in Sicily and was in charge of the institute for women there.
Sicily became her second home. She opened new houses, set up after school activities and sewing classes, trained teachers, and taught catechism. She spend 25 years in Sicily and served her community as the local and provincial superior, guiding the novices, and lived the charism of Mother Maria Mazzarello, co-foundress of the institute. She died on March 26, 1908 in Catania, Sicily. She was beatified on November 5, 1994 by Pope John Paul II and awaits canonization.
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