Founder of the Congregation of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart in Italy a congregation dedicated to evangelization, education and the care of the youth bBessed Maria Gargani is the very model of a life where example, words and prayer cannot function without each other courageous, strong willed and determined the blessed woman had the revelation of her vocation very early on to become a teacher even Padre Pio called her "a hidden light that shone in the world" Maria Gargani was born in Morra Irpina in the province of Avellino on the 23rd of December, 1892 she was the
eighth and last child of Rocco Gargani a primary school teacher and Angiolina de Paola she received primary education at home through her father and sisters who were also teachers from her autobiography we know that Maria made her First Communion secretly from her parents who had not yet decided the date but during a mission preached in Morra Irpina she went to confession and received the Eucharist when her father and mother found out they felt guilty for being absent at such an important moment for her and so they entrusted her to the Lord in 1913 she obtained
a master's degree and in the same year after passing the state competition she obtained a job as a teacher in San Marco la Catola in the province of Foggia in fact she was an apostle in the school, in the parish and in the middle of the world in the poorest environments abandoned and in need of comfort and help including material ones and relief in illnesses everywhere her ardor pushed her to create reasons to win souls in order to instill in them the love of God she brought together young people almost every evening the mothers and
also the children and young people in a room she rented to instruct them in their Christian duties and direct them to fulfill their mission in the family and in society in her however there was something more something special she joined the Third Order Franciscans and began teaching catechism and was also responsible for the education of the poor she always worked with such fervor and dedication in the Third Franciscan Order in love as she was with the poverty, simplicity and ardor of the poor men of Assisi not only in San Marco but also in the neighboring
towns and especially in Volturara Apulla where she was later transferred as a teacher but Capuchin commissioners of the Third Order sent her everywhere even in the summer holidays when she was free from school work and she would have needed rest she did not stop tireless as she was to give advice to everyone it appears that her life vocation was clear but Maria somehow still felt restless she would pray and repeatedly ask Jesus not to make her choose her own life but to do his will at all costs she consecrates herself to him takes a vow
of chastity in the privacy of her room renounces all feminine vanity and intensifies her participation in the sacraments in mid April of 1918 Padre Pio traveled to San Marco la Catola to meet his spiritual director Father Augustine who was also the spiritual director of Maria Gargani for 2 years the young woman had remained in close contact with Padre Pio without ever seeing him a correspondence favored by Father Augustine who saw in the young woman another soul endowed with special graces and wanted to provoke spiritual contact between the two by asking her to write to Padre
Pio to entrust him with the direction of her soul to Maria's first letter Padre Pio responds logically he wrote: "I am happy to know your characters but Jesus has already made your soul known to me" when Maria first met Padre Pio in 1918 Maria was looking for her vocation she strongly felt that God was calling her to a life of total consecration but she did not know how and where to achieve it during their exchanges the young woman says in her diary that she feels the Holy Spirit blowing so strongly there were about 67 letters
that were exchanged between the two when Maria announced in one of her letters her inspiration to found a new Institute Padre Pio's reaction was immediate he said "finally we are there! It's God's will. Hurry up to the bishop! hurry up! it's very beautiful" Maria wanted to found a new institution that collaborated with priests to make Christian values flourish again it will be called Apostles of the Sacred Heart and initially it would be a pious union not really a religious Institute Padre Pio never stopped supporting her in here project through prayer and by giving her advice
the holy friar instilled such encouragement into Maria's soul that she went as far as to name Padre Pio as co-founder of the future congregation suddenly all doors opened before Maria's dream on March the 12th, 1936 her Institute was definitively approved by Pope John the 23rd and flourished outside the city of Naples opening a nursery school for children, an after school club for children and a professional school for young women who will be trained as teachers therefore a women's workshop not forgetting the care and cleaning of the parish, assistance to the poor and the care of
the sick and dying then came in 1945 the transfer to Naples and the first Episcopal authorization Maria Gargani finally became Sister Mary Crucified of Divine Love in 1946 however the Vatican rejected the request to transform the union into a female religious institution of diocesan rite for the first time and a second time in 1949 inviting the members to request admission to another already approved Institute the apostles will have to wait until 1956 to become nuns they finally obtained the canonical erection and Sister Maria Crucified became their mother until 1971 when the Lord granted her the
grace of seeing the beloved Institute walk on its own legs before she returned to the house of the Father on May the 23rd, 1973 aged 81 her life became according to the Archbishop of Naples Cardinal Creszenzio Sepe "an example for all those who wish to undertake spiritual paths capable of giving answers to their thirst for love" the miracle that paved the way for the beatification of Maria Gargani was the healing of a woman named Michelina Formichella suffering from generalized cancer who prayed for her intercession and one night in 1975 saw the nun appear to her
and say "you're okay Michelina, you're okay" patting her on the shoulder before walking away and disappearing Blessed Maria Gargani, pray for us.
