(1672-1732)
Lucy Filippini was orphaned at an early age. At age 6, she went to live with her aristocratic aunt and uncle who encouraged her religious inclination by entrusting her education to the Benedictine nuns at Santa Lucia.
Under the patronage of Cardinal Marcantonio Barbarigo, she was entrusted with the work of founding schools for young women, especially the poor. With Rose Venerini she trained school teachers and co-founded with Marcantonio Barbarigo the Pious Teachers (Religious Teachers Filippini), a group dedicated to the education of girls. The young ladies of Montefiascone were taught domestic arts, weaving, embroidering, reading and Christian doctrine. Twelve years later the cardinal devised a set of rules to guide Lucy and her followers in the religious life.
Fifty-two schools were established during Lucy’s lifetime. Pope Clement XI, in 1707, called Lucy to Rome to start schools which he placed under his special protection. She died of breast cancer in 1732, aged 60, at Montefiascone.
Lucy Filippini was canonized June 22, 1930. Her statue can be seen in the first upper niche from the main entrance on the left (south) side of the nave of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Adapted by A.J. Valentini from: Online, C. (n.d.). St. Lucy Filippini – Saints & Angels. Catholic Online. Retrieved March 15, 2021, from https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=4343