Blessed’s Biography

Blessed Teresa Maria of the Cross was born on March 2, 1846, in San Martino Italy. Her parents were Salvatore Manetti and Rosa Bigagli, who came from modest social conditions. Teresa spent her whole life in the village. Teresa Maria got a strict and Christian upbringing and called “Bettina” at home. When she was three years old, her father died, and her mother left alone with Teresa and her brother Adamo Raffaello.

Teresa was known for her strong piety and also showed an unusual organizational talent. On May 8, 1859, she received her first communion. When she was 18, she gathered a group of young women to live in togetherness and to work as teachers for the poor. This group had a special devotion to Saint Teresa of Ávila and was inspired by her writings.

Ten years later, in 1874, Teresa opened a free school and established an institute of Carmelite tertiary sisters. on July 16, 1876, she took the name Teresa Mary of the Cross and on July 12, 1888, the first 27 nuns were dressed in the costume as barefoot carmelites.

Over the years, Teresa opened other schools and kindergartens. A modern house was established in 1889, in Scandicci and in 1891 another in Lucca. In 1893, a house was opened in Sesto Fiorentino and in 1894 in Montelupo Fiorentino. In 1896, she moved to Florence, where in 1900 she began the construction of a monastery and a church. Teresa’s Institute was approved on February 27, 1904, by Saint Pope Pius X (1903-14).

In the last years of her life, sisters began to work abroad, and the established houses in Lebanon and the Holy Land.

Bettina Death

She died on April 3, 1910, at Campi Bisenzio, Florence, Italy of natural causes and her relics translated to the monastery church at Campi Bisenzio on 22 April 1912.