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On September 15, 1864, while visiting the tomb of St. Peter in Rome, a young Italian priest with missionary heart came up with a plan to “Save Africa through Africa.” His name was Daniel Comboni. Four days later, he met with Pope Pius IX to discuss his ideas.
Three years later, Father Daniel founded a religious community of men that came to be known as the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus (M.C.C.J.). On New Year’s Day of 1872, he founded a similar order for missionary women that, in time, became known as the Comboni Missionary Sisters (S.M.C.).
Though both orders had their share of growing pains in the early years, the road was particularly difficult for the sisters’ group. One of the main problems was the lack of a candidate who had the necessary skill set to be a strong leader. Fortunately, however, on September 6, 1874, a young woman named Maria Bollezzoli entered the congregation and brought what was needed to be a good leader for a new religious order of missionaries.
Maria was born in Verona, Italy on January 25, 1828, the only daughter of a family who had a comfortable lifestyle.
As a young adult, Maria became a teacher, but she also yearned to become a cloistered sister. Maria felt her parents needed her help, however, so she remained with them until they died. After their death, she did ministry in her parish of St. Nazaro, paying special attention to helping poor girls. Maria was also a member of the Pius Union of the Ursulines.
Fortunately for Father Comboni, he got to know Maria, and the more he learned of her, the more he became convinced she would make an ideal member of the new sisters’ order. Though she initially declined his invitation, she gave in with the encouragement from the Bishop of Verona.
On December 9, 1874, Maria joined other young women in a novitiate, and on October 15, 1876, she made her first vows with Sister Teresa Grigolini. Maria was the first Superior General of the order and guided it through the early years, years that saw some of the sisters coping with imprisonment, war, flooding, financial difficulties, and the usual diseases one finds in African nations.
Before he died in 1881, Bishop Daniel Comboni noted some of the work that the early sisters engaged in. These included nursing in hospitals and homes, teaching religion in schools, caring for orphans, helping enslaved people, and baptizing people.
Before her death on October 10, 1881, Mother Maria wrote to her sisters: “Love one another. My greatest satisfaction in the next world will be to see that you love one another and bear one another’s burdens. Remember we are children of the same father.”
Mother Maria Bollezzoli died on October 10, 1881.
From the foundation Mother Maria made, she is honored as the co-founder of the Comboni Missionary Sisters. Today, the sisters work not only in African nations, but also in countries of Asia, Europe, Central America, North America, and South America.
