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Teresa Gabrieli was born on September 13, 1837, in Bergamo, Italy into a family of gardeners and farmers. Though the parents had nine children, only three of them survived.
Despite limited means, Teresa’s family made sure she received a solid education at the Institute of the Canossian Sisters, and Teresa was able to graduate as a teacher.
Though she had her heart set on teaching at the school, when her father died, Teresa had to give up that dream to help her mother financially by taking over the family’s small vegetable business.
When Teresa was thirty-seven, she met Father Luigi Palazzolo. She had been recommended to him because they both shared a love of the poor. He asked her to help him by educating underprivileged children and youth, and she agreed.
On May 22, 1869, Teresa made religious vows and, with Father Luigi, founded the Sisters of the Poor – Palazzolo Institute. The new order, often called the Poverelle Sisters, devoted themselves to serving the poor and marginalized, especially girls.
By the time Father Luigi (now a Saint) died in 1886, the new order had 70 religious sisters in 11 houses and were carrying for 270 orphans.
Mother Maria Teresa Gabrieli was elected to head the new order for twenty-two years. She died in Bergamo on February 6, 1908. On March 11, 2019, Pope Francis named her “Venerable.”
Today, the Sisters of the Poor – Palazzolo Institute serve in nations of Africa, Europe, and South America.
