Antonia Maria Verna

Antonia Maria Verna (12 June 1773 – 25 December 1838) was an Italian Roman Catholic religious sister and the founder of the Suore di carità dell'Immacolata Concezione. Verna left her hometown when she was fifteen due to increasing offers of marriage (which she did not want to accept) and returned sometime later when she decided to pursue her religious vocation. Her emphasis was on catechism and founded her religious congregation to better teach catechism to children as well as to tend to ill people. The local process closed on 20 March 1939 and received validation from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on 10 July 1992. The Positio dossier – documentation attesting to her reputation for holiness – was submitted to the C.C.S. in Rome in 1999. Historians approved the cause on 23 May 2000 as did theologians on 20 February 2009 and the C.C.S. members several months later on 17 November. Pope Benedict XVI – in a decree – confirmed that Verna had lived a model life of heroic virtue on 19 December 2009 and proclaimed her to be Venerable.

The miracle needed for her beatification was investigated in Chur from 24 May to 1 June 1966 and received formal validation from the C.C.S. on 27 May 1994. Medical experts confirmed the miraculous nature of this healing on 4 March 2010 and theologians confirmed it happened as a result of Verna's intercession on 15 July 2010. The C.C.S. ruled the case to be a miracle on 14 December 2010 and would bring it to the pope for final approval. Benedict XVI approved of it on 14 January 2011 and delegated Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone to celebrate her beatification on 2 October 2011 in Turin.

The current postulator for this cause is Giovangiuseppe Califano.