Maria Cristina Brando

Maria Cristina of the Immaculate Conception Brando (1 May 1856 – 20 January 1906), born Adelaida Brando, was an Italian saint, nun and the founder of the Congregation of the Sisters, Expiatory Victims of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, an international teaching institute. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 27 April 2003, and canonized by Pope Francis on 17 May 2015.

Life Adelaida Brando was born on 1 May 1856 in Naples, Italy, the youngest of four sisters, to Christian and wealthy parents Giovanni Giuseppe and Maria Concetta Marrazzo, who died several days after Brando's birth. Brando received a "fruiful and sound"

Legacy Brando's cause was formally opened on 15 April 1943, granting her the title of Servant of God. Brando was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 27 April 2003, along with five others: James Alberione, a priest and founder of the Pauline Family; Marco d'Aviano, a priest and member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin; Eugenia Ravasco, virgin and founder of the Congregations of the Daughters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary; Maria Domenica Mantovani, virgin and co-founder of the Institute of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family; and Giulia Salzano, virgin and founder of the Congregation of the Catechist Sisters of the Sacred Heart. The pope stated about Brando during his homily for the beatification ceremony: "All that God worked through Maria Christina Brando is astonishing. Her Eucharistic and expiatory spirituality is expressed in two lines, like 'two branches that stem from the same trunk': love of God and love of neighbour. Her desire to take part in Christ's passion, as it were, 'overflowed' into educational works, for the purpose of making people aware of their dignity and open to the Lord's merciful love". During the ceremony, Francis said this about Brando: "She was completely given over to ardent love for the Lord. From prayer and her intimate encounter with the risen Jesus present in the Eucharist, she received strength to endure suffering and to give herself, as bread which is broken, to many people who had wandered far from God and yet hungered for authentic love".