Maria Maddalena dell’Incarnazione

Caterina Sordini (16 April 1770 – 29 November 1824) was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious that established the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, in latin Adoratrices Perpetuae Sanctissimi Sacramenti, devoted to the Eucharist. She assumed the religious name of "Maria Maddalena of the Incarnation" when she became a member of the Third Order of Saint Francis during her adolescence.

She was forced out of Rome as a result of Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion of the Italian peninsula but returned following his defeat and the return of Pope Pius VII to Rome. The pope proved to be a benefactor for Sordini's order and something that Pope Leo XII continued; however his involvement was to a lesser extent than that of his immediate predecessor.

Sordini died in 1824 and was beatified at the Basilica of Saint John Lateran in 2008 after Pope Benedict XVI approved her beatification.

Life Caterina Sordini was born in Porto Santo Stefano on 16 April 1770 as the fourth of nine children to Lorenzo Sordini and Teresa Moizzo. She was baptized on 18 April 1770 with the names of Caterina Francesca Maria Antonia and her godparents were Bartolomeo and Maria Anna Giovine Schiano. She was a curious and self-conscious child who also could be rude at times. Sordini was against this idea but later relented to the wishes of her father. The merchant she was to meet was soon to depart for Constantinople but met with Sordini before his departure. He gave her a casket of jewels and she adorned herself in them prior to admiring her reflection in the mirror. But she did not see herself for she saw the crucified Jesus Christ who asked her: "You would give Me up for a carnal creature?" A decree on her writings was issued on 11 September 1980. The decree approved the fact that - upon the inspection of theologians - her writings were aligned with doctrine and did not spread heresies nor contradict official teachings.

The decree on the previous informative process - that had closed decades before - was issued on 26 April 1985 and confirmed that the process had completed its work. The postulation compiled the Positio in 1990 and sent it to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome for their own investigation. The dossier included biographical details amongst other things.

On 24 April 2001 she was granted the title of Venerable after Pope John Paul II acknowledged the fact that Sordini had lived a model life of heroic virtue.

The miracle needed for her beatification opened in Culiacan on 1 August 2001 with the sole task of testimonies from those involved and all medical reports and documents to prove the healing was indeed a miracle. The process closed on 20 October 2001 and was sent to Rome for additional evaluation; the process was approved and ratified on 4 October 2002. The Rome-based medical board met and approved the miracle on 14 October 2002 and passed it on to the consulting theologians who also approved the healing as a miracle on 28 June 2005. The C.C.S. approved it also on 16 October 2007 and passed it to Pope Benedict XVI on 17 December 2007 for his approval.

The beatification was celebrated on 3 May 2008 in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome. Cardinal José Saraiva Martins presided over the celebration on the behalf of Benedict XVI. Other significant individuals - such as Cardinal Camillo Ruini - were in attendance.

The current postulator assigned to the cause is the Conventual Franciscan Ernesto Piacentini.