Saint Paulina

Pauline of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus, CIIC (born Amabile Lucia Visintainer; December 16, 1865 – July 9, 1942), was Brazilian religious sister from Austria-Hungary who founded of the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, who serve the poor.

She was the first Brazilian to be proclaimed a saint by the Catholic Church when she was canonized on 19 May 2002, by Pope John Paul II.

Life

Early life Pauline of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus was born as Amabile Lucia Visintainer on December 16, 1865, the second daughter of Antonio Napoleone Visintainer and Anna Pianezzer in the town of Vigolo Vattaro, in the County of Tyrol. Her ancestors were Germanic, who had settled in the region of Vigolo Vattaro as early as 1491, their surname being originally spelled "Wiesenteiner".

Like many others in the area, the Visintainer family was very poor but practising Catholics.

In 1895, Rossi and Visintainer, seeing the need for a more formal and secure organization of the young women coming to them, decided to establish a religious congregation called the Little Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, which was approved by José de Camargo Barros, Bishop of Curitiba.

Pope John Paul II canonized Paulina on 19 May 2002 in a ceremony in Saint Peter's Square, Her feast day is 9 July.