Lipari celebrates 150 years of Mother Florenzia, revered as Venerable.

Lipari is celebrating the 150th anniversary of Mother Florenzia, who is already Venerable. The Franciscan Sisters have organized an exhibition with all her cherished relics, including religious objects, the clothes she personally cared for, souvenir photos, books, and a commemorative plaque from former President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, who visited the prayer institute in Pirrera in 1998. Giovanna Profilio was born in Pirrera on December 30, 1873. She emigrated to the United States as a young girl due to her family’s financial collapse after her father’s death. She joined the Franciscan convent of Sant’Antonio in New York and became a member of the Franciscan Tertiaries of Allegany, taking the name Sister Florenzia. In 1905, the bishop of Lipari, Monsignor Francesco Maria Raiti, asked her to return to Italy and establish a religious community to serve the needs of the island. Sister Florenzia accepted and worked tirelessly to improve the lives of orphans, the elderly, and struggling families on the isolated and economically limited island. The Institute also expanded beyond Sicily, with a house opened in Brazil in 1953. Mother Florenzia passed away on February 21 while staying in Rome. In April 2018, Pope Francis declared her Venerable. Her remains rest in a room adjacent to the church of Sant’Antonio in Rome, near the headquarters of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception in Lipari. Streets in Lipari, Palermo, Trapani, and Peru have been named after Mother Florenzia.

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Lipari celebra i 150 anni di Madre Florenzia già Venerabile

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