07/28/2025
SISTER MARIA BENEDETTA FERRONI, OBLATE SISTERS OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS, HAS RETURNED TO HER FATHER'S HOUSE.
A heart that longed to embrace the world
Sister Benedetta Ferroni was born into a noble family in Verona on October 2, 1937.
During the 1946 war, her father died. Her mother, a widow, came to Rome and worked as secretary to President Alcide De Gasperi, while she and her two brothers studied with the Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart.
As an intelligent, studious, and very committed girl, she always received excellent grades in school and increasingly admired the lives of the nuns with whom she lived. She shared with them especially moments of prayer, where, in silence and listening to the Word, she felt the call to give herself to the Lord to bring Christ and His Gospel to her brothers.
She was soon captivated by the personality of the Mother Foundress, Blessed Teresa Casini, whom she always esteemed and promoted, including through the book she wrote for her, "Light on the Hills."
She then began her journey of formation for religious life, while also continuing her university studies in obedience, earning three degrees. She not only treasured these degrees, but also gave them to young students at various universities, called by the very professors who had recognized her talents, abilities, and genius—qualities confirmed by all who had the joy of meeting her.
Over time, especially the Institute of the Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, of which she was a member, had the joy of capitalizing on her human, intellectual, and spiritual riches, having her as general secretary, counselor, and vicar general. Subsequently, for twelve years, she served as Superior General, with a great prophetic spirit, in faith and trusting abandonment to Him who, from a young age, had won her over and drawn her to the charism of the Foundress. She always cherished the same ideal in her heart, in the sole desire to "...console the pierced Heart of Jesus..." and in the constant commitment to make this request of the Heart of Christ known and to grow in holiness, for the holiness of priests.
A courageous, enterprising Oblate, open to the "signs of the times," with prophetic foresight, she preserved and developed the charism with creative fidelity through missionary outreach, especially in India (ASIA) and Guinea-Bissau (AFRICA), where she bore fruitful fruits for the entire Church.
Her commitment to the service of initial and ongoing formation within the Institute and beyond, in the USMI, UISG, and CEI, has been constant and multifaceted over time, especially in the care, assistance, and support of priests, in the most varied forms.
Our immense gratitude to the Lord for having given her to us, and to her for what she meant to each of us and for what she did for our Religious Family, for the great testimony of her joyful and generous self-giving to Christ, to the Church, and to the charism of the Institute.
May she intercede from Heaven for all of us and help us to live ever more intensely and, united with Christ, our daily offering for the sanctity of the Church and, especially, for priests.
