On October 19, 2025, Pope Leo canonized Sister Maria Benvenuta Troncatti, officially recognizing her as a saint and welcoming a new member of the Salesian Family into the Communion of Saints.
Born in 1883 in Còrteno Golgi, Brescia, Italy, Maria grew up in a large family, helping to graze goats at Alpe del Col d’Aprica. Intelligent, energetic, and responsible, she was allowed to make her First Communion at the age of just six years old.
In fifth grade, she first encountered the Salesians through the Salesian Bulletin, the official Salesian publication founded by St. John Bosco to promote the Salesian charism. Reading about the missionaries stirred in her a deep call to serve and become a missionary, too, one day. At fifteen, she joined the parish Daughters of Mary Association, deepening her devotion to the Blessed Mother. At twenty-two, she began formation with the Salesian Sisters in Nizza Monferrato, making her first profession of religious vows in 1908. Although of fragile health, Maria was known for her prayerful, charitable, and sacrificial spirit.
In 1915, during World War I, she trained as a nurse to aid the wounded. That same year she and another sister nearly drowned in a flood. She later recounted that, after praying, “Mary Help of Christians, if you save us, I will become a missionary,” they were miraculously spared. From then on, her missionary vocation was sealed.
In 1922, after years of service and prayer, she was sent to Ecuador. There she established clinics for both native people and immigrants. After eleven years, she was sent to Sucúa, the heart of the Shuar people. Known as madrecita (“little mother”), she worked tirelessly to heal the sick, shelter abused women, rescue abandoned infants and bring reconciliation between peoples.
She taught the rosary, devotion to the Eucharist, and built bridges of peace between cultures. Her initiatives included a hospital for the Shuar (1953), the Shuar Centers for the Defense of Indigenous Rights (1961), and a nurse training center with courses in family health, hygiene, and childcare (1962).
In July 1969, the mission at Sucúa was destroyed by a suspicious fire, yet her work continued. The following month, while traveling for retreat, her plane crashed shortly after takeoff. Sister Maria, aged eighty-six, did not survive. At the news of her death, a rainbow appeared, and the people cried, “Our Mother, Sister Maria Troncatti, is dead.” Her works, however, endured.
Maria’s holiness was evident during her life, and reports of miraculous cures multiplied after her death. She was declared Venerable in 2008, Blessed in 2012, and canonized on October 19, 2025. The miracle that opened the way for her canonization was the healing of Juwa Juank Kankua Bosco, a Shuar man who suffered a catastrophic head trauma in 2015.
A stone fragment struck his skull, causing a comminuted fracture, loss of brain matter, diffuse axonal injury, and a coma that evolved into a vegetative state. Doctors expected death or permanent incapacity. His brother placed an image of Sister Maria on his chest and prayed for her intercession. Months later Juwa awoke, reporting dreams in which Sister Maria served as his nurse and promised recovery. Over time, he regained full health. In 2022, medical exams confirmed his brain had regenerated completely.
Saint Maria Troncatti is the first Salesian Sister canonized after St. Mary Mazzarello, co-foundress of the Salesian Sisters. Remembered as a “mother, missionary, and artisan of peace and reconciliation,” she remains a powerful witness to the Gospel. St. Maria Troncatti, pray for us!