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Many saints are called by God to found religious congregations. Their goals are well determined and always adapted to the special needs of their times. Ordinarily, God prepares these saints in a special period of novitiate in which He himself is the Teacher. They, knowing themselves in humility to be instruments in the hands of God, perform with absolute fidelity, the predetermined plan of his will.
Mother Catherine Troiani of St. Rose of Viterbo was not called from the world to found a missionary institute immediately, but had in the course of events, three distinctive vocations: Religious, Missionary, and Foundress. She was born in Giuliano, a suburb of Rome, on January 9, 1813. She was baptized the same day and given the name Costanza. When only six years old, her mother died tragically at home. Costanza was entrusted to the loving care of the Nuns of St. Clare of Charity in Ferentino. With lively intelligence, a sensible heart, docility in accepting the workings of grace and a decisive will, the young girl quickly formed a strong and serene character orientated towards God.
In the hands of God she was an active instrument. At an early age she developed a profound spirit of mortification. Fervent prayer nourished by the Eucharist, and an assiduous study of the lives of saints and of the annals of the missions, lighted and nourished in her heart the flame of the love of God and of neighbor.
At the age of fifteen, Costanza felt even stronger the attraction to religious life and asked to be accepted as a sister in the same Monastery of Ferentino. Her vocation to the cloister matured in the light of a distinctive divine call and was assisted by her prompt and generous response. Her perseverance was shown in the years following her profession when she, Sr. Mary Catherine of St. Rose of Viterbo, became the secretary of the monastery. She prayed and struggled along with Mother Abbess to conserve the rule and the small congregation that was trying to form a stricter cloistered life. Sr. Catherine lived in the Monastery of Ferentino until the age of forty-six. There she was esteemed by all for her constant practice of the religious virtues. However, Our Lord was heightening ever more the flame of zeal in her heart that consumed her. This allowed her thoughts to wander outside the limits of the cloister and to follow the extension of the Church into the world. In this way, He prepared her for her second vocation, that of a missionary.