Eugenia Ravasco

Eugenia Maria Ravasco was born in Milan on 4 January 1845, the daughter of Francesco Ravasco, a lawyer, and Carolina Mojana. Her childhood was marked by early bereavement: her mother died while Eugenia was still a small child, and her father died a few years later, leaving her an orphan. She was then placed in the care of relatives and taken to Genoa, where a paternal aunt raised her. In that city she received her education and formed the religious sensibility and social awareness that later defined her work. Nineteenth-century Genoa, a major port undergoing industrial and demographic change, confronted her with both the needs of poor and working families and the limited opportunities then open to girls for schooling and Christian formation.

In Genoa she developed a strong interior life centered on the Eucharist and on devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. She felt drawn to consecrated life and to active service among the young, especially girls. Family opposition and her own sense of a distinctive call kept her for a time from entering an existing congregation. Instead she remained in the world, gathering girls for catechesis, instruction, and Christian formation, and organizing works that mixed education with charity. Her apostolate sought to reach both poorer children and those of more comfortable background, at a period when the Italian Church was promoting catechetical and educational initiatives in the face of secularizing pressures after national unification.

In the later nineteenth century she founded the Congregation of the Daughters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (Figlie dei Sacri Cuori di Gesù e di Maria), a community of women religious dedicated to education, catechetical work, and works of charity. The institute took as its spiritual core love of the Sacred Hearts, eucharistic piety, and service to the Church, and it established schools and other works in Genoa and elsewhere. Ravasco served as foundress and superior, forming her sisters in a spirituality of reparation, apostolic zeal, and fidelity to the Holy See. The congregation later became known also as the Ravasco Sisters and continued to expand after her death.

She spent her remaining years directing the young institute and continuing her educational mission, despite declining health. Eugenia Ravasco died in Genoa on 30 December 1900. Her reputation for holiness led to the opening of a cause for canonization. Pope John Paul II beatified her on 27 April 2003. She is commemorated on 30 December. She has not been canonized. The congregation she founded continues educational and pastoral work in a number of countries.