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| Image: An English engraving of a Benedictine nun: Sr. Maria Fortunata lived as a nun for more than seventy years. |
Blessed Maria Fortunata Viti lived between 1827 and 1922. She was the eldest daughter of nine children and was born in Italy. When she was 14 years old, her mother died, her father was also addicted to gambling and alcohol. Maria had to work as a housekeeper to earn money for the family as well as taking care of her siblings, as her father sank deeper into his addiction. Maria became a Benedictine nun at the age of 24, rejecting an offer of marriage. Though Sr Maria Fortunata was illiterate, she spent her time in the monastery as a housekeeper, washing, sewing and doing other simple tasks. She was simple of heart and her confessor said that she was often accosted by the devil with threats, physical attacks and with insults hoping to break her virtue. She was greatly devoted to the Blessed Sacrament and visited the chapel frequently as she performed her daily tasks. After she died at the age of 95, miracles were reported at her grave.
