Saint Pauline (Paulina)

Description

Pauline of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus, C.I.I.C. (December 16, 1865 – July 9, 1942), was an immigrant from Austria-Hungary to Brazil, who became the foundress of the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, Religious Sisters who serve the poor. She became the first Brazilian to be proclaimed a saint by the Catholic Church, when she was canonized on 19 May 2002 by Pope John Paul II. Pauline suffered from diabetes for much of her life and is considered by some to be a patron saint of diabetics.
She was born Amabile Lucia Visintainer on December 16, 1865, the second daughter of Antonio Napoleone Visintainer and Anna Pianezzer in the town of Vigolo Vattaro, then in the County of Tyrol, part of Austro-Hungary, now in Italy. Her ancestors were Germanic, who had settled in the region of Vigolo Vattaro as early as 1491, their surname being originally spelled Wiesenteiner.
Like many others in the area, the Visintainer family was very poor but practicing Catholics. In September 1875, the family, along with a hundred other people of the town, about a fifth of its population, emigrated to the State of Santa Catarina in Brazil, where they founded the village of Vigolo, now part of Nova Trento. She was known even at a youthful age for her piety and charity. From an early age she spoke of giving her life to God. She had very little intellectual education, but a great love for the Catholic faith and for the suffering and poor. After receiving her First Communion at about age 12, she began to participate in the life of the local parish, teaching catechism to children, visiting the sick and cleaning the local chapel.