About Daughters of St. Anne USA

Our History

The Daughters of Saint Anne, Mother of Mary Immaculate, are the fruit of God’s love working through the life, faith, and generous self-giving of our foundress, Blessed Anna Rosa Gattorno (1831–1900). Born in Genoa, Italy, Rosa lived through the joys and sufferings of family life and gradually discovered in her experiences a deeper call to belong completely to Christ and to serve those who were poor, sick, abandoned, and in need of compassion.

A Woman Transformed by God’s Love

Rosa Maria Benedetta Gattorno was born in Genoa, Italy, on October 14, 1831, into a Christian family. She received a strong religious upbringing and, as a young woman, married Gerolamo Custo in 1852. She became a mother and devoted herself to her family.

Her life, however, was marked by profound suffering. Her husband died when she was still young, and she experienced the loss of one of her children. One of her daughters also became seriously ill and lost her hearing and speech. These painful experiences could have closed her heart, but instead they opened it more deeply to God and to the suffering of others.

Through prayer, the Eucharist, spiritual guidance, and her growing relationship with Christ, Rosa discovered that her suffering could become a path of love and self-giving. She began to dedicate herself increasingly to works of charity, caring for the sick and helping people who were poor and in need.

Her experience as a wife and mother became an important part of her spiritual journey. She came to understand motherhood not only as a gift lived within her own family, but also as a mission of compassionate and loving service to God's children.

A Call to Consecrated Life

Rosa increasingly felt called to give herself entirely to God. At first, she struggled with the question of how she could respond to this call while remaining faithful to her responsibilities as a mother.

Seeking God's will, she turned to trusted spiritual guides and eventually sought the counsel of Pope Pius IX. During an audience in 1866, the Pope encouraged her to follow the inspiration she believed God had placed in her heart and to begin the new religious family.

With faith in Divine Providence, Rosa accepted God's invitation. She placed her own life, her children, and the future of the work into God's hands.

Her response became a decisive moment in the history of the Congregation. What began as a personal journey of faith would become a worldwide mission of charity.

The Birth of the Daughters of Saint Anne

On December 8, 1866, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Rosa Gattorno founded the Institute of the Daughters of Saint Anne, Mother of Mary Immaculate, in Piacenza, Italy. She was assisted in the foundation by Fr. Giovanni Battista Tornatore, CM, who became an important collaborator in the development of the new religious family. 

Rosa received the religious habit in 1867. On April 8, 1870, she made her religious profession together with twelve other women who had joined her in responding to God's call. The new community grew rapidly as women were drawn to its spirit of prayer, poverty, maternal charity, and service to those most in need. The Congregation received the Decree of Praise from Pope Pius IX in 1876 and received definitive pontifical approval from Pope Leo XIII in 1879. 

A Family at the Service of the Poor

From the beginning, the Daughters of Saint Anne were called to be a compassionate presence wherever human suffering was found. Following the example of Blessed Anna Rosa, the sisters dedicated themselves particularly to the sick, the poor, abandoned children, people with disabilities, and those experiencing material and spiritual poverty. Their service included education, healthcare, catechesis, assistance to families, care for children and the elderly, and other works responding to the needs of the Church and society. The heart of this mission is charity. Blessed Anna Rosa expressed this spirit beautifully in the words:

“Charity never says enough.”

For the Daughters of Saint Anne, charity is not simply an activity. It is a way of life—a way of identifying with Christ, especially Christ who became poor and who draws near to those who suffer.

A Maternal Presence in the World

Blessed Anna Rosa understood the mission of the Congregation through the example of Saint Anne, the mother of Mary and grandmother of Jesus. The Sisters are called to cultivate a maternal heart: a heart that welcomes, accompanies, protects, educates, consoles, and serves.

The spirit inherited from the foundress is expressed through maternal self-giving, poverty of heart, and a family spirit. The religious community is called to become a place where the love of Christ is experienced through mutual care, simplicity, communion, and service.

In this way, the Daughters of Saint Anne seek to make present in the world the compassionate love of Christ, especially among those who are forgotten or vulnerable.

From Piacenza to the World

What began as a small religious family in Piacenza soon became a missionary congregation. The Sisters responded to the needs of the Church in different countries and cultures, carrying the spirit of Blessed Anna Rosa wherever Providence called them.

The Congregation eventually spread throughout Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Oceania, serving God's people through evangelization, education, healthcare, social service, catechesis, and care for those in need. 

The expansion of the Congregation fulfilled the missionary vision associated with its foundation: that the work entrusted to God would reach many parts of the world.

Wherever the Daughters of Saint Anne are present, they seek to remain faithful to the spirit of their Mother Foundress: to love Christ, to live in poverty of heart, to serve with maternal dedication, and to create a family wherever they are sent.

Blessed Anna Rosa Gattorno: A Legacy of Love

Blessed Anna Rosa continued to guide and encourage the growing Congregation until her death in Rome on May 6, 1900. By the time of her death, the Congregation had already established a significant presence in many places. Her life had become a testimony to the transforming power of God's grace.

More than a century after her death, the Church recognized her heroic witness and her dedication to Christ and to the poor. Pope John Paul II beatified Anna Rosa Gattorno on April 9, 2000, presenting her to the Church as an example of a life completely offered to God and to the service of others.  Pope John Paul II described her life as a remarkable union of abandonment to Divine Providence and tireless commitment to her neighbor

Continuing the Mission Today

Today, the Daughters of Saint Anne continue the mission entrusted to them through Blessed Anna Rosa Gattorno. The needs of the world have changed, but the heart of the mission remains the same.

We are called to recognize Christ in the poor, the sick, the abandoned, the vulnerable, and all those who long for love and dignity. We seek to respond with a maternal heart, generous service, and a spirit of simplicity and communion.

Our history is therefore not only a story of the past. It is a living story.

The same God who called Blessed Anna Rosa in nineteenth-century Italy continues to call the Daughters of Saint Anne today—to identify with Christ in the mystery of His poverty, to live with a poor heart, to serve with maternal dedication, and to build communities marked by a genuine family spirit.

As we look with gratitude at where we have come from, we also look with hope toward the future, trusting in Divine Providence and seeking to remain faithful to the charism entrusted to our Congregation.

From Blessed Anna Rosa Gattorno, we have received a legacy of love.
With Christ, we continue the mission.
With Saint Anne, we accompany God's children.
With Mary, we say yes to God's will.