I met Prima Maestra Thecla in 1955, when she came to Brazil together with Primo Maestro. I was an aspirant at the time, so I met her personally and later heard many testimonies and read her writings. During my time of formation, I heard a lot about Maestra Thecla, about her faith, her prayer, her […]

It all started for me, one Sunday at the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. I was only 11 years old at that time. I announced to my parents my choice to become a Sister. My father immediately forbade me to talk about it in the family because, even though we were a good Christian […]

“Reading” Thecla Merlo Today I want to tell you about my first “meeting” with Thecla Merlo. As a child I was always in love with books, but these were very few in my home. It is no coincidence that I bought my first book from the Daughters of St. Paul, in a small town in […]

On 15 Sept. 1960, in preparation for the feast of St. Thecla, Fr. Alberione confided to the Daughters of St. Paul: “You owe Prima Maestra everything, and I too owe her a lot because she has enlightened and directed me in happy and sad circumstances, and has consoled me in the difficulties that have been […]

Following in the footsteps of Sr. Thecla Merlo, I witnessed her Pauline Marian experience and I fell in love with it. I am a Daughter of St. Paul and I have arrived at the beautiful age of 96, almost 97…. I found among Maestra Thecla’s unofficial papers a familiar prayer that I have since carried […]

Venerable Thecla Merlo’s life was an example of a missionary of the Gospel and of one familiar with the supernatural. She exemplified joyful love for God. When speaking of her, it is as if one intones the “Magnificat”, giving thanks to God for the marvels accomplished in his servant. And I thank God that I […]

THECLA. She left us on 5 February 1964, and every year we commemorate her departure for heaven on that day in a special way. She traveled a lot over the years, from one city to another, from one continent to another. She visited our communities to support their various apostolic initiatives, which was not always […]

I never imagined I’d ever be writing a testimony about Maestra Thecla, even though she has always been someone I love very much and have felt close to me as a sister and a Mother and, more specifically, as a point of reference due to the many years I have spent in the service of […]

“She who has knowledge, mental ability, a big heart, a spirit of sacrifice, an immense desire for holiness and a great thirst for souls…will see that the road ahead of her becomes always longer, wider and more beautiful when carrying out the apostolate of the editions” (cf. J. Alberione). Reflecting on M. Thecla Merlo, I […]

Saying yes to the request to write a short article about Maestra Tecla, despite the fact that I had not known her personally and had never read anything specifically about her, proved to be quite an adventure for me. Certainly as a Pauline priest, and thus a member of the Pauline Family, I had often […]

My life in the Congregation has been full, rich and I dare say “fortunate,” or perhaps “graced” is a better word. I have met a lot of people who “built” me not so much by what they said to me, but by the example of their lives, which helped to shape my own. And among […]

For me, sharing my memories of Prima Maestra Thecla is like talking about a beloved family member who, in various ways, enriched my life, consolidated my Pauline vocation and helped me to “think big” in order to open me to the vast horizons of our mission. Universality was a dimension of the Pauline vocation that […]

A picture of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, shown to me by a companion of Catholic Action, captivated me. She had received it as a gift from a Pauline sister from my city, Cagliari. Leaving the high school I was attending earlier than usual, I went to the Pauline bookshop and in the display window […]

It was November 26, 1957, when I entered the community of the Daughters of St. Paul in Via Antonino Pio in Rome. The first few days were quite full as I tried to adapt to a lifestyle that was so different from what I was used to and to familiarize myself with the various areas […]

19-02-2021 Dearest Sr Anna Caiazza, Praise the Lord with me for His great mercy is without end. My heart is full of deep gratitude and praise to Him who gave me a second life and a second chance to praise Him, love Him and serve Him now and for all eternity. About a year ago […]

When I arrived in Rome from Alba for my novitiate in 1954, I was placed for my three hours of daily apostolate in the so-called Centre. It was situated on the ground floor of the new Divine Master House, inaugurated in 1950. It was a large rectangular room, where the Sisters of the book centres […]

The word “mother” is non-temporal in character because it is a reality that goes beyond space and time. This is true of both physical and spiritual motherhood. A mother is a person who welcomes life in all its stages and expressions. A mother is a person who knows how to understand and love, even when […]

Like many Daughters of St. Paul of my generation, I got to know Maestra Thecla through her writings and the testimonies of FSPs of the “first hour.” A particularly precious moment for me in this journey of discovery occurred in 1994 when, among the initiatives organized to celebrate the centenary of her birth, an international […]

April 1952: I was thirteen years old and had just entered the Congregation. The FSP community of Porto Alegre, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, was bursting with young girls, the majority of them from big Catholic families descended from Italian, German and Polish immigrants…. Everyone wanted to become a nun, even though […]

I was asked to write an article–actually, a testimony– about Venerable Thecla Merlo. I accepted the request because it is hard for me to say “no” to people. But when I started to think about what to write, I realized that I could not offer a testimony because I know Sr. Thecla only through the […]

I think one of the greatest gifts I received from the Lord was the fact that the house in which I was born and raised was very close to the main houses of the Daughters of St. Paul and the Society of St. Paul in Rome. This had a deep impact on my life. In […]

Memories of Prima Maestra Thecla Merlo When I was young, I lived on Volpi Hill on the outskirts of Rome. The lower part of the hill was marked by the Via Alessandro Severo compound of the Society of St. Paul and the upper part by the Via Antonino Pio compound of the Daughters of St. […]

The Daughters of St. Paul opened their first book center in Youngstown, Ohio (U.S.A.), in 1946. Since the book center was in my neighborhood, I often went there to visit the Sisters and help them. This contact helped me discover my vocation. On 1 Sept. 1955, when I was 16 years old, I entered the […]

Many terms have been used to describe the action of Prima Maestra Thecla alongside Blessed James Alberione in building the Pauline Family. In my opinion, the most expressive of these is the phrase, woman associated to priestly zeal, the title of a fundamental book written by the Founder. In fact, when Fr. Alberione decided to […]

It was December 1991. Even though many years have gone by since then, something happened on that occasion that struck me so deeply it has always remained in my heart. I was in Kisangani, Congo, and the city was under siege. It had been invaded several days earlier by a horde of soldiers, dressed for […]

Life is often compared to a journey, whether it is viewed as heading toward a specific goal or as a chance to meet and get to know people and experience new situations capable of changing one’s life. I have to confess that when I was young I seized every opportunity that came my way to […]

When I was asked to speak about Sr. Thecla Merlo, Co-Foundress and first Superior General of the Daughters of St. Paul, I was reminded of the words the Apostle Paul wrote at the beginning of the third chapter of his letter to the Colossians: “Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. […]

This accompaniment began in 1948, when I arrived in Rome as a young aspirant to the Congregation and found Prima Maestra waiting to welcome me with a big hug and smile. I lived in our huge Via Antonino Pio community during the years in which Prima Maestra was always among us: in chapel, for meals, […]

My first meeting with Prima Maestra Thecla took place even before I entered the Congregation of the Daughters of St. Paul because in all the encounters organized by the sisters of the Cagliari community, they spoke about Prima Maestra, her role in the Congregation and what she meant to each of its members. Even before […]

I got to know Maestra Thecla during the time I was a novice and junior professed sister in the Via Antonino Pio community, Rome (1958-1964). My earliest memories of her are of the conferences she gave us after Mass every Sunday morning in the AP conference hall–the only room big enough to hold our huge […]

Prima Maestra Thecla was a Mother to me, to all the Daughters of St. Paul and to the whole Pauline Family. She was a great woman–very human, humble and simple; a woman of immense faith; a saint! Her eyes shone with the light of God and it seemed to me that her penetrating gaze was […]

For me, remember-ing Maestra Thecla is like remembering my mother because Prima Maestra was not only our Superior General, to whom we owed respect, obedience and docility, but she was also our mother-a mother who understood the strong and weak points of the persons entrusted to her by divine Providence. … ITA-Al_resto_ci_penso_io-3 SPA-Al_resto_ci_penso_io ING-Al_resto_ci_penso_io-1 FRA-Al_resto_ci_penso_io […]

I could compare my relationship with Prima Maestra Thecla–a rapport of affection, trust and docility on my part–to a beautiful garden filled with flowers of all different sizes and colors. During my years of formation (1949-1956), many little “buds” sprouted in the form of chance encounters during which the two of us would exchange simple greetings and smiles, […]

I am a Daughter of St. Paul but not a sister of the “first hour,” like many of the FSPs who lived in direct contact with Maestra Thecla. I consider myself to be part of the “second half” of our 100-year history, grateful to have known Prima Maestra personally, even though this knowledge derived from […]

I entered the Congregation in Rome, Italy on 4 November 1933, after having gone with my relatives to visit the cemetery where my mother was buried. I was 11 years old at the time and in the mysterious plan of od, she had died giving birth to me. I didn’t know the sisters with whom […]

When I entered the Congregation of the Daughters of St. Paul in 1957, the Institute was experiencing a great influx of vocations and was under full missionary expansion… ConTecla-srMonica-ita-3 ConTecla-srMonica-esp ConTecla-srMonica-eng-1 ConTecla-srMonica-fra ConTecla-srMonica-por

When I lived at Via Antonino Pio, Rome, during the 1950’s, everyone took Maestra Thecla’s presence in the community for granted. She was there… Testimonianza-TeclaMerlo-SrSergia-ita-3 Testimonianza-TeclaMerlo-SrSergia-esp Testimonianza-TeclaMerlo-SrSergia-eng-1 Testimonianza-TeclaMerlo-SrSergia-fra Testimonianza-TeclaMerlo-SrSergia-por

Dearest Sisters, With joy I leave this space to Signora Anna, who wrote a very moving letter to share with us what happened to her husband, who, through the intercession of Maestra Thecla, received the great grace of healing. It was just a few days before Christmas–the end of a difficult year for us. My […]

I had already been in the Alba community for some time so I surely must have seen Prima Maestra and listened to her. But I hadn’t “met” her in the full sense of the word. I was one of the “Immacolatine,” the youngest members of the community. I spent my days attending classes scheduled to be […]

19 March 1955, the Feast of St. Joseph, was an unforgettable day for me because it was the day of my first religious profession. On that day, I also had the chance to personally experience Prima Maestra’s tenderness toward her daughters… TenerezzaMaestrattecla-it-4 TenerezzaMaestraTecla-eng-2

Our life is marked by innumerable encounters: some, even though fleeting, brighten our existence; others create friendship and communion, while still others–very significant ones–give direction to our journey through life and make a deep impression on our minds and hearts. My first meeting with Prima Maestra falls into this last category because she left a […]

The summer of 1915 had just begun when, in Alba, Piedmont, Italy, a fertile land of saints, a young woman prepared for an encounter that would change her life and also history. Her name was Teresa, and then became Thecla. Fr. Alberione chose her and opened unexpected horizons to her by asking her to participate in his project to flood the world with […]

I got to know Maestra Thecla under extraordinary circumstances when I was nine years old. My mother had died and my father wanted to entrust me to the care of the Daughters of St. Paul, who had opened a house in Susa. In his letter asking if they would accept me, my age was mistakenly […]

(Testimony of Sr. Nazarena Morando, fsp) When the Daughters of St. Paul were still without a name, an identity or a house, Prima Maestra believed. She surrendered herself to God with complete trust and was docile to the point of heroism. Her faith led her to accept the will of God and the dispositions and […]

Sr. Thecla Merlo and the Test of Illness Testimony of Fr. Carlo Dragone, her spiritual director during the last months of her life Fr. Carlo Dragone, a priest of the Society of St. Paul (1911-1974), entered his Congregation in 1925. From 1957 onward, he was in contact with M. Thecla above all for apostolic reasons. […]

Only now do we grasp your stature, which was as commonplace as bread, and–like bread–very nutritious and necessary. Without you, we would not have developed as we did. Perhaps your death was necessary to bring this truth home to us. You never allowed us to stop and admire you when you were a simple, quick […]

Testimony of Sr. Nazarena Morando             From the very beginning, Maestra Thecla was keenly aware of the principle that authority is service. She knew how to make herself all to all. She helped the sisters in their work: from the kitchen to the sewing room, from the typography to the bindery. She also helped to […]

Testimony of Sr. Rosaria Visco[1] In September 1947, Maestra Thecla called me [to her office] and asked me to launch the cinema apostolate in collaboration with the Society of St. Paul. Our work consisted of choosing films to reduce to 16mm. format so that they could be viewed in parish and public halls. It also […]

Testimony of Sr. Elena Ramondetti Maestra Thecla loved every sister very much. Each time we saw her, she was always very concerned about us. She would ask not only how things were going in our communities but she would also inquire about our health and about how we were doing personally. Her great desire was […]

Maestra Thecla’s Big Heart Testimony of Sr. Assunta Cocchiara Abbess of Santa Scholastica Monastery Cassino, Italy   In February 1944, recounts Sr. Assunta, who at that time was Mother President of the Benedictine Sisters, [the town of] Cassino was destroyed. That same night, Montecassino and our monastery were bombed. The devastation was so great that […]

Homily of His Eminence Cardinal Arcadio Larraona at the Funeral of Prima Maestra Thecla Merlo […] None of you know or will ever be able to know how much [Prima Maestra] suffered, worked and prayed…. Today you find things done, but they did not get done on their own…. How much effort, how much work, […]