Teresa Fardella was born on May 24, 1867, in New York to parents of Irish and Sicilian nobility. The family moved to Trapani, Italy when she was two years old. At age 11, her Irish mother passed away and Teresa was sent to an Italian boarding school that her aunt supervised. Early in life, Teresa had a deep faith and loved the Lord. She wanted to become a sister and consecrate her life to Jesus in service of the Church, but, at age 16, her father forced her into marriage instead. She became the wife of Italian military officer Raffaele De Blasi. 

For Teresa, being married to an officer meant lots of traveling and moving. As her husband was assigned to different cities, Teresa lived her faith by focusing on serving the poor wherever they landed. Often, she would seek out children and adolescents living on the street and provide care for them, trying to lift them out of poverty. 

In 1896, while living in Mantua, Italy, she organized her efforts and founded the Poor House of Saint Joseph, to help serve those in need there. A few years later she saw the need to form a women’s religious order to staff and care for the Poor House. To meet this need, she founded the Poor Daughters of the Crowned Virgin. Although she was wealthy, Teresa found value in living alongside those she served and often forwent the luxuries she was originally accustomed to. She frequently proclaimed, “Love gives the courage to do all things well!”

Despite her being the foundress of these institutions, Teresa’s husband was, again, transferred — this time back to Trapani where Teresa grew up — and she was forced to accompany him. She moved back to Trapani, leaving her work in Mantua behind her, trusting the care of the Poor House to the Poor Daughters. While in Sicily, though, she continued to organize charitable work. When Teresa’s husband died in 1937, she devoted herself even more deeply to these works of mercy. 

Following her husband’s death, she officially entered the religious institution she founded. She professed her vows as a Poor Daughter of the Crowned Virgin and finally was able to realize her dream of becoming a sister. She passed away in Trapani on August 26, 1957, at the age of 90 after a long life of charity and love for the poor. She was proclaimed Venerable by Pope Francis on November 9, 2017.

"May the good Lord guide you, enlighten you and give your heart the holy love that drives you to the conversion of souls through your good example."
—Teresa Fardella De Blasi