Gaetana Sterni was a 19th-century Italian nun who established the Sisters of Divine Will. Born in Cassola in 1827, her life was marked by significant personal losses, including the deaths of her husband and her only child. These hardships motivated her to dedicate herself to helping others through an active apostolate. After years of working at a hospice for beggars, she founded her religious order in 1865, which focused on evangelic zeal and total devotion to Jesus Christ.
Life and work
Following the death of her husband and infant son, Sterni sought to ease the suffering of others. She spent more than thirty years working at a hospice in Bassano del Grappa. In 1865, she formally established the Sisters of Divine Will, an order that received official diocesan approval in 1875. She remained a member of this community until her death in 1889.
Veneration
The process for her beatification began in 1960 under Pope John XXIII. After being declared Venerable in 1991, she was beatified by Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter's Square on November 4, 2001. Her feast day is observed on November 26, the anniversary of her death.