Maria Vittoria De Fornari Strata
Maria Vittoria De Fornari Strata (1562 – 15 December 1617) was an Italian Roman Catholic nun and the foundress of the Order of the Annunciation – or Blue Nuns. Fornari was married for just under a decade and decided not to find another spouse after having a vision of the Madonna who instructed her to lead a chaste life of motherhood. The widow decided to found an order not long after this, based on the Carmelite charism.
Her beatification was held on 21 September 1828.
Patron saint of Order of the Annunciation
In the Martyrology
- December 15 Blessed Maria Vittoria De Fornari Strata, widow, founder of the Order of the Annunciation