Rita Lopes de Almeida

Rita Lopes de Almeida (religious name Rita Amada de Jesus, 5 March 1848 – 6 January 1913), was a Portuguese religious sister and the founder of the Sisters of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. She was called "Apostle of the Rosary, Apostle of the Eucharist, [and] Apostle of the Family" and one of the greatest Christian teachers of her time. She worked with the poor and founded schools for the children of single mothers, despite the religious persecution in Portugal at the time. Almeida was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006. As of 2020, the Sisters of Mary, Jesus and Joseph were in nine countries, including in Brazil, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding there in 2012.

Patron saint of Sisters of Jesus; Mary and Joseph