Saint Mary Di Rosa, birth name Paola Francesca Di Rosa, was born on 6 November 1813 in Brescia as one of nine children born to the rich industrialist Clemente Di Rosa and Countess Camilla Albani.
Di Rosa was educated by the Visitation Sisters in their convent in Brescia; She left school after her mother died in 1824. She began working in her father’s large spinning mill in Acquafredda where she took an instant notice of the working conditions; she became the manager when she turned nineteen. She began caring for the female workers and devoted herself to looking after their material and spiritual needs which was something that her father encouraged her to do. Di Rosa lived at home for the next decade increasing her involvement in various forms of social work.
Di Rosa died at a hospital in Brescia on 15 December 1855 after suffering from a prolonged illness.
