Attached below is the Decree on the heroic virtues of the Venerable Maria Immacolata della SS. Trinità, professed religious of the Order of Discalced Carmelites and Foundress of the Carmelite Convent of the Holy Family.

Decreto Super Virtutibus

Today, 22 January 2026, during the Audience granted to His Most Reverend Eminence Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Supreme Pontiff Leo XIV authorised the same Congregation to promulgate several Decrees, among which the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Maria Immacolata of the Holy Trinity (born Maria Giselda Villela), professed religious of the Order of Discalced Carmelites and Foundress of the Carmel of the Holy Family, born on 8 July 1909 in Sapucaí, county of Jacutinga (Brazil) (the date of 12 January 1909 is not accurate, nor is his place of birth; at that time, it was common to change places and dates of birth.) and died on 20 January 1988 in Pouso Alegre (Brazil).

«Arrivato il tempo

in cui doveva nascere,

come uno sposo

uscì dal suo talamo

abbracciato alla sua sposa

che portava tra le braccia;

la graziosa Madre

lo mise in un presepe

tra alcuni animali

che là si trovavano.

Gli uomini dicevano cantici,

gli angeli melodia

festeggiando il matrimonio

tra i due personaggi;

ma Dio nel presepe

piangeva e gemeva:

erano le gioie che la sposa

portava al matrimonio;

la Madre era meravigliata

al vedere questo scambio:

il pianto dell’uomo in Dio

e nell’uomo la gioia,

cosa che all’uno e all’altro

soleva essere estranea».

[S. Giovanni della Croce]

Tanti auguri di buon Natale e buon principio d’anno a tutti dalla Postulazione generale dei Carmelitani Scalzi!

On Friday, 19 December, at noon, the Vicariate of Rome will hold the final session of the supplementary diocesan inquiries into the ‘life, virtues, reputation for holiness and signs’ of the Servants of God Ulisse Amendolagine and Lelia Cossidente, members of the Carmelite Secular Third Order.

PLEASE NOTE

1) In order to be able to consult the Positio please fill in the request form on this page.

2) If your request is accepted, we will then send you the conditions and directions for consulting the document.

1. The canonical norms concerning the procedure to be followed in the Causes of Saints are stated in the Apostolic Constitution Divinus Perfectionis Magister promulgated by John Paul II on 25 January 1983 (AAS LXXV, 1983, 349-355).

2. To initiate a Cause it is necessary that at least five years pass after the death of the candidate. This is to allow for greater balance and objectivity in the evaluation of the case and to allow the emotions of the moment to decant. There must be a clear conviction among people about his/her sanctity (fama sanctitas) and about the efficacy of his/her intercession with the Lord (fama signorum).

Sergio Sorgon was born in San Donà di Piave on 12 November 1938, the fourth of ten children. In 1949, he entered the minor seminary in Verona. In 1955, he took the religious habit and professed his vows the following year. In 1963, he was ordained a priest in St Mark's Basilica in Venice. He carried out his first ministry in Treviso and Brescia. On 7 June 1969, he left for Madagascar with two other priests to start a Carmelite mission on the island. His missionary work over the course of 16 years was intense and varied in terms of commitment and different places of residence. On the afternoon of 7 January 1985, he was expected in Moramanga, a town 120 km from the capital, where he was parish priest and Episcopal Vicar of the diocese. He had left Tananarive on his motorbike. He was waited for in vain in Moramanga, and his horribly mutilated body was found the following day at the edge of a forest.