CatholicSaints.Info

Also known as

• Janina Matylda Gabriel

Memorial

• 24 September

Profile

Born to the wealthy Polish nobility, Janina became a teacher, first in public schools, and then in ones run by the Benedictines. Feeling a call to religious life, Janina became a Benedictine nun, taking the name of Colomba, and making her profession on 20 August 1882. She served as abbess of a house in Lviv, Ukraine, but conflicts with the sisters there led her to move to Rome, Italy in 1900, then the monastery in Subiaco, Italy, and then in 1902 back to Rome where she began ministering to poor young people. Founder of the Benedettine di Caritá (Benedictine Sisters of Charity) in 1908, an Institute dedicated to housing and providing family style support to poor young workers and homeless young women; at one point there were 118 houses in Italy run by the Sisters.

Born

• 3 May 1858 at Ivano-Frankivsk, Poland (now in Ukraine) as Janina Matylda Gabriel

Died

• 24 September 1926 at Rome, Italy of natural causes

Venerated

• 10 July 1990 by Pope John Paul II (decree of heroic virtues)

Beatified

• 16 May 1993 by Pope John Paul II

Patronage

• Benedictine Sisters of Charity (Benedettine di Caritá)

MLA Citation

• “Blessed Colomba Matylda Gabriel“. CatholicSaints.Info. 3 July 2023. Web. 1 May 2024. <>