Rosa Curcio was born on 30 January 1877 in
Ragusa as the seventh of ten children of Salvatore Curcio and Concetta Franzò; she was
baptized in the church of San Bartolomeo the day after her birth. She was diabetic and suffered from a range of health issues related to that. Her
First Communion was held in 1885. Curcio was noted for her intelligence and her outgoing nature and had a brief education in school of just six years. Despite this, she educated herself through reading the vast range of books in her family library. Out of all works she read she was deeply drawn to the life of Thérèse of Lisieux, and this helped her to discern her religious calling. In 1890 – despite parental objection – she joined the Carmelite tertiaries in
Ispica. She and several others moved in together to see if they all were prepared for such a life. She was transferred to
Modica and she used her time to help the poor and orphaned girls. She made her profession as "Maria" in 1895. She was elected as the prioress of the Chapter in 1897 and retained that post until 1908. Though happy with her Carmelite life, she soon felt called to live as a religious rather than as a lay Carmelite. She briefly lived with
Dominican nuns but knew her place was not with them. She dwelled with them while under the spiritual guidance of the
Bishop of Noto Giovanni Blandini. It was the latter's successor, Giovanni Vizzini, who encouraged her to pursue a Dominican vocation, to which she gently refused for she felt no great connection to their charism or lifestyle. In June 1924 she met Father Lorenzo van den Eerenbeemt who served as a Carmelite scholar. She travelled to
Rome on 17 May 1925 with Father Lorenzo to witness the
canonization of
Thérèse of Lisieux under
Pope Pius XI. She soon moved to
Santa Marinella on 3 July 1925 in order to work exclusively with the poor and destitute. She gained the permission of Cardinal
Antonio Vico to establish a congregation there; it was on 16 July 1926 that her small community was approved. It was there that she founded the Carmelite Missionary Sisters of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, and the congregation received formal papal approval in 1930. It also received the approval of Cardinal
Tommaso Pio Boggiani. That same year, Curcio made her perpetual vows. The goal of the new congregation was "to bring souls to God" through initiatives such as supporting families, feeding the poor, and the education of children. She sent some of the sisters to
Brazil in December 1947 to spread their spirituality, while telling them to "never forget the poor". She died on 4 July 1957. She is buried in the Mother House from 16 June 1991 to the present in Rome. In the present time her missionaries spread to other nations such as
Canada and
Tanzania. ==Beatification==