Teresa Manganiello was an Italian religious woman born in 1849 in Montefusco. Following her devotion to the life of Francis of Assisi, she joined the Secular Franciscan Order in 1871. She harbored a deep desire to found a new religious congregation, a mission that received a blessing during a private audience with Pope Pius IX in 1873. Although she died of a sudden illness in 1876 before her goal was realized, her spiritual vision eventually paved the way for new religious life.