"Jesus made himself small in order that he might be loved and that we would not feel awkward in appealing to him….One is more daring with those who are small….Let us also remember that the Child Jesus is found in the arms of Mary."Venerable Mother Thecla, FSP  

Maria Teresa Merlo was born at Castagnito (Cuneo, Piedmont) on February 20, 1894, the second of four children of Hector Merlo and Vincenza Rolando. On June 27, 1915, she met Fr. James Alberione for the first time in the Church of Sts. Cosmas and Damian in Alba and accepted his invitation to remain in the city to help him begin the “adventure” of our congregation: the future Daughters of St. Paul.On July 22, 1922, she professed private, perpetual religious vows and took the name ...

In 1994 we Daughters of St. Paul celebrated the centenary of the birth of our first Superior General, Maria Teresa Merlo, or Maestra Thecla, (Maestra meaning Teacher, as she was called by us and Thecla, the name she took for profession).Back in 1915, when she was 21, the Holy Spirit opened before her a completely new future when he guided her steps toward Father James Alberione in the town of Alba in Piedmont. In the previous year Father Alberione had gathered around himself a group of...