Early Life
Maria Teresa was born into a strongly Christian family, the second child born to Paul Nuzzo and Louisa Morrocchi. Her elder brother died in a cholera outbreak, leaving Maria Teresa the eldest. A day after Maria Teresa was born, she was baptised in the Collegiate Parish of St. Paul, and she received confirmation at the age of eight.
In Maria Teresa's early years, education was not compulsory in Malta. Few could afford to send their children to school: most children worked to earn money to help their families. However, Maria Teresa was fortunate enough to education. Talented in handiwork and music, she developed an early interest in children and their welfare. In 1867, aged sixteen, Maria Teresa became responsible for a school run by her aunt, who had become blind and who died on 4 March 1867.
Although Maria Teresa began to feel a desire to embrace religious life, she felt responsibility for her parents – her father was seventy and ailing – and for the school under her care. At the age of 21 she considered the possibility of taking private vows of poverty, chastity and obedience as a lay person.
Read more about this topic: Madre Teresa Nuzzo
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