Rosa Maria Benedetta (religious name Anna Rosa) Gattorno was born on October 14, 1831 at Genoa. In 1852, at the age of 20, Rosa married Gerolamo Custo. The marriage produced three children.
In 1856, Rosa suffered the catastrophic personal tragedies: the death of her husband Gerolamo, the death of her youngest daughter, and the simultaneous illness of her surviving children.
In her widowhood, Rosa undertook the systematic mystical vocation — receiving the stigmata in 1862 and the Sacred Heart-devotion mystical experience.
In 1866, at the advice of Pope Bl. Pius IX (see his existing entry), Rosa founded the Daughters of St. Anne, Mother of Mary Immaculate at Piacenza — the Italian congregation dedicated to the education, hospital-ministry, and systematic care of the sick and dying.
Rosa served as Superior of the Daughters of St. Anne for the 34 years — establishing schools and hospitals across Italy and Latin America. She died at Rome on May 6, 1900 at the age of 68.