1897–1992
Saint Gabrielia of Constantinople
A twentieth-century nun who cared for lepers in India and devoted her life to charitable and missionary work.
Biography
Gabrielia (born Aurelia Papayianni) was born in 1897 in Constantinople and studied philosophy and agriculture. In 1954, after her mother's death, she gave away her property and left for India, where for five years she cared for lepers and met Mother Teresa.
In 1960 she became a nun at the Community of the Resurrection in Bethany, taking the name Gabrielia, and afterward travelled to many countries offering charitable and missionary work. She spent her last years on Leros, where she died in 1992; the Church formally added her to the calendar of saints in 2023.