A pupil at the Marcelline

Marianna's parents, fully conscious of their responsibility towards their children, prepared them with their example of Christian life for the world to come, not neglecting to prepare them for life on Barth as well, for they accepted the conquests of progress achieved during the second half of the nineteenth century.

The fame of the recently founded girls' boarding-school had reached Brivio. The St. Marcellina school was opened in Cernusco sul Naviglio in 1838 by the blessed Luigi Biraghi, the spiritual leader of the Seminary.

Cernusco sul Naviglio (Milano). The first school of the Sisters of St. Marcellina.

The aim of the institution was to educate the daughters of the middle class, which was gradually asserting itself, along Christian lines following a serious curriculum of study without neglecting domestic activities.

Having immediately secured approval, the Sisters of St. Marcellina opened a second boarding-school at Vimercate in Brianza. Giovanni Maria Sala sent his more gifted daughters to complete their education at this school.

Marianna was there from 1842 and was followed by her sisters Genoveffa and Lucia. Marianna was a model schoolgirl and in 1846 she obtained her teaching diploma with full marks.