From a young age, St Magdalene of Canossa felt drawn to serve girls who were either living in poverty or had been abandoned. Using her inheritance, Magdalene and some companions began charitable work in the poverty-stricken district of San Zeno. This small group of women became the “Daughters of Charity”. Magdalene died at the age of 61. She had established five houses of Canossian sisters at the point of her death.