Maria Bertilla Boscardin

 St. Maria Bertilla Boscardin 1888-1922

This humble Saint was born in Italy in 1888 and named Ann Francesca. She was from a peasant family where life was hard. Her father was jealous, violent and often drunk. She was often needed to work at home or in the fields, and so her attendance at school was infrequent. She was considered unintelligent and was often the target of jokes and insults from the other students. Her parish priest recognized her piousness and allowed her to receive her First Eucharist at the age of 8, but he, too, did not think much of her talents, calling her a goose.

When, at 16, she expressed the desire to become a religious sister, the priest did not encourage her. He did not think she had much of a chance of being accepted. When she was accepted by the Sisters Teachers of Saint Dorothy Daughters of the Sacred Heart, taking the name Maria Bertilla, even the young novice herself did not think much of herself. She told the Mother Superior, "I can't do anything. I'm a poor thing, a goose. Teach me. I want to be a saint."

Not knowing what to do with a poorly educated, awkward young sister, the Superior initially put her to work in the kitchen or the laundry. She was then sent to Treviso to learn nursing in the hospital there. When she completed her training, she was put to work in the children's ward. This is where her real gifts began to shine. She was a gifted nurse and her presence had a calming effect on the sick children, their parents and even the doctors. During World War I when an air raid threatened the hospital, she elected to stay with the patients who were too ill to be moved. Her devotion to her duty prompted praise from hospital authorities, but caused jealousy in some of her fellow sisters. 

Sister Maria Bertilla developed a painful tumor that eventually caused her to need an operation, which she did not survive. In spite of her pain, she continued to work up to five days before her death. She died on October 20, 1922 at the age of 34. Because of her difficult childhood and her care for the neglected, she is recognized as patroness of the rejected and abused.

St. Maria Bertilla's feast day is October 20. St. Maria Bertilla, pray for us.