October 20
María Bertila Boscardín (1888–1922)
Religious
Anna Francesca Boscardin was a peasant girl from northeastern Italy who became a nun at the age of seventeen and was called Sister Bertilia ever since.
Biography
She worked in a children's asylum and when the First World War broke out she was a nurse in a military hospital where she aroused great admiration for her serenity during the bombings and for her selfless concern with the sick. At the end of the war, her superior decided that, due to her poor education, she could only be entrusted with very menial tasks and she returned to the Treviso asylum where she worked as a laundress. There this little nun died who, however, left an indelible memory of kindness in all who knew her. Many favors were granted through the intercession of Sister Bertilia, and thirty years after her death she was beatified and then canonized in 1961 by His Holiness. John XXXIII.
Practical advice
In a spirit of service, call someone who is sick, elderly or alone as someone who works and prays under the loving gaze of God.