October 21
María Lorenza Longo (1463–1539)
Founding widow
Widow, founder and great servant of the sick in Naples, Maria Lorenza Longo turned her healing into a life entirely dedicated to mercy.
Biography
Paralyzed for years, she regained mobility after making a pilgrimage to Loreto and professed as a Franciscan tertiary. With his assets and the help of collaborators, he founded the Hospital of the Incurables, which cared for abandoned patients, and promoted a home for women who wanted to abandon prostitution. Later it gave rise to the monastery of the Capuchin Poor Clares, marked by poverty and contemplation. He knew how to unite organization, ecclesiastical reform and personal attention to suffering.
Practical advice
Convert a benefit you have received today into concrete help for someone who cannot repay you.