Saint Who?
Saints Who Cared for the Sick
Saint Giuditta Vannini
Foundress († 1911)Feast: February 23
Giuditta was born in Rome. Her father died when she was only four years old, and her mother died when she was seven. She was sent away to be educated by nuns, and she was so inspired by these nuns that she tried repeatedly to enter a religious order herself. However, each time she tried, she was forced to leave the community due to health problems. She worked as a kindergarten teacher instead.
When she was thirty-two years old, Giuditta met Father Luigi Tezza, a member of the Camillians, an order of men devoted to the care of the sick. Tezza believed that there should be a similar order for women, and Giuditta agreed. Recognizing that God was calling her to care for the sick and dying, she and Tezza soon found other like-minded women to join her.
Unfortunately, false accusations against Tezza led him to be sent to faraway Peru. Although Giuditta continued to correspond with Tezza, the leadership of the new order now fell on her shoulders. Fortunately, Giuditta was not only a good administrator and kind superior, but she taught her sisters to care for each patient like a mother caring for her only child. By the time of her death, her order numbered 124 religious sisters in sixteen houses.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, grant us the compassion
of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
