Saint Who?
Saints Who Grew Up in Poverty
Blessed Eurosia
Married laywoman († 1932)Feast: January 8
“I wish to be a poor woman and I am happy with it, because it seems to me that this way I am loved even more by the Lord…. It is not riches but doing the will of God that makes the heart happy.” Eurosia Fabris was born in Italy in 1866. She only had two years of formal education, leaving school to help on her family’s farm and learn to be a seamstress. She loved spiritual reading, however, and was very devout.
In addition to her work and her faithful prayer life, she helped care for those around her. Among these were the children of Carlo Barban, whose young wife had died, leaving behind two children under the age of two. After much prayer and discernment, Eurosia became Carlo’s second wife. She was known as Mama Rosa. The loving and pious couple went on to welcome twelve more children, two of them adopted.
Family finances were tight, for Carlo had land but was in debt. Mama Rosa remained confident: “God sends us children like a treasure. Trust in him, for he will not let us lack the necessities of life.” She ran a dress shop with several employees, but planned her budget with an eye to helping the poor and happily lived poor herself. She died in 1932 and was beatified in 2005.
Bountiful Father, through the intercession of
Blessed Eurosia, teach us to embrace poverty
and welcome the gift of new life with joy.
