Saint Maria Bertilla Boscardin – Patron Saint of the Rejected

Feast Day Oct. 20

Humble Beginnings

Saint Maria Bertilla Boscardin was born Anna Francesca Boscardin on Oct. 6, 1888, to a poor farming family in Brendola, Veneto Italy.  Throughout her short life, she died at the age of 34, she gave witness to Catholic stewardship through her simple living and caring for others as a nurse and consecrated religious.

She did not have a traditional education and was ridiculed for her seeming lack of intelligence and worked as a house servant in her youth.

Because she was considered “slow,” a local priest nicknamed her “little goose.” 

She grew up in a turbulent home with a violent father forcing Anna and her mother to flee the house quite often. Her father testified to his abusive behavior due to alcoholism during her beatification process.  

Sisters of Saint Dorothy

At age 16, Maria joined the Sisters of Saint Dorothy in Vicenza, Italy and was assigned to work in the kitchen, laundry and bakery. Eventually she was given permission to be trained as a nurse and displayed a special gift for working with children suffering from diphtheria.

She was turned down by the first order she applied to, but the Sisters of Saint Dorothy admitted her to their convent, assigning her the religious name Bertilla and sending her to peel potatoes at their large charity hospital in Treviso, Italy. The only time she took off was to make vows in the motherhouse and go to the hospital to be operated on for cancer. 

Serving Others

When World War I broke out in 1915, Bertilla wrote in her diary: 'Here I am, Lord, to do according to your will, under whatever aspect it presents itself, let it be life, death or terror.'" 

During the bombing of Treviso, she stayed with patients who could not be moved, praying and providing marsala wine and snacks for those who needed it.

After the war, she was sent to a sanatorium to care for soldiers with tuberculosis. Next, she was sent to a seminary to care for survivors of a devastating epidemic. Finally, she was sent back to the hospital at Treviso.

Saint Maria Bertilla Boscardin died on Oct. 20, 1922, after suffering for many years from a painful tumor. Some of the patients she had nursed many years before were present at her canonization on May 11, 1961 by Pope John XX III.

 As a missionary to the sick and marginalized, Sister Maria Bertilla found her calling. She was particularly drawn to assist those who were littlest and without much hope for survival. Her gifts were to minister among those who suffered and were on the brink of death.

Her life was marked by a willingness to go out in love and service to others, giving what she received little of, resigning her will in favor of God’s.

According to the Saint of the Day website, “Her reputation for simplicity and devoted, caring hard work had left a deep impression on those who knew her.  A memorial plaque placed on her tomb refers to her as “a chosen soul of heroic goodness … an angelic alliviator of human suffering in this place.” Crowds flocked to her first grave at Treviso.  After a tomb was erected for her at Vicenza, it became a pilgrimage site where several miracles of healing took place.”

After her death in 1922, Saint Maria Bertilla Boscardin was buried first in Treviso then her remains were moved to the chapel of the motherhouse of her religious order, the Sisters of Saint Dorothy, in Vicenza, Italy. Many people take pilgrimages to her tomb and now people from all over the world come to pay their respects and ask for her intercession.

Prayer to Saint Maria Bertilla

O dearly beloved word of God, teach me to be generous, to serve thee as thou dost deserve, to give without counting the cost, to fight with out fretting my wounds, to labor without seeking rest, to spend myself without looking for reward other than knowing that I do thy holy will. Amen

Notable Quotes

• “We should never allow ourselves to be disturbed by things that are transitory and not eternal.”
• “It is not the work that we do that makes us saints, but the way in which we do it.”
• “In whatever state we are, let us strive to remain in the hands of God.”
• “The greatest consolation in life is to be able to serve others.”

Patron Saint

She is the patron saint of the rejected, lonely, abused and nurses.

A Special Note

Clarion Herald Staff Writer, Kim Roberts is the great, great, great niece of Saint Bertilla, on her mother’s (Mary Jo Ferrara’s) side and had the honor of traveling with her immediate family several years ago to visit Vicenza, Italy and the final resting place of the Saint. The Sisters of Saint Dorothy gave them a tour of the chapel containing Saint Bertilla’s tomb and the school and buildings on the property. It was an experience none of the family will forget.