NURSES AS EXAMPLES

BL. GERTRUDE PROSPERI Born to a wealthy, pious family, in 1799 in Fogliano di Cascia, Perugia, Italy.

In 1820   she joined the Benedictines at the monastery of Sante Lucia di Trevi, taking the name Sister Maria Luisa Angelica. She served as a nurse as well as a novice mistress. She was elected abbess in 1837, an office she held till her death.

She was well known among her peers for strict observance to the Rule of Saint Benedict (reviving many traditions), for her ardent devotion to both the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to Eucharistic adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.  In her duties she was always  joyful and full of the love and care of Jesus for her charges.

For a period of five years the spiritual director and Bishop of Spoleto (and future cardinal) Ignazio Giovanni Cadolini guided her in discerning the truth of her visions and the ability to differentiate between visions and the work of Satan. 

Bl. Gertrude died on 13 September 1847 after a painful illness. Her writings were left preserved and were copied when her Jesuit confessor Father Paterniani wrote the first chronicle of her life in 1870.

The process for her beatification began by the bishop of Spoleto, Pietra Pacificia, in 1914 but was interrupted during the First and Second World Wars, only to be resumed in December 1987.

She was beatified 12 November 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI. The miracle needed for her beatification was the curing of a woman from Umbria of a brain-related illness.  Her feast is  September 13.

VENERABLE NOEME CINQUE - White Angel of the Trans-Amazonian Highway-

(Sister Serafina) was born in 1913 in the Amazons in  Brazil. She was the second oldest of thirteen children. She felt called to be a nun early in her life, but she needed to work to help her family financially.

She decided to become a teacher and nurse. She would often visit the sick and elderly people in their homes. She also taught catechism locally and was a member of Catholic Action at her parish. Finally, in 1948 she joined an American  congregation of nuns – the Adorers of the Blood of Christ – who were working in Brazil missions. It was then she took the name Sister Serafina. 

She came to the United States for a few years to do her novitiate and studies and then was assigned to an area in the Amazons that had no doctors. She was the principal of a school there, but was also the medical professional for the entire region, teaching nutrition and hygiene as well as caring for the sick.  Her dedication and unselfish attitude was great.

In 1969 she fell ill with tuberculosis, but recovered. In 1971,  she was assigned to another area in  Brazil, which had a growing population due to the construction of the Trans-Amazonian Highway. With the growth of population, there was a lack of medical professionals and space in hospitals. 

Sister Serafina helped establish the Divine Providence Home for pregnant women and infants who could not be admitted to hospitals. The house could take in up to 40 women a day.  There she was able to offer special care for those who were homeless. In 1985 she built another home called the Refuge for the sick and abandoned.

She died of cancer in 1988 when she was 75 years old. She is remembered as the “Angel of the Amazons” by the local people. Pope Francis declared her venerable in 2014 because of her heroic virtues.