Saint of the Day: Bl. Liduina Meneguzzi

Religious Sister (1901-1941)

Her life

+ Liduina was born to a poor family in Abano Terme, Italy. She was a pious child and people remembered her attendance at daily Mass, her spirit of prayer, and her service as a catechist for younger children.

+ At the age of 14, Liduina began to work as a servant in the homes of local families and in hotels in the region.

+ On March 5, 1926, she entered the Sisters of the Congregation of St. Francis de Sales.

+ For several years, Sister Liduina served her community as housekeeper, sacristan, and nurse in their boarding school in Santa Croce.

+ In 1937, Sister Liduina was sent to her community’s mission in Dire-Dawa, Ethiopia, serving people of many backgrounds, races, and religions. Her primary ministry was as nurse in the Parini Civil Hospital, first with civilians, and, later, soldiers fighting in the First World War.

+ Because of her commitment to cooperation between Catholics and Coptic Christians—extending even to Muslims—she came to be known as the “Ecumenical Fire,” in recognition of her willingness to serve all who needed her love and care.

+ When Dire-Dawa was bombed during the war, Sister Liduina carried the wounded to shelter, baptized dying children, and helped lead the dying Christians through the Act of Contrition.

+ Blessed Liduina died of cancer on December 2, 1941. She was beatified in 2002.

For prayer and reflection

Then the king will say to those on his right,
'Come, you who are blessed by my Father.
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
a stranger and you welcomed me,
naked and you clothed me,
ill and you cared for me,
in prison and you visited me.'—Matthew 25:34-39

Spiritual bonus

On this day we also remember Blessed Ivan Sleziuk. A Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest, he was named consecrated as co-adjustor bishop of Ivano-Frankivsk by Blessed Hryhoriy Khomyshyn (d. 1947) in April 1945. On June 2, 1945, Bishop Sleziuk was arrested by Communist authorities and sentenced to forced labors camps in Russia, he was repeatedly arrested and released, enduring interrogation by the KGB until his death on December 2, 1973. Blessed Ivan was beatified with other martyrs “Killed under Communist Regimes in Eastern Europe” in 2001.

Prayer

O God, who called blessed Liduina to seek your Kingdom in this world through the pursuit of perfect charity, grant, we pray, through her intercession that we may advance with joyful spirit along the way of love. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal: Common of Holy Men and Women—For a Religious)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.