Lucia Di Loreto

Deceased Sisters

Lucia Di Loreto - Italy
11/02/1925 - 26/09/2019

Sister Lucia was born in Pratola Peligna, in the province of L'Aquila, on 11 February 1925, from a large family, of which one brother, the fourth of the children, followed St. Francis with the name of Father Michele. Her parents were Raffele Di Loreto and Margiotta Pulcheria.

In her native town of Pratola Peligna there is an important shrine dedicated to the "Madonna della Libera". Today the sanctuary is still under the care of the Father Marists.

Popular devotion to the Madonna was very developed in her country and also in her family. Lucia already lived this Marian climate in her family.

In 1948 still young, helped by the Marist Fathers, she decided to go to France, to Saint Prix, to begin her Marist formation.

A year later she became a novice and in 1951 made her first religious profession - both at St Prix. She remained in France at Montanay from 1951 to 1957, and then returned to Italy to the General House of Anzio, devoting herself to collaborating with the other Sisters in welcoming guests and in other duties concerning the management of the house.

In 1959 she was transferred to Moncalieri as superior of the community of the Sisters, dedicated to looking after the Marist Fathers.

In 1962 she left for Castiglione Fiorentino and the following year to S. Fede, still working for the community of the Marist Fathers.

She dedicated herself to nursing studies and graduated as a nurse. In 1971 she began working in Rome at the Santo Spirito hospital, which is located near the Basilica of St. Peter.

In 1985 she was transferred to the community of Ponzano Veneto. She carried out her work as a nurse as a volunteer in the Municipality of Ponzano, collaborating with the local doctors, making herself available to those who requested her intervention. Through this ministry she made connections and formed friendships with many people and families.

In recent years, as an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist, Sr. Lucia has ministered to the sick and elderly of her neighborhood, bringing them the Eucharist and comforting them in their daily situations.

In this last summer she spent a long period of family vacation, prolonging her stay beyond the days initially planned, to spend them with her last living sister and all the grandchildren and their families.

On her return to the community in Treviso she complained of stomach pains, but nothing that could predict the gravity of the situation. When she was admitted to hospital for tests, the doctors communicated the seriousness of her condition, leaving little hope for recovery.

Sr Lucia in the thirty-two days she lived in the hospital was able to accept her illness with faith and live it with serenity, sustained by the daily presence of the Sisters and the visits of her dear family members who came to visit her from afar.

Her funeral was celebrated on September 28, 2019 at 10.30 am in the Parish Church of S. Maria del Rovere in Treviso, with the participation of her family, who came from Abruzzo, the Marist Sisters, the parish community and many people whom she met during her apostolate and who remembered her with great affection and gratitude.

Immediately after the ceremony her family accompanied her body to be buried at the cemetery of Pratola Peligna, where other relatives rest.

The funeral ceremony was celebrated by Don Luca Pertile, a young Capellan priest from the community of Treviso.

We thank Sr. Lucia for her life lived in simplicity and abandonment to the will of God, sure that she is already in her eternal home in the arms of the Father.

Her memory will always be present in our hearts.

May she rest in peace.

Deceased Sisters

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