St. Giuditta was born on July 7, 1859, in Rome, Italy. She was orphaned as a young girl, and was raised in the Torlonia Conservatory on Via Sant’ Onofrio, by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. She entered the Daughters’ novitiate in Siena, Italy, but was forced to leave when her health declined.
In 1891, she met Blessed Louis Tezza, the procurator general of the Camillians, on a retreat. He had been thinking about founding a women’s community for the care of the sick, and invited Giuditta to help him. After praying about it, she agreed.
The following year, Giuditta and two companions received the scapular of Camillian tertiaries, and professed private vows in 1893, adding a promise to care for the sick, even at risk to their own lives.
In 1885, they took their perpetual vows, and Giuditta was elected Superior General. Louis was sent to Lima, Peru in 1900, leaving the new congregation in her hands.
Giuditta spread her congregation to France, Belgium, and Argentina. She died on Feb. 23, 1911, in Rome. On Oct. 16, 1994, Pope John Paul II beatified her, and she was canonized by Pope Francis on Oct. 13, 2019.
