Learning to be Quick to Listen

Blessed Benedetta Bianchi Porro was born in Dovadola, Italy , in 1936. She grew up in a devout family with five siblings, was a happy, beautiful child, loved reading, and was an outstanding student in school. But she also repeatedly suffered from health problems. Almost immediately after Benedetta's birth, her mother baptized her with water from Lourdes because she was so worried about the newborn's health. Only three months later, Benedetta contracted polio. Although she survived the potentially fatal disease, Benedetta suffered long-term side effects. One of her legs never grew as long as the other, and she was forced to wear a medical brace on her torso to support her curved spine. She was thirteen years old when she could no longer hear the teacher's questions in school and realized that she was losing her hearing. At the age of seventeen, Benedetta started college. She quickly discovered a love for the field of medicine. Believing the care of the sick to be her li...