Concetta Bertoli

At the age of 16, at Christmas 1924, Concetta felt a violent pain in her foot, the prelude to an incurable polyarticular deforming arthritis. In 1930, she became completely immobile, her body frozen in the shape of an 'S' and her jaws locked. Despite this, she transformed her room into a place of apostolate. In 1938, during a pilgrimage to Lourdes, she obtained the grace of being able to receive Communion. She joined the Franciscan Third Order in 1940. Having become blind in 1950, she died on March 11, 1956.

After her death, her reputation for holiness grew. On January 13, 1969, the Archdiocese of Udine opened the informative process for her cause of beatification, which closed on November 14, 1971. On August 5, 1973, her body was exhumed and solemnly transferred to the parish church of San Michele Arcangelo in Mereto di Tomba. A supplementary investigation took place between 1989 and 1990, validated by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on April 16, 1993.

On April 24, 2001, Pope John Paul II promulgated the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues, conferring upon her the title of Venerable. Although unexplained healings have been reported and are the subject of investigations, no miracle has yet been officially approved by decree of the Holy See to allow for her beatification.

Nicknamed the 'crucified woman of Mereto di Tomba' or the 'missionary of suffering', Concetta Bertoli offered her pains for the Church, priests, missionaries, and sinners. Her spirituality rests on total abandonment to the divine will and a paradoxical joy. Her spiritual legacy remains alive, particularly among the sick, and her memory is celebrated each year around March 11.