Blessed Pina Suriano

Giuseppina Suriano, always known as Pina, was born at Partinico, a farming town in the province of Palermo within the archdiocese of Monreale, on 18 February 1915, the first child of Giuseppe Suriano and Graziella Costantino, who lived modestly from the land. She was baptised weeks later in the town's only parish church. Docile and serene by temperament, she was formed first by her grandparents' household, then from the age of four by the Collegine Sisters of Saint Anthony, and from six at the town school, where her teacher Margherita Drago was the first to admire her unusual virtue. In 1922 she received Penance, First Communion and Confirmation within days of one another, and in the same year entered Catholic Action, where she passed through every rank. Barely twelve, she was already taking an active part in parish and diocesan life, making the parish the driving centre of her days as catechist and organiser.