Known For: Missionary with the Sisters of Charity
Faith: Christianity
Country: United States

About

Rosa Blandina Segale came to the United States from revolution-torn Italy as a small child when her family left to escape persecution. An adventurous young lady, she later became one of the Sisters of Charity and joined their missionaries in the west. Her memoirs remain, giving a snapshot of her life in the “Wild West.”

She underwent a difficult trip by train and stagecoach and was warned along the way about the dangers of the cowboys in those parts, but wasn’t worried and proudly introduced herself as a sister when she met one. Age twenty-two and only five feet tall, she arrived in the southwest to work and soon after one of Billy the Kid’s gang was shot in the street. When the nearby doctors refused to treat him Sister Blandina declared that the Sisters will everything they can for him. The wounded man asked if God would forgive his sins, and she responded by reciting verses in the Scripture celebrating God’s mercy.

Soonafter she heard of Billy the Kid’s plan to scalp the doctors who wouldn’t treat his gang member. Outraged, she went out to meet him when he rode into town. He greeted her kindly, offering to grant any favor, and when she asked that he not harm the doctors he respectfully spared their lives. Her courage and dedication to helping others inspired those around her and brightened life in the west. If people offered to do things for her, she always said: “No child, not for me, but for God.”