Sister Blandina Sagale SC; 1850-1941

Rosa Maria Segale was born May 23,1850, in Cicagna, Italy, and came to this country with her parents when she was four, making her home in Cincinnati. When she entered the Sisters of Charity in that city in 1866, Rosa was given the name Sister Blandina. The message from her superior thrilled the young Sister and yet terrified her when she learned she was going to a land of outlaws, among whom was "Billy the Kid." She traveled alone by rail, construction train, and stagecoach to her destination in the territory of Colorado where she arrived Dec. 9, 1872. She was 22.

What did she accomplish in her five years in Trinidad, a rough frontier mining town? Sister Blandina was the first person to stop lynching laws. She prevented Billy the Kid from scalping the four physicians of Trinidad. The town learned to love this courageous woman in black as they watched her with her own hands and with no resources build a school. Sister Blandina prepared her students for cultural events where together Indians and Mexicans could exhibit their native talents. She visited the jail, saw to the burial of the homeless, settled disputes among miners, and provided nursing care when needed.

In December, 1876, Sister Blandina received the message from her superior that she should prepare immediately to go to Santa Fe. There was no hesitation; in faith Sister Blandina moved to the "city of holy faith". There she built a three-story school from her empty pockets; she provided much of the labor with her own hands. She made tours to the mines and to railroad workers, begging funds for St. Vincent Hospital. She made caskets and buried the dead; she wrote letters to bereaved families. She gave alms, and she visited Billy the Kid and other prisoners in the Santa Fe jail. She managed to have the Sisters’ hospital lighted with gas for the first time. An excellent school for orphans was built where she served the little ones like a tender mother.

Throughout her time in Santa Fe, there were misunderstandings, disappointments, and tragedies. Nothing seemed to daunt this valiant Sister of Charity. She lobbied the New Mexico Territorial legislature for assistance in paying for the medical care of the indigent. Never did she hesitate in criticizing the injustices committed against the Native Americans. Rich and poor alike were her friends and many sought her assistance and comfort in their troubles.

In 1882, Sister Blandina was sent to Albuquerque to teach, but first she had to rebuild the dilapidated convent. She was involved in caring for the sick and injured. She tried without success to build a Catholic hospital in that city. She was recalled to Trinidad in 1889 to settle a controversy over whether the Sisters could wear their habits while teaching in the school. When this was discussed at a school board meeting, Sister Blandina said to the director, "The Constitution of the United States gives me the same privilege to wear this mode of dress as it gives you to wear your trousers." But this was a battle she lost and was soon sent back to Albuquerque to supervise the building of St. Joseph Hospital in 1901.

Later she returned to Cincinnati to work among Italian immigrant children until her death on Feb. 23, 1941. "Gesu" and "Madre" were her first words as a child; these were her last words as she lay dying in the motherhouse infirmary.