Saint Geltrude Caterina Comensoli, also known as Mother Geltrude is the Patron of Youth, Val Camonica and RelicCustodians.
Biography
Geltrude Comensoli was born in Italy. Comensoli was a serious and meditative child. Comensoli left her family in 1862 and joined the convent of the Sisters of Charity, founded by St. Bartolomea Capitanio in Lovere, Bergamo. She became seriously ill and was dismissed from the Institute. After Comensoli's recovery, she left her village due to the financial situation of her family and entered into domestic service, first with G. B. Rota, parish priest of Chiari, who a few years later was to become the Bishop of Lodi, and afterwards with the Countess Fé-Vitali. On the Feast of Corpus Christi of 1878, with the permission of her confessor, she made the vow of chastity. Without neglecting her duties as a domestic servant, Caterina decided to educate the children of San Gervasio, Bergamo, guiding them towards an honest life of Christian and social virtues. By means of assiduous prayer, mortification, an intense interior life, and the practice of the deeds of charity, Comensoli prepared herself for a religious life. Freed from family responsibilities after her parents’ death, the young woman sought a way to live a religious life. Comensoli opened her heart to the Bishop of Bergamo, Speranza, who was, at that time, in Bienno as a guest of the Fé-Vitali's. He encouraged her. In 1880, while in Rome with the Fé-Vitali's, Comensoli succeeded in speaking with Pope Leo XIII about her plans to establish a religious institute devoted to the adoration of the Eucharist. The Pope suggested she include the education of young female factory workers as well. Supported by the new Bishop of Bergamo, Guindani, and by her "Father and Superior", F. Spinelli, on December 15, 1882, Comensoli, together with two of her friends, began the Congregation of the Sacramentine Sisters of Bergamo. On December 15, 1884 she took the name of Sister Geltrude of the Blessed Sacrament. Comensoli and her sisters, advised by the Bishop of Bergamo, Camillo Guindani, successor to Speranza, had to abandon their first location and took refuge in Lodi. The Bishop of Lodi, welcomed them and gave them a house in Lavagna di Comazzo, which temporarily became the Mother House of the Institute. When innumerable difficulties had been overcome, Rota, with a decree of September 8, 1891, gave canonical recognition to the Institute. On March 28, 1892, Comensoli returned to Bergamo.
Death
On February 18, 1903, at midday, Comensoli died. The news of her death quickly spread. Those who had known her, especially the poor and the humble, who were her favourite people, declared her a saint. On August 9, 1926, her remains were taken from the cemetery of Bergamo to the Mother House of the Institute which she had established. They resided in a chapel next to the Church of Adoration.
