The Servant of God Lucia Eleonora Schiavinato was born in Musile di Piave (VE) on October 31, 1900, the third child of a middle-class family. In 1907 the family moved to San Donà di Piave.
In her youth, in the years preceding the First World War, Lucia was a member of the Catholic Women's Action and of the San Vincenzo Conference; after the war, you are among the people who work hard for the material and spiritual reconstruction of the country.
Lucia always felt a strong predilection for the lonely elderly, abandoned children, the physically and mentally disabled, even very serious ones. She arranged and took care of some of them, in the form of a family home, giving life to the experience of the Little Refuge.
The first Little Refuge was born in San Donà di Piave (Ve), the day before Christmas 1935. Other houses were founded in Rome in 1955, in Ferentino (Fr) and in Vittorio Veneto (Tv) in 1957, in Verona in 1960 and in Trieste in 1962.
In 1954, with the consecration of a group of 12 young ladies who shared Lucia's lifestyle and who supported her in works of charity, the work of the secular Institute of Volunteers of Charity actually began.
In 1957, even before the Merlin law and the closure of brothels, the Servant of God opened the first rehabilitation center for former prostitutes in Campocroce di Mogliano Veneto (TV): the "Villa Madonna della Neve". The opening of the Villas follows in Bologna, Cappelletta di Noale (Ve), Rimini.
In May 1958 Lucia Schiavinato released the first number of "Amor Vincit" which is still, with the name of "L'Amore Vince", the voice of the secular Institute of Volunteers of Charity and of the Piccolo Rifugio Foundation of worship and religion. “Amor vincit” is also the Institute's motto.
On March 31, 1964, mother Lucia, with three Volunteers of Charity, to respond to the request of the bishop of the diocese of Ruy Barbosa (Bahia) whom she met during the sessions of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, left for Brazil to serve the local churches of Bahia, Maranhão , Amazonia and Acre.
Also in Brazil Lucia manifests her privileged love for the least: the alagados of Salvador, the lepers of Aguas Claras and Grajaù and the Indians of the Amazon.
Mamma Lucia spent the last months of her mission in the leper colony of Grajaù, where she would have liked to die, sharing the last moments of her life with these brothers. In early May 1976, however, she was forced to return to Italy due to the symptoms of a serious illness.
The Servant of God Lucia Schiavinato ends her earthly journey on November 17, 1976.
The Eucharist is the source and center of every work of Lucia Schiavinato, whatever its peculiarity and implementation: from her dedication to politics, in the Municipality of San Donà from 1946 to 1951, and in 1956 at the Provincial Council of Venice, to its dedication to welcoming the disabled and the rehabilitation of former prostitutes, up to its presence in the missions. The fundamental inspiration always highlights a particular perception of the social and ecclesial situation, which has given Lucia the ability to read the signs of the times and to interpret them in the light of faith.
The cause for beatification and canonization of Lucia Schiavinato was introduced in the diocese of Treviso on 8 March 1999.
Since 15 August of the same year, the Secular Institute of Charity Volunteers has had pontifical right.
On April 11, 2001, the acts of the diocesan process were delivered to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome.
From the site Small refuge
The history of your Association
it is made up of many “saints next door” – many! –,
and it is a story that must continue:
holiness is a heritage to be guarded and a vocation to be welcomed.