In the early hours of Tuesday, February 11, Sister Rachele Collini, born Diana, left us to return to the Father's house.
Her death was sudden, and the quick response of her fellow nurses and the arrival of the ambulance were to no avail.
Born in Mamante di Cesena on August 12, 1938, she grew up in a rural family in the Cesena area, accustomed since childhood to working in the fields with her brothers under the stern gaze of her father, of whom she spoke fondly. Sister Rachele entered the Congregation on May 7, 1965, and received the religious habit, thus beginning her novitiate in December of the same year. Her novitiate teacher was Sister Imelde Orlandi.
On December 27, 1967, she took her temporary vows, and on December 30, 1971, she made her perpetual profession. During her juniorate, Sister Rachele attended nursing school at the boarding school of the “Sisters of Charity” in Florence, obtaining her diploma, and immediately began working as a nurse, first at the hospital in Novafeltria (PS), then, from 1983, at the “S. Francesco” clinic in Ravenna, and finally, from 2001, in the infirmary and retirement home for the elderly at the Mother House in Lugo.
Sister Rachele was an outgoing, sociable person, sometimes grumpy, quick with a joke, and at the same time generous, ready to help those who turned to her and, when possible, happy to provide food that her sisters enjoyed.
For some time, she had only participated in communal religious activities with the community, spending the rest of her time with the elderly ladies. However, she was not isolated; on the contrary, she was always informed of all the latest news: who was visiting their family, who was returning from vacation, who had been transferred to another community, who was experiencing difficulties. She tried to smooth things over with her brisk and sometimes even slightly aggressive manner.
She was certainly a somewhat unusual person, who alternated between moments of fatigue and doubts of all kinds and moments of serenity that made living with her special and pleasant.
Now Sister Rachele has reached her destination! Let us pray that she may immediately enjoy the joy of contemplating the face of God, and we are certain that she too will remember us and intercede for us with the Heavenly Father.
Mother Mariarita Foli