Artemides Zatti, a second cousin of the present Salesian Rector Major, Father Juan Vecchi, was born in Italy in 1880. Driven by poverty, the Zatti family in 1897 migrated to Argentina, where Artemides first met the Salesians and began a life of service to the sick and the poor in the local Salesian parish. In 1902 he asked to become a Salesian, but tuberculosis forced him into St. Joseph’s Hospital in Viedma under the care of Salesian Father Evasio Garrone, physician and director of the hospital.
When the disease appeared irreversible, Father Garrone suggested that Artemides make a vow to Mary Help of Christians to devote his life to the care of the sick if he should recover. Recover he did. He joined the Salesian Society as a brother in 1908, and for over 40 years he was father and brother to the sick and the poor. His dedication, motivated by Christ’s own love and compassion, knew no bounds. At Father Garrone’s death in 1911, Brother Zatti succeeded him, and in 1913 he presided over the building of the new St. Joseph’s Hospital, acting as its director until his death from cancer.
In 1997 Brother Zatti’s practice of heroic virtue won for him the title “Venerable,” and in 2000 the miracle attributed to his intercession was approved. Although the process of his beatification has been completed, a date for the solemn beatification ceremony is yet to be announced.
Sister Maria Romero Meneses (1902-1977)
Maria Romero was born into a wealthy family in Granada, Nicaragua, where her father held high government posts and was known for his great acts of personal charity and generosity. Later, however, he fell victim to fraudulent schemes, and the family’s fortunes dwindled nearly to impoverishment. In the meantime, though, Maria received the best liberal education and musical training in the piano and the violin.
Impressed by the dedication which the Salesian priests and sisters in Granada displayed in their work for the poor, Maria joined the Salesian Sisters. After her perpetual profession she was assigned to teach in a school for upper-class girls in San Jose, Costa Rica. Her teaching and school activities were successful enough, but they did not satisfy her zeal. With the help of a group of schoolgirls whom she called her “little missionaries,” she began to gather poor children from wherever she found them. She washed them, fed them, entertained them, and taught them.
Sister Maria’s subsequent social work included projects that drew the admiration even of the Costa Rican government, which granted her honorary citizenship. With the help of well-to-do people she created a village to house poor, homeless families. In the same way, she built a church in honor of Mary Help of Christians in downtown San Jose for the spiritual care of a teeming barrio. Perhaps her most important achievement was Casa de la Virgen (Home of the Blessed Virgin), where she was buried after her death from coronary thrombosis.
Sister Maria was a fearless and compassionate woman of action. She was also a mystic and a woman of prayer, a contemplative in action. Volumes of her collected spiritual writings have already appeared. The process of her beatification was begun in 1988, a mere 11 years after her death, and concluded in 1992.
