Sister Maria Giuseppina Biviglia first entered the Monastery of San Quirico in Assisi on May 13, 1922 to teach to the community how to use an electric loom, but in 1927 she made her final profession giving herself to God for all of her life. Maria Giuseppina guided the community as Abbess from 1942 – 1948.
During the years from 1943 -1944 the community saved numerous persecuted Hebrew families and political refugees from the Nazi persecution. The most dramatic day in this event was February 27, 1944 when the officials of the Gestapo presented themselves at San Quirico in order to do a search of the monastery.
Sr. Giuseppina recounts the situation within the cloister where refugees were staying: "Time by time these poor people were moving, some going into other lodging and some others coming to replace those moving. These were precautionary measures to lose their traces in the case of police search. But on February 27, 1944 everyone suddenly left the guest house- frightened by the following event. The day before, two of our young boys had escaped from their refuge to meet up with friends and go on a bicycle race to Perugia; but on the return trip, all the small group was suspected by certain agents of the R.S. because of the foreign accent of the young Croatian and so the entire group was arrested. During interrogation, the young Croatian, in the words of Mother Biviglia, “did not know how to act cleverly in declaring his place of living, our monastery, and so the next morning the agents appeared to do an Investigation on site, having surrounded the Monastery with their armed forces. The officials of the R.S. entered the guest rooms for the inspection after which they wanted to see me at the grill. After a painful colloquia during which the entire community were gathered together in the choir to pray, it was convenient for me to show the big dormitory that was the private place of refuge of the refugees.”
At that time 2 young Jewish brothers and Colonel Gay were sleeping in the dormitory. We had just time to let the two brothers enter the Cloister where there was a trap door that lead to an underground grotto. Meanwhile the Colonel tried to exit but was stopped in the small orchard and was conducted by the officials to the dormitory so that he could give personal information on himself and on his companions and on his motives for his presence in that place."
Besides the bed of Colonel Gay who appeared to be the sole refugee on that day, the officials found another warm bed that of one of the two brothers had abandoned it in a hurry with only time to reset the bed. Only the temperament and cold blood of Sister Giuseppina could save the two young Hebrew brothers. She recalls, "the exasperated officials threatened to bring me to prison: I responded with unusual frankness; here, I am ready; show me the permission because I am a cloistered nun and I cannot abandon the cloister without authorization!”
Thanks to the courage of Mother Giuseppina all the Hebrew refugees were able to be saved.
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