Sr. Blandina Segale – The Fastest Nun in the West

Rebroadcast of the long-running radio program, "The Ave Maria Hour,” a presentation of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement. www.AtonementFriars.org

Blandina Segale, S.C., more commonly known as Sister Blandina, was an Italian-born American religious sister and missionary who became widely known through her service on the American frontier in the late 19th century.

Born in Italy in 1850, Sr. Blandina came to America at the age of 4 and grew up to become a Sister of Charity of Cincinatti. Her ministry led her to the frontier West, where she challenged Billy the Kid, calmed angry mobs and worked as a teacher and social worker. She taught poor and immigrant children in Ohio, Colorado and New Mexico. Her encounters with Old West outlaws were so legendary that the CBS series "Death Valley Days" aired an episode based on her life called "The Fastest Nun in the West." Sr. Blandina founded St. Joseph's Hospital in Albuquerque before returning to Cincinnati in 1897 to start Santa Maria Institute, which served immigrants.

Sr. Blandina died in 1941. In 2014, Archbishop Michael Sheehan of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe received permission from the Vatican to open a “Cause for Sainthood” for Sr. Blandina Segale. The Cause is currently ongoing.