The history of the Piccola Casa del Rifugio began way back in 1871, when Carlo Lurani Cernuschi and his wife Elisa del Carretto, moved by a deep sense of solidarity, decided to establish an institution to take in those whom no one else was willing to help: the poor sick, the chronically ill and those excluded from other charities.
In a gesture of extraordinary generosity, the founders wanted to create a charitable hospice open to those who, rendered unable to work, could not provide for their own subsistence.
To realize this ambitious project, the Lurani chose in 1874 to entrust themselves to the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of St. Jeanne Antide Thouret, who have been offering physical and spiritual care to the guests of the Shelter ever since. Even today, the same congregation of Sisters of Charity continues its mission with dedication and love.
Official recognition came on October 13, 1885, when Umberto I, by royal decree, declared the Little House of Refuge a Moral Entity, including it among the Institutes of Public Assistance and Charity, while preserving its private character.
In 1960, the institute moved to its current location on Via Giacomo Antonini, in a modern building surrounded by greenery and designed to provide a comfortable and welcoming environment for its guests.
Today, the Lurani Cernuschi family continues to lead the Piccola Casa del Rifugio with the same passion and dedication as its founders, working closely with public institutions and the local community, and remaining faithful to the Christian principles that inspired its birth.
Speech on the day of the 150th anniversary ceremony
Our community today, both secular and religious, is celebrating no less than 150 years of close cooperation for the common good, for work to serve the most fragile people, whether elderly or disabled.
150 years is truly a long time. They transcend people’s lives and include several succeeding generations, accompanied by simple but enduring principles and values, such as mutual respect, education, solidarity, and affection.
The religious community, though reduced in time, has helped the laity to be closer to people and matters of the soul, to the endurance of suffering, in physical and mental illness and decay. It has helped to help, given support to guests and relatives, to all those in charge; it has pointed out, taught and professed Christian principles of living together.
The secular community wanted, not only by statutory constraints, that the religious could integrate into secularity as fellow workers sharing the same principles of living together.
All this, we must say, has produced an excellent result of which we can all be proud: a welcoming factory, to put it in modern terms, effective, efficient and lasting.
Thank you to our Sisters and to all the guests, operators, family volunteers and priests who enable this valuable collaboration every day.
Chiara of the Executive Board, November 2024
Photo by: https://www.piccolacasadelrifugio.it/
