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Rita Grima writes:

Sister Ġużeppina Casapinta was a woman in a million. She died at 97 on April 7, but her loving humanity and spiritual grit will live on in the memory of those numerous persons whom she selflessly helped during her active life as a Franciscan Missionary of Mary (FMM). I knew Sr. Ġuzeppina for a good 18 years, and can vouch that her compassion towards the poorest of the poor in society (with a soft spot for refugees), was astounding, as was her unique way of giving a helping hand or a spiritual boost to those who needed it.

I remember with particular fondness her eclectic room in what was the FMM convent at Manikata, where for a number of years she was house mother. It was a veritable menagerie cum bazaar, filled with drawings, books, souvenirs left by friends, hand craft accessories, friendly birds and turtles hobbling all over the floor. It mirrored her own colourful, lively and joyful heart, which she poured to those around her with the flexibility of a gypsy and the devotion of a mother.

Sr. Ġużeppina spent a good 42 years in the missions, mostly on the outskirts of Tripoli in Libya, where she tended to her beloved poor with gusto, anecdotes about which she could relate with the zest of a young novice, and the carefulness of an old diplomat. She retired in Malta because of her age, but her missionary spirit never faded: it was reflected in everything she said and everything she did.

The spiritual virtues that struck anyone who turned to Sr. Ġużeppina for humanitarian assistance or spiritual solace were her ever so joyful disposition, her soulful simplicity, and her deep wisdom. Hers was a spirit you would not easily forget; the sort of person you would remember even after one encounter. One conversation with her about say how to attend to a crippled bird, or how to grow in the Holy Spirit was enough to make you wish to return for a second helping of her sheer humanity seeped in true friendship and prayerful love.

There is something about the heart of a missionary that distinguishes it from any other, in so far as it has been matured by staunch spiritual commitment, and mellowed by endless humanitarian experience. The soul of the Franciscan Missionary of Mary is an active giving of oneself, without any compromise, for the benefit of the other. And Sr. Ġużeppina was a true Franciscan Missionary of Mary heart and soul. My sincere condolences go to the mother superior of the FMMs in Malta, all the FMM community, her family and her numerous friends. Thank you Sr. Ġużeppina.