Sílvia Cardoso Ferreira da Silva (26 July 1882 – 2 November 1950) was a Portuguese Roman Catholic. During her lifetime she led a tireless apostolate dedicated to serving the poor in Brazil (where she travelled to and once lived) and in her native land where she founded retreat centers and soup kitchens. In addition to these initiatives with her own resources she funded a boarding school for girls but divested most of her time and effort in a hospital that she sought to improve on following its inauguration.
The initial steps for her beatification process started in the 1970s but the formal introduction for the cause came in 1984 – she became titled as a Servant of God. The cause reached a decisive point in 2013 after Pope Francis acknowledged her heroic virtue and named her as Venerable.
Life
Sílvia Cardoso Ferreira da Silva was born in 1882 in Paços de Ferreira in Porto as the first of four children to the devout Umbelino Manuel Ferreira da Silva (1851–1918) and Joaquina da Conceição Emilia Cardoso (1847-19.7.1936). Her baptism was celebrated that 4 August in the Santa Eulalia parish church. In 1883 she moved alongside her parents to Brazil but would return to her native Portugal in 1889.
Cardoso made her First Communion on 23 April 1892 in her hometown and then in 1896 enrolled in a school at Vila Nova de Gaia alongside her sister Maria Haydée. But she attended private lessons under a tutor before she enrolled in that school where she studied art and was given Piano lessons; following her time at Vila Nova de Gaia she studied at a college in another area. Cardoso received her Confirmation on 23 October 1903 from the Bishop of Porto António José de Sousa Barroso and later on 20 January 1911 made a private vow of service to God with the intent of evangelizing and ministering to others. The unexpected death of her fiancée Dr. Acácio Umbelino Pereira da Silva (whom she became engaged to in 1912) on 24 November 1913 in Brazil (close to their wedding date) enabled Cardoso to go to London to take care of their affairs before returning to Brazil in 1914 following the death of her older brother Ângelo who died in Lisbon. Her fiancée had been an unbeliever but was later converted to the faith and upon his death left all he had to Cardoso. In 1916 she received a prize for having won a competition for floriculture in Porto. In 1917 – while she attended a retreat for the Spiritual Exercises – she made a private vow to remain chaste; Cardoso never married following the death of her fiancée.
In 1918 her cousin, the artist Amadeo de Souza Cardoso, died as did her father not long after. In mid-October 1918 she contracted a flu that evolved into pneumonia as a result of the epidemic spreading across Europe though she managed to recover unlike others who succumbed to the outbreak. In 1918 she helped in the foundation of a new hospital in her hometown using her own funds; it was inaugurated on 14 March 1919 after which she served from 1920 until 1925 as the hospital's vice-president for the administrative commission. In 1921 she again entered an floriculture competition and received a gold medal for her contribution in the exhibition. In 1921 she set up a boarding school for girls. On 21 January 1923 she began organizing retreats for people and in 1925 travelled to Rome for the jubilee that Pope Pius XI convoked; she hired a carriage for her friends, including the poet Dr. Queiroz Ribeiro. In 1928 she helped establish a pavilion in the hospital for patients suffering from infectious-contagious diseases. In 1940 she donated land to establish a home for the elderly. Cardoso also established homes for abandoned children whom she dedicated herself to helping and on one occasion learned that a child was considering the priesthood so encouraged him to pursue his vocation and paid for his education. Cardoso also established soup kitchens for the poor. Throughout her work she carried a bag with her most times that contained rosaries and devotional medals that she would hand out to others; she also carried items of clothing with her for the poorer people whom she came across.
In 1925 she enrolled in the League of Servants of Jesus that Bishop João de Oliveira Matos Ferreira founded. In 1926 she undertook a pilgrimage to France to visit the cities of Lourdes (a Marian shrine) and Lisieux. In 1939 the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon Manuel Gonçalves Cerejeira encouraged her to collaborate with the members of the Catholic Action movement.
