-   Mother Maddalena wrote to one of her sisters on March 30, 1885.  She and her siblings were all getting older, and several had died:
When I go to bed in the evening, I take the little crucifix into mv hands and say: ‘Behold me, I am ready if you want me; I am at your mercy.’ Constance does the same. And this is not since we knew about Cornelio—some time before that they had heard of this brother’s death—but for a long time. It is better to be prepared. Who knows what may happen at this age?  God be ever blessed.