BOCCONE DEL POVERO. — By this name is designated, besides the entire work, in particular the female religious congregation founded in Palermo in 1880 by the priest Giacomo Cusmano, formerly a medical surgeon, for the assistance of the poor and the sick at home. The activity of these sisters, called Serve dei poveri, takes place in homes for the elderly, orphanages, hospitals, schools, workshops and similar institutions. Approved in 1918, they currently have 60 houses in Italy and one in Mexico with over 600 religious.
BIBL.: S. Gaeta, Biografia della madre Vincenzina Cusmano, Palermo 1929; F. Capillo, Il Servo dei Poveri, 1938.