BOCCONE DEL POVERO. – This name designates not only the entire work but also, in particular, the women’s religious Congregation founded in Palermo in 1880 by the priest Giacomo Cusmano, formerly a surgeon, for the care of the poor and the sick in their homes. The activity of these sisters, known as the Servants of the Poor, 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 more than 600 religious.
BIBL.: S. Gacta, Biografia della madre Vincenzina Cusmano, Palermo 1929; F. Capillo, Il Servo dei Poveri, there 1938.