I was born in Italy into a family with little means. My parents had many children; and because she needed me to help her, my mother didn't send me to school. And thus I didn't learn to read or write.
In a time of trial the one who came to present Christian Science to me brought me a copy of The Herald of Christian Science and the textbook, Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy. The textbook was presented to me as the best of friends, and I was told that by reading it I could be delivered from my troubles. I thought, "How can I understand this book?" That day I was truly discouraged because I could not read such a book.
However, thanks to the explanations that were given me both by my friend and by a practitioner I went to see, I understood somewhat that man is the image of God. I began to understand that from Him comes all intelligence. Then I asked God simply to give me the intelligence to be able to understand how to read and thus to know what this precious book contained.
