Lelia Cossidente was born in Potenza on the 4^th of May, 1893.

She followed the family who moved to Rome in 1904. In 1913 she obtained her normal license, taught in an elementary school in the San Lorenzo district, worked as a cashier in a bank and finally, for ten years, was employed in the library of the State Magisterium of Rome. She was a member of the Sacred Heart Parish which she attended assiduously, as well as the "Caterina Volpicelli" Institute, where she spent her free time in the embroidery and sewing workshop.

On 29^th of September 1930, she married Ulisse Amendolagine in the Parish of Saint Teresa. She then became part of the confraternity of the Holy Scapular (Our Lady of Mt Carmel).

Open with a love for life, they become parents of five children, for whom all their attention went into education and formation, especially religious. For this reason they would choose Catholic schools and collaborate, through a continuous dialogue with teachers, in the moral, spiritual and human growth of their children. Teachers and professors, male and female religious, were also be a valid help for their Christian maturity, as well as for the management of the family. They followed their children at school (Brothers of the Christian Schools, Marist Brothers, Sisters of St. Frances Cabrini and St. Angela Merici) and in their free time (at the Discalced Carmelite Fathers of the Parish of St. Teresa), taking part in their activities in continuous dialogue with educators, for whom they always showed great trust and respect.

The war put a strain on the whole family: bombings, the escape from Rome as displaced persons to a village in Abruzzo (Cappadocia), retirement from office during the German occupation, seeking refuge and hiding in the Roman Major Seminary, the fear of German roundups and retaliation, but above all the lack of the necessities to survive, did not discourage the two spouses who doubled their trust in Divine Providence. Prayer became effective and sometimes a miraculous support in the greatest of difficulties.

In addition to the Eucharist, for which a very special attention was nourished, family life took place under the loving gaze of Mary, who was daily invoked, so that she would «cover with her mantle» the parents and children. There was no shortage of other devotions that, going beyond simple prayer, were presented as examples to imitate (St. Joseph, St. Therese of the Child Jesus, St. John Bosco, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Jude Thaddeus ...). Illnesses, the daily bread of every family, were accepted not with resignation, but with serenity, always certain of the benevolent hand of God who guides every event for our good.

Lelia, accompanied by the heart felt pain for the whole family, climbed Calvary quickly. Almost two years of atrocious suffering, from a tumour of the mesentery, she died on July 3^rd, 1951. In the last days we heard her constantly murmuring the last part of the Hail Mary: «Now and at the hour of our death.»

The Diocesan Inquiry into her «Life, Virtue and Reputation for Holiness» was opened on 18^th of June 2004 and closed on 24^th of May 2011 in the Diocese of Rome.