She Prayed For Others; Avid Churchgoer Dies At 96

A funeral Mass will be said today for Josephine M. Pistorino, an avid churchgoer who attended hundreds of weddings and funerals for friends and strangers.

Pistornio died Nov. 29, apparently of a heart attack, in the foyer of her home in South Boston after attending Mass at Gate of Heaven Church.

She was 96.

In December of 1994, Pistorino was on her way to a bingo game in South Boston, when she looked out a bus window and saw a hearse pull up in front of St. Brigid’s Church. Six minutes later, she was in a back pew offering prayers for the deceased’s soul. After the service she offered her condolences to the bereaved family, before resuming her own outing.

“No, I didn’t know the person,” she said in a story published in the Globe on Dec. 18, 1994. “I always go to funerals, - anyone’s. I go to weddings too. The priest announces the funerals at my church, and I look in the bulletin for weddings. Even if I’m walking by and see one, I go.”

Funeral directors, the clergy and elders say strangers attended such events more frequently years ago, when community ties were stronger and a service was often an opportunity for neighbors to socialize.

“I go to offer prayers,” said Pistorino. “I feel happy helping these people with my prayers. They might need them. And I love going to see the brides - I compare their dresses. They remind me of my sisters. I pray for their happy times.”

Pistorino said regular attendance at funerals was a way to help her come to grips with old age and also an opportunity to give in a way that she’d like to receive. “You hope they will come to your funeral,” she said. “They might come to mine.”