Angelca Škufca

Angelca Škufca (20 December 1932 – 9 November 2020) was a Slovenian farmer and folk writer. Though uneducated, she wrote short stories, in which she wrote about 20th-century Slovenia.

Quotes

• Imam kar precej znancev, ki mi povedo, da ob prejemu Ognjišča najprej pogledajo, če je v njem kaj mojega, kar z veseljem preberejo. Nekateri me tudi okregajo, da so moje zgodbe prekratke.
  • I have quite a few acquaintances who tell me that when they receive Ognjišče, they first look to see whether there is anything of mine in it, which they read with pleasure. Some also scold me that my stories are too short.
  • From Ognjišče: "Angelca Škufca" (Obituary/tribute), 9 November 2020.

• Vsaka zgodba ima resnično jedro, marsikaj pa spremenim. V vsako zgodbo pa položim nauk, čeprav nevsiljivo, a kdor želi, ga lahko najde.
  • Every story has a true core; I change many things. In each story I also place a lesson, unobtrusively, but whoever wants to can find it.
  • From Ognjišče: "Angelca Škufca" (Obituary/tribute), 9 November 2020.

• Začetek pri osemindvajsetih letih je bil res težak. … Tedaj, ko nisem poznala mladega človeka bolnega, se nisem mogla sprijazniti z boleznijo. … Pater Simon Ašič (ki je bil njen spovednik in prijatelj) je bil prvi, ki mi je pomagal, da sem prišla v stik z bolniki. Bila sem na srečanju na Brezjah, ki ga že vrsto let prireja Ognjišče. Ko sem videla invalide na vozičkih, ko so mi na obisk pripeljali invalida, sem pomislila, kaj bi ta dal, da bi še hodil. Tako sem kmalu znala sprejemati, biti hvaležna Bogu za to, kar še imam moči in zdravja.
  • The beginning, at twenty-eight, was really hard… At that time, when I didn’t know any young person who was sick, I couldn’t come to terms with my illness. … Father Simon Ašič (her confessor and friend) was the first who helped me connect with the sick. I was at a meeting at Brezje, organized for many years by Ognjišče. When I saw disabled people in wheelchairs, when they brought a disabled person to visit me, I thought what he would give to still be able to walk. So I soon learned to accept, to be grateful to God for the strength and health I still had.
  • Quoted in Marjeta Žebovec, "Utihnil je pisalni stroj Angelce Škufca," Časnik (5 December 2020), citing an interview in Oznanjenje.
  • She said that when asked about chronic muscular ilness for which she suffered.

From fiction

• »Ljubi Jezus, ti veš, komu je ta moja bolečina potrebna,« je prosila v svojem srcu. »Nakloni njene sadove tistemu, za katerega veš, da mu je potrebna. Praznik Vseh svetnikov se bliža, morda bo kdo omahoval, da bi pred praznikom stopil v spovednico. Po tej moji bolečini mu daj moči in poguma za spravo s teboj.«
  • »Dear Jesus, you know who needs this pain of mine,« she prayed in her heart. »Bestow its fruits on the one whom you know needs it. The Feast of All Saints is approaching; perhaps someone will waver about going to the confessional before the feast. Through this pain of mine, give him strength and courage to be reconciled with You.«
  • From short story Katarinino darovanje (Katarina's offering) in Ognjišče 11 (2011), pp. 22–23.