Four days before today’s date in 1841, Blessed Christina Ciccarelli was beatified. Today, we celebrate her feast day, when, in 1543, she died on earth, and was born into eternal life in heaven.

Bl. Christina was born in 1481 the sixth child of the Ciccarelli family, in Italy. Her name at birth was Mattia, but she took on the name Christina when she entered the convent. She grew up and followed Christ’s call for her to become a religious, and entered the Convent of St. Augustine, where she was a cloistered nun. She was given visions and the power of prophesy, and on one occasion, the Feast of Corpus Christi, she was seen to levitate, the image of a pyx containing the Blessed Sacrament over her heart. She also was allowed, on Good Friday and into the next day, to experience some of the pains of Christ’s Passion. She was well known for her holiness, so when she died, many people mourned her passing. Though she was beatified over 100 years ago, she has not been canonized, so her title remains Blessed, not Saint Christina Ciccarelli.

God help us to attain the holiness that Bl. Christina did, that we, like she, may someday be born into eternal life. Blessed Christina Ciccarelli, pray for us!

So that the Catholic reader may not be confused, the Saint’s feasts are taken from the traditional calendar, so if you follow the new calendar, this feast may not line up with the feast you may be celebrating today.

Sources:

  • Illustrated Lives of the Saints
  • Catholic.net