Bl. Chiara "Luce" Badano

For this first week of Saint posts so far, we have featured only male Saints (except for the two re-posts). Lest anyone think that there is a gender-bias in heaven, today I will feature a female - Blessed Chiara "Luce" Badano.

Chiara's life story reminds me of St. Paul's exhortation to the Romans to " . . . offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, hoy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship." Rm 12:1b. Chiara's parents had struggled with infertility for 11 years before she was born in 1971. They considered her their greatest blessing. She lived her whole life in Sassello, Italy.

Chiara attended her first meeting of the Focolare Movement (a Catholic ecclesial Movement of spiritual social renewal) when she was 9 years old. The group focused on the image of the forsaken Christ to make it through difficult times. At the age of 16, she had a life-changing experience with the movement. She asked the movements founder for a new name as this was going to be the beginning of a new life for her. She was given the name Chiara Luce - in Italian, "Clear Light."

That same summer, while playing tennis, Chiara felt a pain in her shoulder. She was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer. Throughout the treatment process, she refused any morphine so that she could stay aware and offer up her sufferings to Jesus. During her stays in the hospital, she would take walks with another patient who was suffering from depression even though walking caused her great pain. Friends who visited her to cheer her up found that they were the ones who needed her. When she realized that she would not get better, she started planning her "wedding" (her funeral) with her mother - picking out the songs, flowers and readings for the Mass. She asked to be buried in a white dress because her death would allow her to become the Bride of Christ.

Chiara died in October 1990 short of her 19th birthday. Two thousand people attended her funeral - the mayor of Sassello shut down the town so people would be able to attend. She was beatified ten years later. The head of the Vatican Congregation of the Causes of Saints, said that Chiara was a great example of how the short life of the young could be lived out in great holiness. Chiara Badano's feast day is celebrated on October 29.