Subj : =?UTF-8?Q?18_January_=E2=80=93_Blessed_Cristina_Ciccarelli_OSA?= To : All From : rich Date : Sun Jan 17 2021 09:03:58 From: rich 18 January =E2=80=93 Blessed Cristina Ciccarelli OSA (1481=E2=80=931543) Religious of the Order of Saint Augustine, Mystic, Stigmatist, Apostle of the poor, Reformer, she had a had a particular devotion to the Eucharist and to the Passion and Death of Christ, she was granted the gift of Prophecy, visions and levitation =E2=80=93 also known as Cristina o= f Aquila =E2=80=93 born on 24 February 1481 at Luco, Abruzzi, Italy as Matthi= a Ciccarelli and died on 18 January 1543 at Aquileia, Italy of natural causes. Mattia Ciccarelli was born in 1481 in Luco dei Marsi as the last of six children to Domenico de Pericolo and Maria de Pericolo. An image of the Pieta was kept in the Luco home from which she developed a strong and lifelong devotion to the Passion of Christ. Her parents taught her the importance of constant prayer. Her call to the religious life solidified during her childhood and she decided to enter the religious life as a nun. In 1492 she was placed under the spiritual direction of the Franciscan priest Vincenzo dell'Aquila and took his advice on joining the Orde= r of Saint Augustine. Mattia entered the convent of Santa Lucia in Aquileia in June 1505 and assumed the habit and the religious name of =E2=80=9CCristina.=E2=80=9D=C2= She served as the abbess several times and was noted for being a prophetic figure. She became revered for her humble outlook as well as for her tender care of the poor. On one occasion =E2=80=93 on the Feast of Corpus Christi = =E2=80=93 she was seen to have levitated and the image of the Eucharist as a host appeared and radiated from her upper chest. On one Good Friday, she received the stigmata and the pains that Jesus felt until Holy Saturday when the pain subsided. This would be repeated every Friday of her life. Blessed Cristina had a great devotion to Saint Mark. However, on one occasion Saint Martin of Tours appeared to her and asked why she had a devotion to the latter saint rather than to him =E2=80=93 this prompted her= to foster a devotion to him too. Once a man accustomed to cursing, blasphemed Saint Anthony of Padua and she told him to be careful for if he continued to blaspheme she saw a black devil behind him set to choke him for such offences. The man =E2=80=93 riding a donkey =E2=80=93 did it again and was thrown to the = ground where he fractured his skull and broke his neck which led to his death. Blessed Cristina died in 1543 after a lengthy illness and was interred in the convent of Santa Lucia to the right side of the main altar. The first biographical account of her life was written in 1595 by the nobleman Giampietro Interverj from l'Aquila and the Belgian Augustinian scholar, Cornelius Curtius, wrote another hagiography, in the Latin language, in Cologne. Blessed Cristina was Beatified on 15 January 1841, at=C2 Saint Peter's Basilica, Papal States by Pope= Gregory XVI. Saint Quote: =E2=80=9CGod does not command us to live in hair shirts and chains, or to chastise our flesh with scourges, but to love Him above all things and our neighbor as ourselves.=E2=80=9D --Saint Charles of Sezze Bible Quote: And others had trials of mockeries and stripes: moreover also of bands and prisons. They were stoned, they were cut asunder, they were tempted, they were put to death by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being in want, distressed, afflicted:=C2 Of whom the world was not worthy: wandering in deserts, in mountains and in dens and in caves of the earth. =C2 [Heb 11:36-38] DRB <><><><> Jesus, Name Full of Glory By St Bernardine of Siena (1380-1444) Jesus, Name full of glory, grace, love and strength! You are the refuge of those who repent, our banner of warfare in this life, the medicine of souls, the comfort of those who morn, the delight of those who believe, the light of those who preach the true faith, the wages of those who toil, the healing of the sick. To You our devotion aspires, by You our prayers are received; we delight in contemplating You. O Name of Jesus, You are the glory of all the saints for eternity. Amen --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .