One of God's little saints...

Yesterday I mentioned the basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (Holy Cross in Jerusalem) as the church close to Saint John Lateran where the pieces of the True Cross and other instruments of the Passion of Christ are kept. If you come to Rome make sure to pay a visit to this church and while there visit the shrine and tomb of Antonietta Meo (Nennolina). She is not yet a saint, but it looks like one day (soon) she will be declared one. Her story of courage in the face of intense suffering at a very young age is an inspiration about the dignity of life, and a tonic to the poison of the "culture of death."

Nennolina at age six in her first communion gown.

Nennolina may very well be the youngest saint the church has ever recognized. At the age of six she fell while playing at school. She broke her leg. There is nothing unusual about this. It took a long time to heal, and it was discovered that this delay in healing was because she had bone cancer. She spent the next year of her life, her last year suffering greatly from this pain. Yet she was always noted for her joy and how she often talked about Jesus and His Mother as if they were her friends and playmates.

She started writing letters to them and leaving them at the foot of the crucifix in her room. It is from these letters that we know this little girl was a mystic of the highest degree, having visions of the saints and carrying on conversation with the Lord. Through the intution of faith she knew that she could join her suffering to the suffering of the Lord on the cross as a sacrifice. She did this often.

After her death, Nennolina appeared to her mother in a glorified body. Her cause for sainthood is currently being pursued, and she has already been declared to have exercised heroic virtues, and it looks like one miracle has already been attributed to her.

This little girl was filled with Wisdom much beyond what her age would allow. This is not Wisdom that she knew, but rather it was given to her by God. It could not have come from anywhere else. This teaches us that God gives each person the tools and gifts that they need to be holy, happy, and healthy in this world and in the next. Through her couragous suffering she teaches us that suffering has a value that is much needed in this world, and that to suffer well can paradoxically be a source of deep and lasting joy.

Please pray to Venerable Servant of God, Antonietta Meo, for the graces that my cousine Stephanie needs as she raises her son, Owen, suffers with similar health issues.