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Chiara Badano (October 29, 1971 – October 7, 1990) was a young
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional It ...
teenager who is on the path to sainthood in the Catholic Church. At age nine she joined the Focolare Movement and received the nickname "Luce" (light) by the founder
Chiara Lubich Chiara Lubich (born Silvia Lubich; January 22, 1920, Trento – March 14, 2008, Rocca di Papa), was an Italian teacher and author who founded the Focolare Movement, which aims to bring unity among people and promote universal family. She was a c ...
. When she was 16, she was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma, a painful bone cancer. Chiara succumbed to the cancer on October 7, 1990, after a two-year battle with the disease. She was
beatified Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...
on September 25, 2010, at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Divine Love in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (Romulus and Remus, legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg ...
. Her feast day is celebrated on October 29.


Early life

Chiara Badano was born on October 29, 1971, to Ruggero and Maria Teresa Badano in the small village of
Sassello Sassello ( lij, Sascello; locally ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about west of Genoa and about north of Savona in the northern side of the Ligurian Apennines. It is the birthp ...
, Italy. The couple waited and prayed eleven years to have Chiara. They considered her to be their greatest blessing. While Ruggero worked as a truck driver, Maria Teresa stayed at home to raise their daughter. Chiara grew up with a strong and healthy relationship with her parents, but she did not always obey them and would occasionally have fights with them. One day, Chiara took an apple off a tree in a neighbour's orchard; her mother later recounted the event:


Focolare Movement

Chiara attended her first meeting of the Focolare Movement in September 1980; she was only 9 years old. This group, especially its founder
Chiara Lubich Chiara Lubich (born Silvia Lubich; January 22, 1920, Trento – March 14, 2008, Rocca di Papa), was an Italian teacher and author who founded the Focolare Movement, which aims to bring unity among people and promote universal family. She was a c ...
, had a profound impact on Chiara's life. The group focused on the image of the forsaken Christ as a way to make it through difficult times. Chiara later wrote that, "I discovered that Jesus forsaken is the key to unity with God, and I want to choose him as my only spouse. I want to be ready to welcome him when he comes. To prefer him above all else." While Chiara was a conscientious student, she struggled in school and even failed her first year of high school. She was often teased in school for her strong beliefs and was given the nickname "Sister." Chiara made several good friends, however, often going out late to have coffee with them. She enjoyed the normal teenage pastimes such as listening to pop music, dancing, and singing. She was also an avid tennis player and enjoyed hiking and swimming. During the summer of 1988, when she was 16 years old, Chiara had a life-changing experience in Rome with the Focolare Movement. She wrote to her parents, "This is a very important moment for me: it is an encounter with Jesus Forsaken. It hasn't been easy to embrace this suffering, but this morning Chiara Lubich explained to the children that they have to be the spouse of Jesus Forsaken." After this trip she started to correspond regularly with Lubich. She then asked for her new name as this was going to be the start of a new life for her. Lubich gave her the name Chiara Luce. This was a kind of a play on words, since in Italian "Chiara" is a common girl's name, taken for example from the name of
Clare of Assisi Clare of Assisi (born Chiara Offreduccio and sometimes spelled Clara, Clair, Claire, Sinclair; 16 July 1194 – 11 August 1253) was an Italian saint and one of the first followers of Francis of Assisi. She founded the Order of Poor Ladies, ...
, but it is also an everyday word meaning "clear." "Luce" is occasionally found as a girl's name in Italy, though it is mostly secular rather than religious; and it is also an everyday word meaning "light." So "Chiara Luce" means "clear light." Lubich wrote to Chiara,"Your luminous face shows your love for Jesus," which is why she gave her the name Luce.


Illness

In the summer of 1988, Chiara felt a sting of pain in her shoulder while playing tennis. At first she thought nothing of it, but when the pain continued to be present she underwent a series of tests. The doctors then discovered she had a rare and painful form of
bone cancer A bone tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue in bone, traditionally classified as noncancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant). Cancerous bone tumors usually originate from a cancer in another part of the body such as from lung, breast, thyro ...
, osteogenic sarcoma. In response, Chiara simply declared, "It's for you, Jesus; if you want it, I want it, too." Throughout the treatment process, Chira refused to take any morphine so she could stay aware. She felt it was important to know her illness and pain so she could offer up her sufferings. She said, "It reduces my lucidity and there's only one thing I can do now: to offer my suffering to Jesus because I want to share as much as possible in his sufferings on the cross." During her stays in the hospital, she would take the time to go on walks with another patient who was struggling with depression. These walks were beneficial to the other patient but caused Chiara great pain. Her parents often encouraged her to stay and rest but she would simply reply, "I'll be able to sleep later on." One of her doctors, Antonio Delogu, said, "Through her smile, and through her eyes full of light, she showed us that death doesn't exist; only life exists." A friend from the Focolare Movement said, "At first we thought we'd visit her to keep her spirits up, but very soon we understood that, in fact, we were the ones who needed her. Her life was like a magnet drawing us to her." Chiara kept her spirits up, even when the harsh chemotherapy caused her hair to fall out. When a lock of her hair would fall, Chiara would simply offer it to God, saying, "For you, Jesus." She also donated all her savings to a friend who was performing mission work in Africa. She wrote to him, "I don't need this money any more. I have everything." To help prepare her parents for life after she died, Chiara made them dinner reservations for Valentine's Day after they refused to leave her bedside and ordered them to not return until after midnight. At Christmas she wrote, "Holy Christmas 1990. Thank you for everything. Happy New Year," on a Christmas card and hid it among some blank ones for her mother to find later. While undergoing a painful medical procedure, Chiara was visited by a lady. As she described the experience: "When the doctors began to carry out this small, but quite demanding, procedure, a lady with a very beautiful and luminous smile came in. She came up to me and took me by the hand, and her touch filled me with courage. In the same way that she arrived, she disappeared, and I could no longer see her. But my heart was filled with an immense joy and all fear left me. In that moment I understood that if we're always ready for everything, God sends us many signs of his love." Chiara's faith and spirit never dwindled even after the cancer left her unable to walk and a CAT scan showed that any hope of remission was gone. In response, she simply said, "If I had to choose between walking again and going to heaven, I wouldn't hesitate. I would choose heaven." On July 19, 1989, Chiara almost died of a hemorrhage. Her faith did not falter as she said, "Don't shed any tears for me. I'm going to Jesus. At my funeral, I don't want people crying, but singing with all their hearts." Cardinal Saldarini, Archbishop of
Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
, Italy, heard about Chiara's illness and visited her at the hospital. He asked her, "The light in your eyes is splendid. Where does it come from?" Chiara simply replied, "I try to love Jesus as much as I can." When Chiara realized she was not going to get better, she started to plan for her "wedding" (her funeral) with her mother. She chose the music, songs, flowers, and the readings for mass. She wanted to be buried in her "wedding dress," a white dress with a pink waist, because her death would allow her to become the bride of Christ. She told her mother, "When you're getting me ready, Mum, you have to keep saying to yourself, 'Chiara Luce is now seeing Jesus. Before she died, she told her mother, "Oh, Mama, young people…young people…they are the future. You see, I can't run anymore, but how I would like to pass on to them the torch, like in the Olympics! Young people have only one life and it's worthwhile to spend it well."


Death

During her final hours, Chiara made her final confession and received the Eucharist. She had her family and friends pray with her, "Come, Holy Spirit." She died at 4 am on October 7, 1990, with her parents at her bedside. Her final words were, "Bye, Mum, be happy, because I am." Two thousand people attended her funeral; the mayor of Sassello shut down the town so people would be able to attend.


Beatification

Chiara's cause for sainthood was promoted by Livio Maritano, the former Bishop of
Acqui Terme Acqui Terme (; pms, Àich ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Alessandria, Piedmont, northern Italy. It is about south-southwest of Alessandria. It is one of the principal winemaking communes of the Italian DOCG wine Brachetto d' ...
, Italy, beginning in 1999. It was through this process that she was declared a "
Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cath ...
" on July 3, 2008. In December 2009,
Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...
acknowledged the miracle of a young Italian boy whose parents interceded to Chiara to heal him from meningitis that was destroying his organs. His doctors could not medically explain his sudden healing. Chiara Badano was declared a "Blessed" in the Catholic Church on September 25, 2010, at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Divine Love in Rome. Thousands of people came for the event. Archbishop Angelo Amato, head of the Vatican
Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pas ...
, said that Chiara was a great example of how the short life of the young could be lived out in great holiness and "today there are virtuous people, who in family, at school, in society, do not fritter away their lives." Her feast day is celebrated on October 29.


See also

*
Pier Giorgio Frassati Pier Giorgio Frassati (6 April 1901 – 4 July 1925) was an Italian Catholic activist and a member from the Third Order of Saint Dominic. He was dedicated to social justice issues and joined several charitable organizations, including Catholic A ...
*
Ivan Merz Ivan Merz (16 December 1896 – 10 May 1928) was a Croatian lay academic, beatified by Pope John Paul II on a visit at Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 22, 2003. Ivan Merz promoted the liturgical movement in Croatia and together ...
* Alberto Marvelli * Bartolome Blanco Marquez * Carlo Acutis


References


External links


Official Site

Postulation of Chiara Luce web site


{{DEFAULTSORT:Badano, Chiara 1971 births 1990 deaths Italian beatified people Roman Catholic child blesseds Deaths from bone cancer Italian children People from the Province of Benevento Roman Catholic activists Deaths from cancer in Liguria Beatifications by Pope Benedict XVI Venerated Catholics by Pope Benedict XVI