Carmela Carabelli, born Carmelina Negri (

Melegnano Melegnano (formerly Marignano; ) is a ''comune'' and town in the Metropolitan City of Milan, Lombardy, northern Italy. The town lies southeast of the city of Milan. It received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree on 26 August 1 ...

, May 9, 1910 –

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, November 25, 1978), better known as Mamma Carmela (in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

: ''Mother Carmela''), was a spiritual daughter of

Pio of Pietrelcina Pio of Pietrelcina (born Francesco Forgione; 25 May 1887 – 23 September 1968), widely known as , , was an Italian Capuchin friar, priest, stigmatist, and mystic. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, celebrated on 23 Septembe ...

and a famous

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

mystic.

Biography

Early life

Carmelina Negri was born in the May 9, 1910, the daughter of Gaetano Negri and Teresa Galbiati. She was integrated in the

Catholic Action Catholic Action is a movement of Catholic laity, lay people within the Catholic Church which advocates for increased Catholic influence on society. Catholic Action groups were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic cou ...

movement, in which, through its enormous enthusiasm and eventually influenced by some members of her family, who accompanied her on the growth of living the faith in the spirit of prayer, the love for

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

in the

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, the devotion to the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and service to the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. In 1926, she completed her studies and began work in a bank. She met Giuseppe Carabelli, a virtuous and modest young man whom she married on January 23, 1935. They had both always wanted a large family who could convey the "Good News" of a higher love, like that of

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

. Within her large family she came to be called by the diminutive and tender name of "Mamma" Carmela.

In mid-September 1950, Carmela Carabelli made a trip to the convent of

San Giovanni Rotondo San Giovanni Rotondo is the name of a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia and region of Apulia, in southern Italy. San Giovanni Rotondo was the home of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina from 28 July 1916 until his death on 23 September 1968. T ...

where she met the supposedly stigmatized Capuchin

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...

and

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

Padre Pio of Pietrelcina. She defined this trip as being "memorable" and it further increased her love for prayer and desire to do good. Carabelli became soon after one of Padre Pio's spiritual daughters.

Spiritual writings

Carabelli in her spiritual writings revealed her interior locutions with Jesus in which he allegedly supplied some mysteries about his life, about God the Father as the father of all mankind; about the Virgin Mary, who in turn spoke on the person of

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

, among other divine mysteries. Through this privileged personality, Carabelli began to travel the world. Her writings were already translated into major languages and distributed in several countries.

Death and burial

In October 1978, Carabelli suffered serious health problems but recovered in hospital in

. However, the following month, after receiving the sacrament of

Holy Viaticum Viaticum is a term used – especially in the Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41&nbs ...

, on November 25, 1978, she died. She is buried in the

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(Section 72 B, ref. 1855).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carabelli, Carmela 1910 births 1978 deaths 20th-century Christian mystics Italian Christian mystics Italian women writers Italian Roman Catholics Visions of Jesus and Mary Roman Catholic mystics Burials at the Cimitero Monumentale di Milano

Biography

Early life

Spiritual writings

Death and burial

Further reading

See also

References