Maria Consolata Betrone (6 April 1903 – 18 July 1946),

baptised Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

as Pierina Maria Betrone, commonly known as Consolata Betrone, was an Italian Catholic mystic and nun of the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

Capuchin order. Consolata Betrone was known for the intense propagation of the

rosary The Rosary (; , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), formally known as the Psalter of Jesus and Mary (Latin: Psalterium Jesu et Mariae), also known as the Dominican Rosary (as distinct from other forms of rosary such as the ...

, along with reputed apparitions by the

Sacred Heart of Jesus The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus () is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus Christ is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devotion to Christ is p ...

and her

guardian angel A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary deity, tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played ...

in 1916 during the

Feast of the Immaculate Conception The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception celebrates the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 8 December, nine months before the feast of the Nativity of Mary on 8 September. It is one of the most important Marian feasts in the l ...

. The reputed messages asked for the recitation of: "Jesus, Mary, I love you! Save Souls!", in reparation for blasphemies against the

. The pious devotion is very popular among Filipino and Portuguese Catholics, who include invocations in their recitation of the rosary along with the Fatima Prayer.

Life

Pierina Lorenzina Giovanna Betrone was the daughter of Pietro Betrone and Giuseppina Nirino, the owners of a bakery in Saluzzo (Cuneo) and then managers of a restaurant in Airasco (Turin). Pierina was the second of six daughters born of her father's second marriage.''A Life For Love'', Monastery of the Sacred Heart
/ref> She joined the association of the Company of the Daughters of Mary in the parish of San Massimo in Turin. After a visit to the tomb of

Don Bosco John Melchior Bosco, SDB (; ; 16 August 181531 January 1888), popularly known as Don Bosco or Dom Bosco ( IPA: ), was an Italian Catholic priest, educator and writer. While working in Turin, where the population suffered many of the ill eff ...

in Valsalice, Pierina decided it was time to embark on a religious vocation. Her reading of ''The Story of a Soul'' attracted her to

Thérèse of Lisieux Thérèse of Lisieux (born Marie Françoise-Thérèse Martin; 2 January 1873 – 30 September 1897), religious name, in religion Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, was a French Discalced Carmelites, Discalced Carmelite who is widely v ...

's "little way". On 26 January 1925, Betrone joined the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, but after a little over a year, she became convinced that this was not her calling. She then enrolled in the Italian League of Teaching and became involved in the local

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 ...

group. She tried a community founded by

Giuseppe Benedetto Cottolengo Giuseppe Benedetto Cottolengo or Joseph Benedict Cottolengo (3 May 1786 – 30 April 1842) was the founder of the and is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. Early life Joseph Benedict Cottolengo was born on 3 May 1786, into a middle-clas ...

, but returned to her family in August 1928 and continued her work with "Catholic Action". The superior of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd of Angers suggested that she might join the Franciscans. On 28 February 1930, Betrone joined the Capuchin Poor Clares in Turin, taking the name ''Maria Consolata''. (The Blessed Virgin Mary is venerated in Turin under the name of Consolata, i.e., Consoler of the Afflicted.) She made her simple profession on 6 April 1931 and her solemn profession on 8 April 1934. She served, among other duties, as cook and concierge. She purportedly experienced interior locutions with Christ. In 1938, Betrone was assigned to the new monastery of Moriondo (Testona-Turin) not far from the Turin-Genoa railway. There she performed the services of secretary and nurse until 1945. Her confessor, Fr. Lorenzo Sales, a Consolata Missionary, suggested she write a short autobiography. On 25 October 1945 Betrone was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis and shortly thereafter left for a sanatorium. Her condition being diagnosed as terminal, she returned to the monastery of Moriondo on 3 July 1946. Consolata Betrone died at the convent of Moriondo, in Testona, Italy at the age of forty-three on 18 July 1946. Her remains rest in the monastery of the Sacred Heart in Moncalieri. After her death, Lorenzo Sales wrote the book ''Jesus Appeals to the World'' based on her reported messages. Betrone is known for her prayer: "Jesus, Mary, I love you: Save souls". Betrone spent her life attempting to bring to perfection this Very Little Way. In 1995, Cardinal Giovanni Saldarini started the canonical process of beatification for Maria Consolata Betrone. "The Servant of God distinguished herself for her tireless work in the service of the community, where she carried out the humblest tasks and cultivated an intense life of prayer and constant sacrifices."Becciu, Angelo. "Servae Dei Consolata Betrone", Dicastero delle Causa dei Santi, April 6, 2019
/ref> "A mystic is always placed in the context of his historical time...There is revealed a spirituality of reparation, perfectly in harmony with that desire for penance which animated the beginnings of her vocation." On 6 April 2019 Pope Francis authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree recognising the heroic virtues of Betrone giving her the title Venerable.
/ref> 6 April is also the date of her birth.

References

External links

''Jesus Appeals to the World: From the Writings of Sr. Consolata Betrone''
*Book: The Littlest Way of Love http://www.consolatabetrone-monasterosacrocuore.it/page/ENG/libri/Book_The-Littlest-Way-of-Love.pdf {{DEFAULTSORT:Betrone, Consolata 1903 births 1946 deaths 20th-century Christian mystics Angelic visionaries Capuchins Italian Christian mystics 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns Roman Catholic mystics Women mystics Venerated Catholics by Pope Francis