Blessed Chiara Luce Badano, pray for us!
Sometimes we’d prefer that our lives be a different story than the one God seems to be writing. In our fragile existence it doesn’t take much to turn a romance into a drama, or an adventure into a tragedy. At a glance, the story of Chiara Badano—an only child conceived after 11 years of marriage, who died at 18 after a bout with a painful form of bone cancer—looks like an empty tragedy, but not from the perspective of the Divine Author.
Chiara seemed to have everything going for her as a teen. She had a loving, holy family and a rock solid faith that was nurtured by retreats and youth ministry programs. She was popular amongst her friends and was liked by boys. It’s not hard to see why. She was beautiful. Chiara loved to hang out in coffee shops. She was great at tennis, swimming and mountain climbing. Her outgoing personality and adventurous spirit made her dream of becoming a flight attendant. Chiara had a bright life ahead of her.
One day while playing tennis, Chiara experienced excruciating pain in her shoulder. Shortly afterwards she was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma. She watched her bright future slip away. But it’s here that the real story of her life begins—the story of heroic virtue.
Chiara’s joy was explosive and it only increased with her suffering. After one very pain-filled night she said, “I suffered a lot, but my soul was singing.” Story continues at link below
By Christopher Stefanick.
Blessed Chiara Luce Badano
Chiara Luce Badano - born October 29, 1971
Died of bone cancer - October 7, 1990
Cause for beatification opened - June 11, 1999
Diocesean Inquiry closed - August 21, 2000
Declared Venerable - July 3, 2008
Miracle Approved - December 9, 2009
Beatification - September 25, 2010
Prayer
O Father, source of all good,
through Your Son Jesus You produce wonderful goodness in those
who entrust themselves to Your love,
we give You thanks for the Christian
testimony of Chiara Badano.
Inspired by the fervor of Your Spirit,
she found in the union with Jesus
the light to recognize in Love
life's ideal and the strength to offer her youth,
in filial abandonment to Your will,
for the good of the Church.
If it is Your will that
the example of the Servant of God
be proposed to the veneration
of the faithful, we pray that you give us
the grace of ..… for the glory of
Your Fatherly benevolence.
We ask this through Our Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen
through Your Son Jesus You produce wonderful goodness in those
who entrust themselves to Your love,
we give You thanks for the Christian
testimony of Chiara Badano.
Inspired by the fervor of Your Spirit,
she found in the union with Jesus
the light to recognize in Love
life's ideal and the strength to offer her youth,
in filial abandonment to Your will,
for the good of the Church.
If it is Your will that
the example of the Servant of God
be proposed to the veneration
of the faithful, we pray that you give us
the grace of ..… for the glory of
Your Fatherly benevolence.
We ask this through Our Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen
I think this is such an amazing story! When I first read about Blessed Chiara on Zenit I was so impressed! I just shared her story with my oldest son yesterday because it's rare for a teenager to find other teens to whom they can look up to as role models of holiness.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this!
Anne: Isn't it amazing..I can't stop talking about her and sharing her story! Imagine being her parents, her family? They are able to say, "My child is a saint." And mean it, literally! I feel the same way about St. Gianna Molla...her son was in NY at a conference, talking about his own Mother, a saint! How wonderful just like St. Pio and Mother Teresa. Modern Day saints, wow.
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