Venerable Maria Carmen Gonzales (Feast 17-July)

Thanks to Sensus Fedelium for sharing this sermon on you tube:

Published on Feb 3, 2014

Venerable Maria del Carmen González-Valerio y Sáenz de Heredia (March 14, 1930 -- July 17, 1939) was a Spanish girl who is venerated by the Roman Catholic Church and is being considered for sainthood. She was declared a venerable by Pope John Paul II on January 16, 1996. Her prominent family made a case for her canonization following her death, presenting the witnesses who had witnessed her death and heard her dying words and producing a diary Mari Carmen had kept. She had written "Long Live Spain! Long Live Christ the King" which was a battle cry given by those killed fighting in the Spanish Civil War. She told a nurse in the hospital: "My father died as a martyr. Poor mommy! And I am dying as a victim." For the child, Azaña was an representation of the government who had killed her father. She told an aunt that she wanted to make sacrifices and pray for the men who had killed her father. Her death represented Catholic teachings of self-sacrifice and martyrdom to save others from their sins. For more please visit http://www.audiosancto.org & remember to say 3 Hail Marys for the priest

What a beautiful little soul. We've made this new chapel veil in her honor. 

Maria Carmen Gonzoles Veil

Blessed Ida of Louvain

From Catholic Online

As a child, Ida, of Louvain, Belgium, loved the Hail Mary so much that she recited it up to a thousand times daily, genuflecting or prostrating herself before a picture of the Blessed Virgin each time she repeated it. Ida became a nun of the Cistercian convent of Roosendael. Devotion to the Eucharist permeated her spiritual life. Once, while kneeling in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament reserved at the altar, Ida offered this salutation to the Eucharist: Hail, benign, merciful, and kind Jesus: you who longed for our redemption, and redeemed us from the bonds of perpetual death with your precious blood. On another occasion, she altered the route of a journey she was making in order to visit the Blessed Sacrament along the way, praying, Hail, merciful, holy, and sweet Jesus, who for our redemption, desired the yoke of the cross. Another time, longing for heaven as she meditated before the Eucharist, she pleaded, O hope, O love, and every desire of my heart! How long shall you suffer me to be detained in this prison of flesh?

You can see this veil over at RosaMysticaMantilla

A blessed feast of St. Cecilia!

A blessed feast of St. Cecilia! She lived in Rome around 230 AD. Cecilia kept a lifelong vow of chastity in the face of her imposed marriage. She converted her husband to Christianity. Both were martyred. Cecilia is the patroness of music due the the fact that she sang beautiful hymns to Our Lord on her wedding day. This ethereal painting, "St. Cecilia" was done by John William Waterhouse 1849--1917.

Our Lady Of Lourdes.

Two of my favorite feast days are happening this week. Our Lady of Guadalupe which is celebrated on December 12th is the one of them. I shall probably have to make some Mexican dish for dinner tonight in her honor.

But getting back to the other, to OL Lourdes, which was celebrated on December 11th and is of course the subject of this post, have you watched "Bernadette" and it's sequel "The Passion of Bernadette?" If not I highly recommend these two films staring Sydney Penny and directed by Jean Delanoy. I've been enjoying them this past week while sewing away all my Christmas orders.

The feast of The Immaculate Conception was the title that Our Lady gave to St. Bernadette at the Grotto in Lourdes. Our Lady prayed the Rosary with Bernadette, asked for penance, provided the miraculous water, and asked that a chapel be built there in her honor.

Sydney Penny was 15 when they filmed Bernadette and 18 when they shot it's sequel. She gives a very honest and convincing portrayal of the simple, unassuming young saint who receives a message from The Blessed Virgin Mary.

Despite the fact that Bernadette was very poor, asthmatic, and struggled with what today would undoubtably be labeled as learning disabilities, she accepts everything with humility. She also accepts the ridicule of the townspeople and the threats of the government officials. The Blessed Mother had told her that she couldn't promise Bernadette happiness in this life, but only in the next.

Today her body lies incorrupt in a glass coffin at the convent in Nevers, France.

See how beautiful she is? It's as though she is only sleeping. The soul of Bernadette is now happy and in Heaven with Jesus and Mary forever. I hope to keep it in mind that my life is very short and will end very soon and then eternity awaits. 

The Visitation

The Seattle Art Museum houses Philippe de Champaigne’s (French, 1602-74)The Visitation. I saw it for the first time when we visited there this past summer. It's all about the eyes here.The eyes are where Mary and Elizabeth's dialogue happens. They are so intimate. They're embracing and they're positioned cheek to cheek with their hands clasped together creating an anchor in the foreground. Symbolically as well as literally, Zachariah is off in the distance and St. Joseph is a little closer. Both men look on. With her other hand, Mary is pointing. It is she who God has chosen to bring the Messiah to the world.  

Irene.

The theme has been reinterpreted many times in art history, primarily in the 17 century;  St. Sebastian tended to by St. Irene. I've only put up a few examples here, however there are many more to be seen if you care to do a Google search.

Here are the holy women, St. Irene with her attendants in these first two reproductions. They are nursing his wounds by candlelight. 

See how calmly Irene removes the arrow? I suspect Georges del laTour must have been a serene individual. His paintings always come across that way; with such an air of serenity. 

Georges del la Tour, St. Sebastian tended to by the Holy Women. 

St Irene and St Sebastian both lived in Rome during the Reign of Diocletian. The Emperor sentenced St. Sebastian to be put to death. Intending to bury his arrow ravaged body, the widow Irene found Sebastian still clinging to life, so she nursed him back to health.

Georges de La Tour. 

St. Sebastian Tended by St. Irene. c.1634-1643.

Through these paintings, St Irene became an icon of Catholic charity during Post-Reformation times. Don't you think we need more 'St. Irenes' in the Church today? What with all the bickering that goes on. Perhaps the extent to which religious persecution exists also (unfortunately) measures the amount of infighting and bickering. Because Christians can't afford to argue when the arrows of their real enemies are flying towards them. You know?  

Hendrick ter Brugghen 

Saint Sebastian Tended by Irene, 1625

In this last painting above, Brugghen places great emphasis on a two dimensional composition. The artist dramatically packs all the action up in the foreground. The sun is setting behind them, and yet one can clearly see there's also a source of light in front of them. That's curious. I wonder what the artist meant to imply by that. Perhaps it's some kind of metaphor. The light in the background is the natural light, which is setting, while the light that comes from beyond the foreground--which is a far greater light, is a supernatural light. I wonder if the artist is saying that the ruler of this world (the meaning of the name Lucifer is 'carrier of the light') is soon passing away. The light of Christ now reigns, despite any arrows; despite any and all circumstances we may find ourselves in that seemingly contradict His victory. We wait in joyful hope. We are so lucky. Deo gratias!

Masterpiece Monday: St. Flavia

Sometime shortly before Christmas, I was watching an old flick on Turner Classic Movies station called "Tenth Avenue Angel." It stars the child actress Margaret O'Brian as Flavia Mills. Here's the movie synopsis: "A child of the tenements helps an ex-con find a new life." It's a sweet movie. As I was watching it I was thinking, "Flavia, Flavia....Where have I heard that name?" 

Later that day it came to me. Flavia is the name of the company that makes the coffee machine my husband was getting for Christmas! I'd ordered it online just a day or two prior to watching that old movie. 

So right away I had to do a Google search to see if there was actually a St. Flavia. Yep, there is! And I had it in mind to name a veil for her. Or in this case, I renamed a veil for her. I finally got around to it just this month. To see the Flavia veil, just check out the blog entry that's directly below this one. 

In his High Renaissance painting (above), Perugino depicts St. Flavia (the younger) wearing a crown, because she was the niece of the Emperor Domitian. She was later banished by her uncle to the island of Pontia along with other Christians whom St. Jerome describes as experiencing a "slow martyrdom" there alone on the island. St. Flavia is wearing the red robes of a martyr here, as she was later burnt to death under the Emperor Trajan for not sacrificing food to idols. As in so many of Perugino's works, the saint's hands are held in prayer, and the head is tilted back as she gazes up towards the heavens. She appears to be listening and receiving instruction more than petitioning. Perhaps Our Lord was preparing her for the trials that lay ahead. St. Flavia was buried in the catacomb on the Via Delle Sette Chiese which was originally the vault of Saint Flavius Clemens and his family.

I dearly love the virgin martyr saints. St. Anges, St. Cecilia, St. Lucy, St Joan and so many more.... Does our modern world desire strong women? We do well to look to the past for role models. These girls were determined and virtuous little mights. Would that there more girls like that today!

Marcella.

I've been working on a new veil in memory of a childhood friend.

We had lost touch with each other many years ago, and

I was saddened to hear recently that she'd passed away a long while ago.

Marcella, Requiem In Pace.

You can click here to see the veil at RM Mantilla.

It's hand pieced appliqué on black tulle, so this veil is a bit more labor intensive.

But I'm happy with the results. As with all my veils,

 I have a saint in mind--the veil's in honor Marcella's patron saint.

St. Marcella held the title of the "glory of the daughters of Rome."

She just so happens to be the partron saint of noblewomen.

Very fine. I like that.

Below is a lovely Mexican piece.

 I'm veering far off from Europe and the Masters this month.

I have to.

This Art doll is so visceral, isn't it? 

~La Calavera & the Shrine to St. Marcella~
Du Bah Du Designs.

You can see this work at the Gallery of Hope.

The palace of the widowed Marcella on the hill of Adventine 

became a welcoming shrine for the consecrated virgins of Rome. 

Marcella offered her pearls and rubies to Jerome.  

She was like the prophetess Anna in the Temple.

St. Jerome was her Simeon in turn and he taught her the sacred scripture.

How much virtue and ability? 

How much purity St. Jerome found in her he was afraid to say. 

And she kept him from useless bickering with his opponents. 

Marcella wore brown while trading her silk gowns for bread to feed 

the hungry children of Rome.

Years later when Rome was pillaged by Alaric, 

the aged Marcella was mercilessly beaten by Goth soldiers. 

They were looking for her forsaken treasures from long ago.

But she felt no pain as she died in Principia's arms. 

Marcella, what's inside the little box that's clutched to the tabernacle of your chest?  

Are these your treasures? 

Is it the Sacred Heart? 

Is it the Tree of Life bearing good fruit? 

St Marcella was asked if she had ever gone in want of daily bread. 

 She replied that in famine she didn't feel hunger, since she is full of Christ.

http://rosamysticamantilla.com/the-marcella-veil.php

Magdalene

Here's a veil that I made over the summer and then named after a much beloved saint. Her feast day coincides with mine and my husband's wedding anniversary, so I consider her one of our family saints.

The Magdalene in this painting by Georges del La Tour reminds me of Linda, my old roommate from college. Linda has the same sort of hair and frame as this Magdalene. We converted back to Christianity at around the same time, and the painting reverberates with great relevance for both of us!

And there's so much symbolism in this piece. She gazes into the mirror of introspection, and considers her life thus far.  The candle is symbolic of her time here on earth. The broken jewelry on the floor shows she no longer cares for the things of this world. The skull; mortality. Magdalene is considering the last things; death, judgment heaven and hell. The length of the flame, the dramatic use of light and dark add to the intensity of this moment. Everything has changed for her. Her life will never be as before. She has chosen God above all else.

Gianna

 Here's the new mantilla of the week. (Gianna II)

Gianna

I'm naming this veil for St. Gianna Beretta Molla (October 4, 1922 – April 28, 1962)

She was an Italian wife and mother, and a pediatrician. When it was discovered that she had cancer, Gianna refused to have an abortion. All this came about while she was pregnant with her fourth child. Gianna was fully aware that continuing the pregnancy could result in her death. 

She was canonized as a saint of the Catholic Church in 2004.

Gianna--and really all the saints remind us that our life is not our own. It was given to us by God and is to be lived for God first and for others, too.

Mathew 16: [24] Then Jesus said to his disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. [25] For he that will save his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it.

This is how Our Lady, who is always the perfect example lived each moment; for God first and then also for others. This is how we take true joy.

Luke:  [38] And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. [39] And Mary rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste into a city of Juda. [40] And she entered into the house of Zachary, and saluted Elizabeth.

The Annunciation, by Raphael Soyer.

Soyer was a Russian born artist who moved to the United States in 1912. 

 

The other "Mary" stands in the foreground contemplating the news. Her demeanor, an inward stare, is like that of countless beautiful paintings and sculptures of the Madonna. Judith Dupre has mentioned in her commentary on the painting that Mary's hands are in the orans position. 

Mary is in prayer.

But about the hands--I'd only add that I think there's significance to be found in their being covered. The hands are used to accomplish things; they're used for work. But I think this Mary's looking to do God's will; to do the work of God and not her own work.

The stark room with that big sink; it looks like a sink that's perhaps rinsed many paintbrushes. Do you think it looks like the old studio flat of an urban artist? I have to wonder if maybe she's the painter's wife. 

Dupre concluded that she's a washer woman, but I don't think so. I'm not sure if that's ever been verified so you'll have to decide for yourself. In any event, I would suppose that the subject is a woman of modest means.

And her slip is, of course Marian blue. 

A painter named Fairfield Porter once said in an interview that blue is the one color that isolates itself from it's surroundings. It's really true and I can see that happening here in this painting. 

Mary is set apart from all creation. 

You know what else sets this "Mary" apart and pulls her almost into another panel of the picture? It's the division of the walls. The one wall directly behind Mary sort of pushes her forward, doesn't it?

This Mary's surroundings are lit in cool tones. Being as she's in her slip do you think that makes her seem a little vulnerable? The sensation of being somewhat chilly and exposed is conveyed here. But the cool tones are also bright tones. Maybe that conveys hopefulness. 

She seems a little isolated, prayerful, hopeful, vulnerable...

And her friend,

 the other "Gabriel" pensively awaits Mary's Fiat. What will be Mary's response?

Alexandrina.

Here's Alexanrina.

Well, it looks as though everyone here is going to have the opportunity to enjoy another snow day!!! No school. 

I'm hearing choruses of "Yessss!" from the children.

Lol, they love it; so do I.

Here's a more recent veil I've created; a little different. A little funky? 

I used "mystic purple" lace. Do you like?  

This one is named for Blessed Alexandrina de Balazar.

 I discovered Alexandrina a few years back after reading a TAN publication about 

the life of this "victim soul". 

Then later I discovered this big huge website here. 

If you haven't already, do check out the site. 

She is an amazing holy one.

 From Alexandrina Maria de Costa "For Love Alone" Almost an Autobiography.

 On the morning of 21st June 1832, the feast of Corpus Christi, the worshipers at the church in that part of Balasar called Calvary [where Alexandrina was to be born] were astonished and awed to find a great cross formed of two mounds of soil on the ground. The earth of this cross was of quite a different colour from that of the surrounding earth. They swept and threw water on it but this only served to darken the colour, which it still presents to pilgrims today.

The appearance of the cross is said to have been a foreshadowing of her birth. Alexandrina was born on 30th March 1904 in an area of Balasar called Gresufes, about 50 km from Oporto. Here is a picture of the interior of the church in which she was Baptized. 

On Holy Saturday 1918, Alexandrina was 14 years old. She was at home, sewing with her sister and her friend. Three men who intended to harm the girls violently forced their way into the home. In an effort to escape them, Alexandrina jumped from a window and into a kitchen-garden below (about 3,30 m) in an effort to save her purity.

 Alexandrina’s spine was irreversibly damaged, and her condition only worsened over time.
So was was bedridden by the age of twenty.  

Living in Portugal during the time of Fatima, Alexandrina's message was very similar to
the Fatima message: 

“Do penance, sin no more, pray the Rosary, receive the Eucharist”.  

Here in the photo above you can see a picture of little Jacinta of Fatima 

on the wall by Alexandrina's bed.

The late Holy Father Pope John Paul II spoke these words about Alexandrina at her beatification ceremony in 2004:-

 “ ‘Do you love me?’, Jesus asks Simon Peter, who replies: ‘Yes Lord, you know that I love you’. The life of Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa can be summarized in this dialogue of love. Permeated and burning with this anxiety of love, she wished to deny nothing to her Saviour. With a strong will, she accepted everything to demonstrate her love for him. A ‘spouse of blood’, she mystically relived Christ's passion and offered herself as a victim for sinners,

receiving strength from the Eucharist: this became her only source of nourishment for the final 13 years of her life.  

With the example of Blessed Alexandrina, expressed in the trilogy ‘suffer, love, make reparation’, Christians are able to discover the stimulus and motivation to make ‘noble’ all that is painful and sad in life through the greatest evidence of love: sacrificing one's life for the beloved.
Secret of holiness: love for Christ.”

Above, she relives the Stations of the Cross as she did every Friday.

William Bouguereau, The Flagellation of Our Lord, 1890

She received visits not only from heaven (Jesus and Mary, but also from Hell (Satan).

 Fr Pasquale, who stayed close to Alexandrina throughout these years, ordered Alexandrina's sister to keep a diary of her words and her mystical experiences.

Below, from a book by Kevin Rowles, Blessed Alexandrina, living Miracle of the Eucharist.

Although Alexandrina pleaded with Jesus to end these diabolic assaults, He explained that they were necessary in order to help save more souls.  Jesus said to her:-

“My daughter, suffering is the key to Heaven. I have endured so much to open Heaven to all mankind, but for many it was in vain. They say "I want to enjoy life, I have come into the world only for enjoyment." They say "Hell does not exist." I have died for them, and they say they did not ask me to do so. They have formed heresies against me. In order to save them, I select certain souls and lay the cross on their shoulders. Happy the soul who understands the value of suffering! My cross is sweet if carried for love of me ... I chose you from your mother's womb. I watch over you in your great difficulties. It was I who chose them for you, that I might have a victim to offer me much reparation. Lean on my Sacred Heart and find therein strength to suffer everything.”

  As in all things, Alexandrina humbly accepted this particular trial, even though it distressed her greatly.  On one occasion Fr Pinho asked her if she would rather undergo some other sort of suffering than have to face the diabolical attacks, to which she replied “No Father.  Pray rather that I do the Will of God in everything”.

Alexandrina died on 13 October 1955. 

Her last words: "I am happy, because I am going to Heaven".

                 

'Do not offend Jesus anymore!'

As a "testimony" to the mission to which God had called her, Alexandrina desired the following words written on her tombstone: "Sinners, if the dust of my body can be of help to save you, come close, walk over it, kick it around until it disappears. But never sin again: do not offend Jesus anymore! Sinners, how much I want to tell you.... Do not risk losing Jesus for all eternity, for he is so good. Enough with sin. Love Jesus, love him!".

Peter Paul Rubens,  Descent from the Cross.

The Stations of the Cross.

1.  Jesus is condemned to death.

2.  Jesus is given his cross.

3.  Jesus falls the first time.

4.  Jesus meets His Mother.

5.  Simon of Cyrene carries the cross.

6.  Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.

7.  Jesus falls the second time.

8.  Jesus meets the daughters of Jerusalem.

9.  Jesus falls the third time.

10. Jesus is stripped of His garments.

11. Crucifixion: Jesus is nailed to the cross.

12. Jesus dies on the cross.

13. Jesus' body is removed from the cross.

14. Jesus is laid in the tomb and covered in incense.

Below is a link to a website where you can purchase a booklet on Bl. Alexandria.

Blessed Alexandrina:
A Living Miracle of the Eucharist

By Kevin Rowles

http://www.newhope-ky.org/inspiringlives.html

Cecilia

We've had snow again this week. Not as much snow as the blizzard the day after Christmas, still I'd say it was a good 9 or 10 inches here yesterday.  Enough to keep everyone home from work and school. So we all found ourselves with a little bit of stolen time. I used mine to add a few new veils to my ever growing collection.

Here's one. It's named Cecilia. [These pictures are the updated Cecilia--Cecilia II] Do you like it?

 It seemed appropriate to use gold--to my mind anyway--because my husband and I  happen to have a gold relief of the saint in the living room here. 

Much of St. Cecelia's story is said to have been embellished over the years with pious legends. What is most important and true is that she gave her live for Christ.
Her story has been written in some of the classics,
including Geoffrey Chaucer. He tells her story in the "Second Nun's Tale" from  
The Canterbury Tales.


St. Cecilia was a consecrated virgin from a 2nd century noble Roman family. Never-the-less, her father gave in marriage to a pagan nobleman named Valerius. On her wedding day, Cecilia sang the Psalms in her heart, asking God to protect her virginity, even while living in the married state.

In the Raphael painting above, St. Cecilia is listening to the Heavenly Hymns. She's the patron saint of musicians and is almost always depicted with a musical instrument in her hands. Angels often tend to be a part of the theme in the paintings, too. St. Cecilia is the subject of countless masterpieces. 

On her wedding night Cecilia told Valerianus that she was "betrothed to an angel" and that he must not ask to violate her virginity. Valerianus, skeptical, requested to see this angel. Cecilia replied that he must first be Baptized by Pope Urbanus, who was hiding in the Catacombs. Upon returning to Cecilia after his Baptism, the angel appeared and crowned the couple with roses and lilies. The lilies were symbolic of their purity; the roses, of the martyrdom that was to come.

This piece here below is attributed possibly to Pietro da Cortuna.

 

Valerianus and subsequently his brother Tiburtius were moved to conversion and ultimately martyred for Christ. They refused to bend their knee to the Roman idols.  At the command of the wicked prefect, Turcius Almachius, a henchman named Maximus was appointed to swap off their heads. But when Maximus saw the souls of these brothers being received into Heaven, he too was converted and martyred. Then the three men were all buried by St. Cecelia in one tomb. 

 Cecilia was also condemned for refusing to offer sacrifices to Jupiter. She was to be suffocated to death in her own home, by the steam of her own bath. But her guardian angel protected her from the steam.

Astonished to hear the soldiers report that she'd survived the ordeal, the evil prefect ordered her decapitated. Three times the executioner attempted in vain to sever her head from her body. A forth stroke would have been illegal under Roman law. Her tormentor flew in terror, leaving the holy victim in a pool of blood. Cecilia had prayed that she might live for three more days in order to convert souls for Christ, and it is said that she had many visitors, and converted many souls during those last three days. Upon her death bed she asked that her house would become a church. And so it was, and Pope Urbanus buried her among bishops and the confessors in the Catacomb of Callistus. 

  Stefano Maderno's Statue of St. Cecilia (1610) is said to have been sculpted exactly as the saints incorruptible body was found in her tomb in the Catacombs long after her death, which is the position in which she had died. On one hand she had three fingers outstretched and on the other hand just one finger, denoting the doctrine of the one true God in three persons, the Blessed Trinity. Below, the tomb of St. Cecilia under the high altar in Rome. Her body is now in the crypt beneath the sanctuary, in the church built over her house which bears her name.

Cecilia is among the saints remembered by name in the Canon of the Mass.

P:  Nobis quoque peccatoribus     P:  To us sinners,  also,  Thy

famulis tuis,  de multitudine     servants,  who put our trust

miserationum tuarum               in the multitude of Thy

sperantibus,  partem aliquam      mercies, vouchsafe to grant

et societatem donare digneris,    some part and fellowship with

cum tuis sanctis Apostolis et     Thy holy apostles and martyrs;

Martyribus:  cum Joanne,          with John,  Stephen,

Stephano,  Matthia,  Barnaba,     Matthias, Barnabas,  Ignatius,

Ignatio,  Alexandro,              Alexander,  Marcellinus,

Marcellino,  Petro,               Peter,  Felicitas,  Perpetua,

Felicitate,  Perpetua,            Agatha,  Lucy,  Agnes,

Agatha,  Lucia,  Agnete,          Cecilia,  Anastasia,  and with

Caecilia,  Anastasia,  et         all Thy saints.  Into their

omnibus sanctis tuis:  intra      company do Thou,  we beseech

quorum nos consortium,  non       Thee,  admit us,  not weighing

aestimator meriti,  sed           our merits,  but freely

veniae,  quaesumus,  largitor     pardoning our offenses:

admitte.  Per Christum Dominum    through Christ our Lord.

nostrum.    

                    

Above, nineteenth century painter William Bouguereau's St. Cecilia.

Psalm 32
A psalm for David. 

Rejoice in the Lord, O ye just: praise becometh the upright. Give praise to the Lord on the harp; sing to him with the psaltery, the instrument of ten strings.Sing to him a new canticle, sing well unto him with a loud noise. For the word of the Lord is right, and all his works are done with faithfulness. He loveth mercy and judgment; the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord.
 

Antonietta...

I discovered the Venerable Antonietta Meo a year or so ago, 

from a website by  Fr. Riccardi, here.
Technically, she's not a canonized saint yet,
and I'll hope you don't mind my referring to her as such.
But if she's not in already heaven, then I fear there's little hope for the rest of us.

From the website: 

"Although she was very young, she showed comprehension and love for redemptive pain that you can't explain if you don't admit the intervention of an extraordinary Grace."

Antonietta lived in Rome in the 1930's with her family.
She developed cancer and had a leg amputated.

The disease ultimately took her life. She died while still very young.  

Antonietta said that for Jesus in the Eucharist, she wanted to be

 "the lamp that burns in front of the tabernacle day and night."

Upon reading about her life,  I loved this little girl immediately. 

I think she shows us that anyone can become a saint. 

So anyway, I made a veil in her honor.

As you can see, the veil's covered in little rosebuds.
Antonietta is like a little rosebud for Jesus.

Below, I'll share some letters by Antonietta and also some paintings and frescos by the early Renaissance artist and architect, Giotto di Bondone (1266-1337)

I thought he'd be a good match for this week's saint, 

because in Giotto I feel we can find something fresh and new for his time. 

There's a truth to these painting not found previously.

He was the first to begin drawing from life after many centuries of artists not doing so.

Antonietta wrote many letters to Jesus, Mary, the Holy Spirit and God the Father.  

I'll share a few, but there are many more to be found at Fr. Riccardi's website.

 The Meeting at the Golden Gate, Arena Chapel (1305)

Dear Virgin Mary I love You so much and tell Jesus to forgive me of the fact that in the church I didn't stand still. Dear Virgin Mary tell Jesus that I love Him so much my dear Virgin Mary I'm glad that today is Your Day my dear Virgin Mary the next time Your Day and Jesus' will come I'll make small sacrifices and tell Jesus to make me die before I commit a mortal sin.
My dear Virgin Mary it's not enough telling You how I love You just one time so I'll repeat that I love You so much really very much and I promise that from now onward I'll always be good. Dear Virgin Mary, lots of greetings and caresses and kisses from Your daughter 

Below, one of Giotto's Crucifixion paintings.

Dear Jesus on the Cross and dear baby Jesus Oh! Jesus!...
You who are very very good and You who see that we commit a lot of sins,
Forgive us, and let us go to Paradise one day.
Oh! Jesus! You who have so suffered for us
But I want to make up for all these sins committed against You.
Oh Jesus!...You who were born in a cave in Bethlehem
And suffered so much in that straw I want to do all I can to make up for all Your pain.
You felt so cold but just an ox and a donkey did all they could to warm You.
Dear Jesus, You who came from the stars to come on this earth to save us and to get back for us the Paradise.
You who suffered all that pain. I want to do my best to make up for all that pain. Dear Jesus many greetings caresses and kisses
From Your dear Antonietta.
Antonietta and Jesus

The Flight into Egypt, (1305)

Dear Jesus Eucharist my heart is bursting with love for You and I'm glad to receive You tomorrow morning in the Holy Communion.
Dear Jesus, tomorrow, when You are in my heart,
imagine my soul like an apple
and in the same way in which seeds
are in an apple imagine a cupboard in my soul,
and as beneath the peel of the seeds there is the white seed,
in the same way put Your Grace,
that is like the white seed,
into the cupboard and let this Grace stay with me forever.
Dear Jesus, I know people always offend You, I want to amend all these offenses, dear Jesus if You were a man like us and if You locked Yourself inside a House You wouldn't hear all the offenses caused to You, in the same way You could come into my heart and stay locked with me and I'll make a lot of sacrifices for You and I'll tell You some sweet words to comfort You. Dear Jesus, tell sweet Virgin Mary that I know tomorrow will be Her day, I'll want to make a lot of sacrifices to comfort Her. Dear Jesus tell God the Father I love Him so much dear Jesus I adore You and I kiss Your feet and Your dear
Antonietta and Jesus
says good-bye to You Dear Jesus You who suffered so much on the Cross first of all teach me how to do my duty so that I can make sacrifices. 

Ognissanti Madonna, (1310)

"I thank thee, O Father, 

Lord of heaven and earth, 

that thou hast hid this things from the wise and prudent, 

and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight"

( Luke 10, 21).