Saturday, November 13, 2010

St. Clelia Barbieri (Feb. 13, 1847 to July 13, 1870)

    St. Clelia Barbieri was the youngest person to establish a Roman Catholic Order (May 1, 1868). It's called the Sisters Mimins of Our Lady of Sorrows (the Congregation of Suore Minime dell' Addolorata).
    She was born on Feb. 13 1847. Her parents were poor hemp farmers. In 1855, her father died and she helped her mother in the fields. She also became extremely religious and worked as a teacher when she was only 14-years-old.
  St. Clelia Barbieri was absolutely gorgeous and by age 17, had turned away many marriage offers. She just wanted to live a religious life without men or sex. (I love sex so much that you'd never believe at one point in my life, I considered moving to Italy to join the Poor Clares in Assisi).
  Through the Sisters Minims of Our Lady of Sorrows, St. Clelia Barbieri helped the sick, aged, hungry, and poor.
  She died on July 13, 1870 at age 23 from tuberculosis. To this day, a strange phenomenom occurs. St. Clelia Barbieri's voice is heard singing in a chorus in houses and churches where she visited when she was alive.
  She was canonized on April 9, 1989 and her feast day is July 13. St. Clelia Barbieri is the patron saint of people ridiculed for their piety.

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