O Father, source of all good,
we thank you for the admirable
testimony of Blessed Chiara Badano.
Animated by the grace of the Holy Spirit
and guided by the luminous example of Jesus,
has firmly believed in your immense love,
determined to reciprocate with all her might,
abandoning yourself with full confidence to your paternal will.
We humbly ask you:
also grant us the gift of living with you and for you,
while we dare to ask you, if it is part of your will,
grace ... (to expose)
by the merits of Christ, our Lord.
Amen
In Sassello, a charming town in the Ligurian Apennines belonging to the diocese of Acqui, Chiara Badano was born on 29 October 1971, after her parents waited for 11 years.
Her arrival is considered a grace of the Madonna delle Rocche, to which the father resorted in humble and confident prayer.
Clear in name and in fact, with clear and large eyes, with a sweet and communicative smile, intelligent and strong-willed, lively, cheerful and sporty, she is educated by her mother - through the parables of the Gospel - to speak with Jesus and say «always yes ».
She is healthy, loves nature and play, but her love for the "least" stands out as a child, covering her with attentions and services, often giving up moments of leisure. From kindergarten he pours his savings into a small box for his "niggers"; He will then dream of leaving for Africa as a doctor to treat those children.
Chiara is a normal girl, but with something more: she loves passionately; she is docile to God's grace and plan for her, which will gradually be revealed to her.
From her notebooks from the first years of elementary school, the joy and amazement in discovering life shines through: she is a happy child.
On the day of the first Communion he receives the book of the Gospels as a gift. It will be for her a "magnificent book" and "an extraordinary message"; He will say: "Just as it is easy for me to learn the alphabet, so too must live the Gospel!"
At the age of 9 he joined the Focolare Movement as Gen and gradually involved his parents. From then on his life will be all on the rise, in the search to "put God first".
He continued his studies until classical high school, when at 17 years of age, suddenly an excruciating spasm in his left shoulder revealed an osteosarcoma between examinations and unnecessary interventions, starting an ordeal that would last about three years. Having learned the diagnosis, Chiara does not cry, she does not rebel: she immediately remains absorbed in silence, but after only 25 minutes the yes to the will of God comes out of her lips. She will often repeat: «If you want it, Jesus, I want it too. ».
It does not lose its bright smile; hand in hand with the parents, she faces painful treatments and drags those who approach her into the same Love.
Rejected morphine because it takes away lucidity, it gives everything for the Church, young people, non-believers, the Movement, the missions ..., remaining calm and strong, convinced that "embraced pain makes you free". He repeats: "I have nothing more, but I still have the heart and with that I can always love."
The bedroom, in the hospital in Turin and at home, is a meeting place, an apostolate, a unity: it is its church. Even doctors, sometimes non-practitioners, are shocked by the peace that hovers around her, and some come closer to God. They felt "attracted like a magnet" and still remember it, talk about it and invoke it.
To the mother who asks her if she suffers a lot, she replies: «Jesus stains me with the chickenpox also the black dots and the chickenpox burns. So when I get to Heaven I will be as white as snow. "She is convinced of God's love for her: she says, in fact," God loves me immensely ", and confirms him strongly, even if she is gripped by pain:" Yet it's true: God loves me! ». After a very troubled night he will come to say: "I suffered a lot, but my soul sang ...".
To friends who come to her to console her, but return home consoled themselves, shortly before leaving for Heaven she will confide: «... You cannot imagine what my relationship with Jesus is now ... I feel that God asks me for something more , bigger. Maybe I could stay on this bed for years, I don't know. I am only interested in the will of God, to do well that in the present moment: to play the game of God ”. And again: “I was too absorbed by so many ambitions, projects and who knows what. Now they seem insignificant, futile and fleeting things to me ... Now I feel wrapped in a splendid design that gradually reveals itself to me. If now they asked me if I want to walk (the intervention made her paralyzed), I would say no, because in this way I am closer to Jesus ”.
He does not expect the miracle of healing, even if in a note he had written to Our Lady: «Celestial Mama, I ask you for the miracle of my healing; if this is not part of God's will, I ask you for strength never to give up! " and will live up to this promise.
Since her childhood she had proposed not to "give Jesus to friends in words, but with behavior". All this is not always easy; in fact, he will repeat a few times: "How hard it is to go against the current!" And in order to overcome any obstacle, he repeats: "It is for you, Jesus!"
Chiara helps herself to live Christianity well, with her daily participation in the Holy Mass, where she receives the Jesus she loves so much; by reading the word of God and by meditation. Often she reflects on Chiara Lubich's words: "I am holy, if I am holy immediately".
To her mother, worried in the expectation of remaining without her, she continues to repeat: "Trust God, then you have done everything"; and "When I am no longer there, follow God and you will find the strength to go on".
To those who visit it, it expresses its ideals, always putting others first. To "his" bishop, Msgr. Livio Maritano, he shows a very particular affection; in their last, brief but intense encounters, a supernatural atmosphere envelops them: in Love they become one: they are Church! But the evil advances and the pains increase. Not a complaint; on the lips: "If you want it, Jesus, I want it too."
Chiara prepares for the meeting: «It is the Bridegroom who comes to visit me», and chooses the wedding dress, the songs and the prayers for "her" Mass; the rite must be a "party", where "nobody will cry!".
Receiving for the last time Jesus the Eucharist appears immersed in him and begs that "that prayer be recited to her: Come, Holy Spirit, send us a ray of your light from Heaven".
Nicknamed "LIGHT" by Lubich, with whom she has an intense and filial correspondence from an early age, she is now truly light for everyone and will soon be in the Light. A particular thought goes to the youth: «... Young people are the future. I can't run anymore, but I would like to pass them the torch like at the Olympics. Young people have one life and it is worth spending it well! ».
He is not afraid of dying. He had said to his mother: "I no longer ask Jesus to come and get me to take me to Heaven, because I still want to offer him my pain, to share the cross with him for a little longer."
And the "Bridegroom" comes to pick her up at dawn on October 7, 1990, after a very hard night. It is the day of the Virgin of the Rosary. These are his last words: “Mom, be happy, because I am. Hello". One more gift: corneas.
Hundreds and hundreds of young people and several priests flock to the funeral celebrated by the Bishop. The members of Gen Rosso and Gen Verde raise the songs chosen by her.
Since that day his grave has been a destination for pilgrimages: flowers, puppets, offerings for African children, letters, requests for thanks ... And every year, on the Sunday next 7 October, young people and people present at Mass in his suffrage increase more and more. They come spontaneously and invite each other to participate in the ritual which, as she wanted, is a moment of great joy. Rite preceded, for years by the whole day of "celebration": with songs, testimonies, prayers ...
His "reputation for holiness" has spread to various parts of the world; many "fruits". The luminous trail that Chiara "Luce" left behind leads to God in the simplicity and joy of abandoning oneself to Love. it is an acute need of today's society and, above all, of youth: the true meaning of life, the response to pain and the hope for a "later" that will never end and be certain of the "victory" over death.
His cult date was set for October 29th.