Adelaide Brando IN Mugnano di Napoli
Biography
Adelaide Brando was born in Naples on 1 May 1856 to Giovanni Giuseppe and Caterina Marrazzo; she was baptized in the church of San Liborio the following day. On 8 December 1864 she received her first communion and on 25 December 1868, at the age of twelve, she took a personal vow of perpetual chastity.
From an early age her life project was: "I want to become a saint at any cost" and her aspiration was to be a victim consecrated entirely to the Lord, in a spirit of expiation.
In 1871 she entered the monastery of the Florentine in Chiaia, where the idea of founding a Charity of Adoratrices gradually took shape in her, in fact she had a vision: "While I was praying in front of the Sacrament, in a moment of great concentration of spirit I seemed to see a nun dressed all in white who, genuflected, was in the act of adoration".
Adelaide Brando left the monastery due to illness, once recovered, she entered the monastery of the Sacramentine nuns and she become a nun on 4 May 1876. Her new life begins. "The old Adelaide" gives way to the new "Sister Maria Cristina of the Immaculate". Forced to abandon even the Sacramentine nuns, in July 1878 she retired to the Conservatory of the Teresian Sisters of Torre del Greco, leading a truly exemplary religious life.
At the invitation of the provost of Casoria, canonical Domenico Maglione, Sister Maria Cristina moved to Casoria where she built a wonderful Eucharistic temple in neo-Gothic style. On 16 August 1903 the institute took the official name of "Expiatory Victims of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament".
Adelaide Brando lived Jesus in the Eucharist, a victim perpetually sacrificed to her Father in reparation and expiation, she felt that her place was next to the Holy Tabernacle to offer herself with Jesus the Host, victim of perennial expiation, in fact she remained for long hours to worship her beloved Spouse in her cell called grotticella (small grotto). History tells us that, while asleep, she often felt as someone was calling her, so she approached the window to contemplate Jesus in the Sacrament and adored him in silence, or prayed before the crib she had in her room. The Mother crossed the streets of Casoria late in the evening to avoid being noticed, to bring relief to needy families and worked in every situation with gentleness and kindness. The strength of the service had its origin in the Eucharist that it contemplated, so much that several times she was overcome with ecstasy. Santa Maria Cristina knew how to win the hearts of people and her spiritual daughters, who followed her with faith and profound humility. Many were the difficulties that Mother Maria Cristina had to face during her life, but she was constantly encouraged by the advice of her spiritual father Ludovico da Casoria.
The Mother Foundress consumed herself in prayer and works with great faith and generosity, expiring at the age of fifty, on 20 January 1906.
The news of her death immediately spread. People cried and prayed while they affirmed that a Saint had died. In the years 1927-40 the trials for holiness took place.
On 4 May 1972 the case of beatification and canonization was introduced, in Naples in the presence of Cardinal Corrado Ursi.
On 2 July 1994 Pope John Paul II declared her "Venerable".
In 1992, due to the intercession of the Venerable with God, a miracle occurred in the Philippines, to Mrs. Federica de la Fuente, stricken with Wegener's disease, with a bilateral pulmonary localization, vast and complicated.
On 27 April 2003, Maria Cristina Brando was enrolled by John Paul II in the register of the blessed, declaring her "fervent devotee of the Eucharist and witness of Christ’s charity ".
On 20 September 2014, the Holy Father Francis authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the Decree on the miracle, declaring Maria Cristina Brando, Saint. In the Consistory on February 14, 2015, the Pope communicated the date of canonization in Rome (St. Peter’s Square): Sunday 17 May 2015.
Charisma
The Eucharist
was the center of the whole life of Saint Maria Cristina Brando in fact she exhorted
the nuns "With our adorations we should go out in ecstasy of love". Her
life offered to God from an early age was a hymn of praise to the Lord in every
gesture and every thought. Her soul, filled with God, conversed with her Lord
even when she was immersed in the activities of her office of Foundress and
Mother. Everything about her spoke of God and she searched for God in
everything, for his will, if she was far from the tabernacle with her body she
never was far with her mind.
Mother Maria Cristina well knew that Jesus the Eucharist was continually offended by humanity: this is the extraordinary intuition to offer herself as expiatory victims so that the evil done to the Eucharist would correspond to an offer of love, in Eucharistic adoration. "Expiate and repair" was the reason for living; all her actions and her life aimed at this sublime ideal of being at the foot of Jesus’s cross, as victims of expiation and reparation. Here is how she spoke to her sisters: "We must repair the insults that Jesus receives from all over the world. We must guard against the smallest flaw in order not to displease Jesus. We must be victims in fact, up to the point that we want to give our life for Jesus".
At the beginning of the Institute there was not enough nuns for the perpetual adoration, she spent the nights at the foot of the altar and there she would take a little rest. During Thursday and Friday nights she kept vigil and she wanted to be the one to call every sister for their hour of nocturnal adoration. A nun said: "It was painful to see her sleepless, during the long winter nights, wrapped in a miserable woolen blanket, going from bed to bed to call her sisters and saying 'Sister, Jesus is calling you".
Mother Maria Cristina well knew that Jesus the Eucharist was continually offended by humanity: this is the extraordinary intuition to offer herself as expiatory victims so that the evil done to the Eucharist would correspond to an offer of love, in Eucharistic adoration. "Expiate and repair" was the reason for living; all her actions and her life aimed at this sublime ideal of being at the foot of Jesus’s cross, as victims of expiation and reparation. Here is how she spoke to her sisters: "We must repair the insults that Jesus receives from all over the world. We must guard against the smallest flaw in order not to displease Jesus. We must be victims in fact, up to the point that we want to give our life for Jesus".
At the beginning of the Institute there was not enough nuns for the perpetual adoration, she spent the nights at the foot of the altar and there she would take a little rest. During Thursday and Friday nights she kept vigil and she wanted to be the one to call every sister for their hour of nocturnal adoration. A nun said: "It was painful to see her sleepless, during the long winter nights, wrapped in a miserable woolen blanket, going from bed to bed to call her sisters and saying 'Sister, Jesus is calling you".
Beatification
The protagonist
of the miracle that occurred in 1992 through the intercession of Maria Cristina
Brando is the hostess of the Philippine airlines, Federica de la Fuente, 27
years old and mother of two children.
Federica contracts a fatal lung disease, known as "Wegener's Granulomatosis". She suffered from episodic attacks of bronchial asthma, which, in a short time, degenerated into more serious pleural problems; in a sudden the young woman was facing imminent death.
She had to have several operations, the treatments are intense and invasive but the disease evolves, there is no more hope, yet something changes the course of events. In a night of suffering, Federica implores Maria Cristina Brando, whom she met through the sisters operating in the Philippines: her fate changes in a short time, the results of various tests reveal a constant improvement, which, in a few days, turns into a real healing, she had lost hopes for medical science, she had been able to abandon herself to Maria Cristina Brando, an unknown woman who brought her the strength and faith from a far land.
And it is a miracle, the one that closes the cause of beatification with the extraordinary event, which has made doctors and theologians discuss and oppose, the doctors considered the event inexplicable and speak of God. On 2 October 2001 the congress on the recognition of the "inexplicably human fact" ended.
On December 20, 2001, the Holy Father John Paul II issued the decree for the beatification.
On April 27, 2003 the truth triumphs. Maria Cristina Brando is proclaimed blessed by St. John Paul II. Memorable date, in the annals of Casoria as in the hearts and minds of those who have participated in the numerous initiatives to celebrate their foundress.
As part of the beatification, many religious and cultural events were organized, promoted by the V.E.G.S. nuns as: triduums of spirituality, prayer vigil, lectures, concerts, competitions for students, etc.
Federica contracts a fatal lung disease, known as "Wegener's Granulomatosis". She suffered from episodic attacks of bronchial asthma, which, in a short time, degenerated into more serious pleural problems; in a sudden the young woman was facing imminent death.
She had to have several operations, the treatments are intense and invasive but the disease evolves, there is no more hope, yet something changes the course of events. In a night of suffering, Federica implores Maria Cristina Brando, whom she met through the sisters operating in the Philippines: her fate changes in a short time, the results of various tests reveal a constant improvement, which, in a few days, turns into a real healing, she had lost hopes for medical science, she had been able to abandon herself to Maria Cristina Brando, an unknown woman who brought her the strength and faith from a far land.
And it is a miracle, the one that closes the cause of beatification with the extraordinary event, which has made doctors and theologians discuss and oppose, the doctors considered the event inexplicable and speak of God. On 2 October 2001 the congress on the recognition of the "inexplicably human fact" ended.
On December 20, 2001, the Holy Father John Paul II issued the decree for the beatification.
On April 27, 2003 the truth triumphs. Maria Cristina Brando is proclaimed blessed by St. John Paul II. Memorable date, in the annals of Casoria as in the hearts and minds of those who have participated in the numerous initiatives to celebrate their foundress.
As part of the beatification, many religious and cultural events were organized, promoted by the V.E.G.S. nuns as: triduums of spirituality, prayer vigil, lectures, concerts, competitions for students, etc.
Canonization
Maria
Angela Di Mauro’s strong desire for motherhood and Carmine Cacchillo’s unshakable
faith, residents in Amorosi (Benevento) allowed the miracle to take place, the
birth of Pasqualino Cacchillo in 2004. An event that allowed the Blessed to be
proclaimed Saint.
The lady, after two pregnancies impossible to bring to an end, presented an increasingly complicated situation due to serious tubal damages. The doctors had strong doubts about future pregnancies, there was little hope of getting pregnant. The young couple did not give up: the desire to have a child was too great! They began to consult the best specialists, to undergo a series of tests and in the end they were advised not to try to have a pregnancy in a natural way but to use assisted reproductive technology. As good Christians, practicing Catholics, they did not accept this idea but neither did they want to give up. In 2003, well aware of the drama they were experiencing, they were invited to participate in a prayer vigil in preparation for the beatification of Maria Cristina Brando. It was in that circumstance that the Blessed began her powerful work of intercession. Also in 2003 she participated in the Forty Hours’ Devotion, animated by the nuns. On this occasion she felt a strong desire to ask Maria Cristina to give her a child. After nine months, Pasqualino was born in a completely natural way.
After the birth of Pasqualino, Maria Angela became pregnant two more times but in both cases the pregnancies did not go well. All those who had accompanied her with their prayers stated "Pasqualino is a miracle!". The gynecologist Achille Tolino, full professor of gynecology of the University of Naples "Federico II" and a medical expert says: "When I read all the documentation of Mrs. Maria Angela I realized that the pregnancy from the scientific point of view was impossible, something out of the ordinary had happened, with two ectopic pregnancies and both tubes damaged, fertilization was not possible at all. Maria Angela had a normal gestation in the uterus, everything went well and a healthy baby was born. My report was admitted as evidence, I participated in the medical consultation in the Vatican and the case of Mrs. Maria Angela was considered a miracle".
On 10 January 2013, the medical council of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints examined the extraordinary event, an affirmative opinion was expressed, recognizing, so a miracle operated by God through the intercession of Blessed Maria Cristina of the Immaculate Conception.
The Cardinals and Bishops in the Ordinary Session on September 16, 2014 judged the case a true miracle attributed to the intercession of the Blessed.
On 20 September 2014, Pope Francis authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the Decree on the miracle, declaring Blessed Maria Cristina Brando "Saint".
In the Consistory on February 14, 2015, Pope Francis communicates the date of the canonization in Rome (St. Peter’s Square): Sunday 17 May 2015.
The lady, after two pregnancies impossible to bring to an end, presented an increasingly complicated situation due to serious tubal damages. The doctors had strong doubts about future pregnancies, there was little hope of getting pregnant. The young couple did not give up: the desire to have a child was too great! They began to consult the best specialists, to undergo a series of tests and in the end they were advised not to try to have a pregnancy in a natural way but to use assisted reproductive technology. As good Christians, practicing Catholics, they did not accept this idea but neither did they want to give up. In 2003, well aware of the drama they were experiencing, they were invited to participate in a prayer vigil in preparation for the beatification of Maria Cristina Brando. It was in that circumstance that the Blessed began her powerful work of intercession. Also in 2003 she participated in the Forty Hours’ Devotion, animated by the nuns. On this occasion she felt a strong desire to ask Maria Cristina to give her a child. After nine months, Pasqualino was born in a completely natural way.
After the birth of Pasqualino, Maria Angela became pregnant two more times but in both cases the pregnancies did not go well. All those who had accompanied her with their prayers stated "Pasqualino is a miracle!". The gynecologist Achille Tolino, full professor of gynecology of the University of Naples "Federico II" and a medical expert says: "When I read all the documentation of Mrs. Maria Angela I realized that the pregnancy from the scientific point of view was impossible, something out of the ordinary had happened, with two ectopic pregnancies and both tubes damaged, fertilization was not possible at all. Maria Angela had a normal gestation in the uterus, everything went well and a healthy baby was born. My report was admitted as evidence, I participated in the medical consultation in the Vatican and the case of Mrs. Maria Angela was considered a miracle".
On 10 January 2013, the medical council of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints examined the extraordinary event, an affirmative opinion was expressed, recognizing, so a miracle operated by God through the intercession of Blessed Maria Cristina of the Immaculate Conception.
The Cardinals and Bishops in the Ordinary Session on September 16, 2014 judged the case a true miracle attributed to the intercession of the Blessed.
On 20 September 2014, Pope Francis authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the Decree on the miracle, declaring Blessed Maria Cristina Brando "Saint".
In the Consistory on February 14, 2015, Pope Francis communicates the date of the canonization in Rome (St. Peter’s Square): Sunday 17 May 2015.