Pope canonizes 6 "witnesses to Christ and peacemakers" to sainthood
Vatican City (AsiaNews) Today at St Peter's Basilica the pope canonized 6 Catholic religious and lay men and women from the 20th and 19th centuries, whom the Holy Father called "peacemakers" due to their desire to pay witness to "Christ's victory over the power of evil, sin and death."
The six new saints are: Luigi Orione (1872-1940), priest and founder of the Little Work of Divine Providence and of the Little Missionary Sisters of Charity; Annibale Maria Di Francia (1851-1927), priest and founder of the Rogationist Fathers of the Heart of Jesus and of the Daughters of Divine Zeal; Josep Manyanet y Vives (1833-1901), priest and founder of the Sons of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and of the Missionary Daughters of the Holy Family of Nazareth; Nimatullah Kassab Al-Hardini (1808-1858), priest, of the Lebanese Maronite Order; Paola Elisabetta Cerioli (1816-1865), a religious and founder of the Institute of the Sisters of the Holy Family, and of the Family of Bergamo; and Gianna Beretta Molla (1922-1962),, mother of a family, who died of cancerous tumor after the birth of her child.
The following is the full text of the pope's address at the canonization ceremony (translated into English from several European languages: Italian, Spanish, Catalan and French):
[in Spanish]
1. "My peace I give to you" (John 14:27). During the season of Easter we often hear this promise of Jesus to his disciples. True peace is the fruit of Christ's victory over the power of evil, sin and death. All those who follow him faithfully become witnesses and peacemakers.In this light I am pleased to contemplate the lives of the six new saints, which the Church presents today for universal veneration: Luigi Orione, Annibale Maria Di Francia, Josep Manyanet y Vives, Nimatullah Kassab Al-Hardini, Paola Elisabetta Cerioli and Gianna Beretta Molla.2. "Men who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 15:26). These words of the Acts of the Apostles can well be applied to St. Luigi Orione, a man totally given to the cause of Christ and of his Kingdom. Physical and moral sufferings, fatigue, difficulties, incomprehension, and obstacles of all kinds characterized his apostolic ministry. "Christ, the Church, souls," he said, "are either loved and served on the cross and crucified or they are not loved and served totally" ("Writings": 68,81).The heart of this strategist of charity was "unbounded because it was open to the love of Christ" (ibid., 102,32). Passion for Christ was the soul of his courageous life, the inner force of an altruism without reservations, the ever fresh source of an indestructible hope.This humble son of a paver proclaims that "only charity will save the world" (ibid., 62,13) and to all he repeats that "perfect happiness lies in perfect dedication of oneself to God and to men, to all men" (ibid.).3. "If a man loves me, he will keep my word" (John 14:23). In these evangelical words we see delineated the spiritual profile of Annibale Maria Di Francia, whose love of the Lord impelled him to dedicate the whole of his life to the spiritual good of his neighbor. In this perspective, he noted above all the urgency to realize the evangelical command: "Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest" (Matthew 9:38).To the Rogationist Fathers and to the Daughters of Divine Zeal I leave the task to work with all their strength so that the prayer for vocations is "incessant and universal." Father Annibale Maria Di Francia addresses this same invitation to young people of our time, summarizing it in his usual exhortation: "Be enamored of Jesus Christ."From this providential intuition a great movement arose in the Church of prayer for vocations. It is my heartfelt hope that the example of Father Annibale Maria Di Francia will guide and support also in this our time such pastoral action.
[in Spanish]
"The Holy Spirit, whom that the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you" (John 14:26). From the beginning the Paraclete has inspired men and women who have recalled and spread the truth revealed by Jesus. One of these was St. Josep Manyanet, true apostle of the family. Inspired by the school of Nazareth, he fulfilled his plan of personal holiness and dedicated himself, with heroic selflessness, to the mission that the Spirit entrusted to him. To this end he founded two religious congregations. A visible symbol of his apostolic yearning is also the temple of the Holy Family in Barcelona.
[in Catalan]
May St. Josep Manyanet bless all families and help you to take the examples of the Holy Family to your homes!
[in French]
A man of prayer, full of devotion to the Eucharist whom he loved to contemplate for long periods at a time, St. Nimatullah Kassab Al-Hardini is an example for the monks of the Lebanese Maronite Order and his Lebanese brothers and for all Christians worldwide. He gave himself totally to the Lord in a life of great self-denial, showing that the love of God is the only true source of joy and happiness for man. He was determined to seek and to follow Christ, his Teacher and Lord.He welcomed his brothers, he soothed and healed many wounds in the hearts of his contemporaries, while paying to God's mercy. May his example shed light on our path, inspire in young people in particular a true desire for God and for holiness, to proclaim to our world the light of the Gospel!
[in Italian] "The Spirit ... carried me away to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven (Revelations 21:10). This was the wonderful image proposed by John in the Book of Revelations, exalting the beauty and spiritual fruitfulness of the Church as the new Jerusalem. A unique witness of this spiritual fruitfulness is Paola Elisabetta Cerioli, whose life was filled with fruit of good works.
When contemplating the Holy Family, Paola Elisabetta intuited that family communities should remain solid when the bonds of kinship are supported and cemented by sharing the values of faith and Christian culture. To spread these values, today's new saint founded the Institute of the Holy Family. She was in fact convinced that children, to grow secure and strong, needed a healthy, united, generous and stable families. May God help Christian families accept and pay witness to God's merciful love in all circumstances.
Gianna Beretta Molla was a simple, yet especially significant messenger of divine love. In a letter to her future husband, a few days before her marriage, she wrote: "Love is the most beautiful sentiment that the Lord has put in the spirit of men."
Following the example of Christ, who "having loved his own ... loved them to the end" (John 13:1) this holy mother of a family showed her heroic faith in the commitment she undertook on the day of her marriage. The highest sacrifice she made at the end of her life was of a person who had the courage to give herself totally up to God and to her brothers in order to fulfill herself.
May people of our day and age be able to rediscover, through the example of Gianna Beretta Molla, the pure, chaste and fruitful beauty of marital love lived in response to God's call!"Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid" (John 14:28). The earthly lives of these six new saints encourage us to persevere on our path to God, confident that God will help us under Mary's motherly protection. May they now watch over us from heaven above and support us with their powerful intercession.
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