ST MARIA DE MATTIAS, VIRGIN

ST MARIA DE MATTIAS, VIRGIN - 4 FEBRUARY

SAINT MARIA DE MATTIAS, VIRGIN

Maria De Mattias was born on February 4, 1805 at Vallecorsa, the southernmost town of the Papal States, in the geographical province of Frosinone.

Her father read the Scriptures to her when she was still very young, and she developed a great love for Jesus, the Lamb sacrificed for the salvation of humanity.

A GREAT LOVE FOR JESUS

All of this happened while Vallecorsa and surrounding areas were experiencing the tragic period of banditry, 1810 - 1825. In Maria’s soul, in fact, there was a comparison being made between the human blood poured out in hatred and revenge and the blood of Christ poured out for love, a Blood which saves.

When she reached the age of sixteen or seventeen, she began to search for the meaning of her life; she felt a need for a boundless love.

It was through dialog with her father, to whom she revealed her interior darkness and through her having asked Our Lady to "give her light", that God let her experience the beauty of his love in a "mystical" way. It was manifested in its fullness in the Crucified Christ, in Christ who gives all his Blood.

THE BEAUTY OF CHRIST'S LOVE

This experience was the source, the force, and the motivation that brought her to the roads of Italy "to make known to everyone the tender love of the Heavenly Father", as she said, or "the Crucified Love Jesus".

She was convinced that the reformation of society begins in the heart of the person, and that a person becomes transformed when she/he comes to understand how precious each one is in God’s eyes, how much each person is loved…Jesus gave all this Blood to save the human race.

JESUS GAVE ALL THIS BLOOD TO SAVE THE HUMAN RACE

In 1822, when she was seventeen, Gaspar Del Bufalo (now "Saint") went to preach a mission at Vallecorsa. She saw how the townspeople changed. It was that occasion that generated the dream in her heart to do what Fr Gaspar was doing.

Under the guidance of one of St Gaspar’s companions, (now Venerable) Fr Giovanni Merlini, she founded the Congregation of the Sisters Adorers of the Blood of Christ in Acuto (Frosinone) on March 4, 1834, at the age of twenty-nine. She had been called by the Administrator of Anagni, Bishop Giuseppe Maria Lais, to teach the young girls.

SHE DID NOT LIMIT HER ACTIVITY TO THE SCHOOL

Maria, however, who nurtured a dream to reform society and the world, did not limit her activity to the school. She also gathered mothers and young boys to catechise them, to encourage them to love Jesus and to teach them to live Christian lives, according to their state.

Thus, Maria, from the timid and introverted girl that she was, had become a preacher who attracted little girls, adults, the simple and the learned, lay persons and priests.

SHE HAD BECOME A PREACHER

It was because, when she spoke about Jesus and the mysteries of the faith, it was as though she had seen these realities, personally. Her consuming desire was that "not even one drop of the Divine Blood would be lost"; that it would reach all sinners to purify them and so that, washed in that river of mercy, they would rediscover the right way to peace and union among people.

This zeal was caught by many young women and, through them, Maria De Mattias was able to open about seventy communities during her lifetime, three of which were in Germany and England. Almost all were in small isolated towns of Central Italy, except for Rome, to which she was called by Pius IX for the San Luigi Hospice and for the school of Civitavecchia.

SHE DID NOT GIVE UP WHEN FACED WITH DISAPPOINTMENTS

Maria De Mattias life was one lived with the one desire of "giving pleasure to Jesus" who had stolen her heart in her youth, and in a joyful commitment to save "the dear neighbour" from ignorance regarding the mystery of God’s love for humanity.

All of this led her not to spare her energies; she did not give up when faced with disappointments or difficulties; she always worked in deep communion with the local and universal Church, and for love of Her.

"DRY BONES, HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD"

Maria De Mattias died at Rome on August 20, 1866 and was buried in Rome’s Verano Cemetery, according to the desire of Pope Pius IX, who chose a tomb for her and commissioned a bas-relief on it depicting the vision of Ezechiel: "Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord".

Excerpts from a homily of Pope John Paul II

St Maria De Mattias was beatified in 1950 and canonised in 2003. Her feast day is often given as February 4, her birthday

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Maria may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

BL. RICHARD NEWPORT, PRIEST AND MARTYR - 30 MAY

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN MAY Saints celebrated on the 30th of May WELCOME! BLESSED RICHARD NEWPORT, PRIEST AND MARTYR Richard Newport, alias Smith , was born in Northamptonshire and performed his studies abroad, partly in the college of Rheims (if he be the Richard Smith whom I find in the Douay diary sent to Rome in 1586) and partly in that of Rome, where he was made priest. From thence he was sent upon the English mission, and behaved himself in such a manner as justly to acquire the character of a laborious missionary; being withal remarkably successful in bringing home many strayed sheep to the fold of Christ, to which his apostolical way of living did not a little contribute. He was several times apprehended and cast into prison, and twice banished. His name occurs amongst those who were transported in 1606; at which time, we are told, he took that opportunity of making a pilgrimage to Rome, there to pour forth his prayers at the tombs of the apostles, in behalf of thi...

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