Mother Seraphina is Venerable

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oday, 19th December, 2009, the Holy Father Benedict XVI received in private audience H.E. Monsignor Angelo Amato, S.D.B., Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

During the Audience, the Holy Father authorised the Congregation to promulgate the Decrees concerning:

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– the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli), Supreme Pontiff; born in Rome on the 2nd March, 1876 and died at Castelgandolfo on the 9th October, 1958;

– the heroic virtues of the Servant of God John Paul II (Charles Wojtyła), Supreme Pontiff; born on the 18th May, 1920 in Wadowice (Poland) and died in Rome on the 2nd April, 2005;

– the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Maria Chiara Sera

fina di Gesù Farolfi (born: Francesca), Foundress of the Clarist Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament; born on the 7th October, 1853 in Tossignano (Italy) and died on the 18th June, 1917 in Badia di Bertinoro (Italy).

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he spiritual testament of the Servant of God Maria Chiara Serafina di Gesù (born Francesca Farolfi), gathered in her last words, admirably expresses the contemplative yearning and missionary ardour that she wanted to leave as a precious legacy to the new religious family born from her heart and grafted onto the flourishing Franciscan tree.

The Servant of God was born in Tossignano d’Imola (Bologna) on the 7th October, 1853, the third-born of nine children. She was regenerated at the sacred font the following day, with the names Francesca, Angela, Giustina, Brigida. On the 18th April, 1861 she received Confirmation and two years later was admitted to First Communion. Educated in a profoundly Christian family, from an early age she enthusiastically adhered to the values of the faith and, in particular, nurtured an intense Eucharistic life, attending Holy Mass every morning.

From day to day her fervour grew, to the point that the missionary spirit that would shine in her as Foundress was already manifested at the age of nine, when with childish plans she thought of a ‘run for the missions’. She herself testified to this, writing in her memoir these words: “From the use of reason the vocation to the religious state of active life was congenital in me; from then on the desire to be useful to youth and to work for the missions occupied my whole heart”.

Precisely in order to realise this lively desire to commit herself to the world of youth, the Servant of God obtained a teacher’s degree, in order to be able to work actively through the school apostolate and at the same time, overcoming some obstacles posed by her family, she joined the Franciscan Tertiary Sisters of St. Elizabeth of Forlì, who ran a boarding school for schoolgirls.

In 1874 she was admitted to the novitiate and on 28th October, 1875 made her religious profession, taking the name Sister Seraphina of the Passionate Heart of Jesus. The Servant of God, to whom the direction of the college was soon entrusted, knew how to balance the rhythm of religious life with the responsibility of work, in which she soon manifested singular gifts as a teacher, playing a qualifying role for that educational institution.

But, also due to many work commitments as well as the unfavourable climate and austerity of life in the monastery, her health weakened: Sister Seraphina contracted a serious form of typhus, an illness from which she was miraculously freed in 1878 through the intercession of the recently deceased Pope Pius IX. Other illnesses, however, undermined her health in the following years.

The educational work instigated by the Servant of God in favour of the students gradually expanded, with the opening of other colleges: in 1881 in Palagano and in 1891 in Bagno di Romagna. However, unpleasant misunderstandings arose within the mother fraternity and widespread suspicions in environments hostile to the Church, which put the very existence of the Forlì boarding school at risk. In order to save the work, in July 1893 Sister Seraphina moved with eight companions and the pupils to the Abbey of Santa Maria d’Urano in Bertinoro (FO), a healthier and more welcoming place. But the time of trial was not over.

The Lord disposed that the new apostolic educational life undertaken by his servant and her companions be further purified. As human incomprehension persisted, for a period of time that she described as ‘a martyrdom lasting twenty years’, Sister Seraphina did not give up her firm hope, but availing herself of the advice of many spiritually mature people, she passionately sought the divine will, remaining constantly faithful to it. With a spirit of humility and gratitude, the Servant of God prayed for her denigrators, kept silence, studied every circumstance to express her love and do good to all.

On the1st May 1898, under the gaze of the Blessed Virgin Mary “Mother of Beautiful Love”, Sister Seraphina, her eight companions and five novices professed the Rule of St Clare of Assisi in the hands of the Bishop of Bertinoro. That day marked the birth of the Clarist Franciscan Missionaries of the Most Blessed Sacrament, who took on the task of continuing, under the guidance of St Clare, the mission of Mary Most Holy: to preach Jesus in the Eucharist with their lives and to bring Christ to the world, making his name resound in every corner of the earth, even to those far-off lands where others would not agree to go.

Exhausted in body but strengthened in spirit, the Servant of God, surrounded by the veneration of her daughters, closed her earthly life at the Abbey of Bertinoro at dawn on the 18th June 1917. In virtue of her widespread reputation for holiness, an Ordinary Process was celebrated from the 1st May 1968 to the 23th August 1970 at the Diocese of Bertinoro, whose juridical validity was recognised by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on the 23rd June 1995.

Once the Positio was prepared, the Congress of the Consultors Historians was held on the 24th February 1998; then it was discussed, according to the usual procedure, whether the Servant of God had exercised the virtues to a heroic degree. With a positive outcome, the Peculiar Congress of Theological Consultors was held on the 15th June 2007. The Fathers Cardinals and Bishops in the Ordinary Session of the 28th October 2008, having heard the report of the Pontiff of the Cause, His Excellency Monsignor Pietro Giacomo De Nicolò, Titular Archbishop of Martana, recognised that the Servant of God had exercised the theological, cardinal and related virtues to a heroic degree. Having then presented an accurate report of all these stages to the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI by the undersigned Archbishop Prefect, the Holy Father himself, accepting and ratifying the votes of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, today declared:

The theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity towards God and neighbour, as well as the cardinal virtues of Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance, and those annexed thereto, in a heroic degree, of the Servant of God Maria Chiara Seraphina of Jesus (born Francesca Farolfi) Foundress of the Clarist Franciscan Missionaries of the Most Blessed Sacrament, are known for the case and effect in question. The Most Blessed Father has ordered this Decree to be made public and transcribed in the Acts of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Given in Rome, on the 19th day of December in the Year of our Lord 2009

+ Angelo Amato titular Archbishop of Sila, Prefect
+ Michele di Ruberto titular Archbishop of Biccari, Secretary