The Catechesis on The Mystery of the Cross takes us through the teachings of Mother Clelia Merloni, which invite us to a life of faith and deep love for the Heart of Jesus. With words full of wisdom and tenderness, she teaches us that true holiness is achieved through trust, sacrifice and charity lived out every day. Her reflections strengthen us in prayer, in perseverance in the face of difficulties and in the commitment to follow Christ with fidelity and hope.

 

THE MYSTERY OF THE CROSS IN THE LIFE OF MOTHER CLELIA MERLONI

“The Cross is a sign of the chosen, a pledge of the predilection of Jesus. Courage, and therefore hope! Yes, after Calvary, the Resurrection, and in the Resurrection, the exhilaration of triumph and of peace…” (Mother Clelia)

“Do not fear the cross. God is a Father and He always measures it according to our strength; in addition, from it effuses the divine Blood that regenerates us and is the source of all the joy reserved for us in heaven.” (Mother Clelia)

Testimony from the Positio

Introduction

Mother Clelia’s spirituality is solidly founded on the Mystery of the Cross, which reaches its highest point in the Resurrection. It is a spirituality born on Calvary, flowing abundantly from the open side of Jesus Crucified and is perpetuated in the glory of the Resurrection.
Following the path of suffering, through her experience of human abandonment, Mother Clelia arrives at the experience of total abandonment in God. This intense and intimate life, lived out in the deepest part of her being, is communicated to us as a witness to the presence of pain and suffering that always accompanied it. She experiences the agony in the garden, the ascent to Calvary and, to the last drop, she drinks the chalice that the Lord presents to her. In the footsteps of the crucified Bridegroom, she allows herself to be led to the supreme holocaust, becoming a victim—a victim of love—in order to perpetuate the triumph and glory of the Heart of Jesus. The mystery of the Cross, so incarnated in her life, slowly transforms her into a disciple of the Crucified Master, an Apostle of his Love.

Testimony of those who knew her

Sr. Lilia Ciampolillo gave witness that:
“In the dark period of her Calvary, Mother generously accepted the Cross of denial, and urged herself and others to be patient and to wait for the moment of reconciliation…”

Another eyewitness stated:
“Mother Clelia herself confessed to having passed through moments of darkness, but she never gave in to recrimination or sadness. Rather, with serenity, she embraced the cross and offered to Jesus the pain of her grieving heart, constantly calling herself, as we read in her letters, an instrument in the hands of God.”

Mother Clelia writes:
“Who, more than a person consecrated to God, should be generous in carrying, with great love, the cross God has assigned her during her sorrowful pilgrimage in this valley of tears? In this, imitate St. Andrew, disciple of the Cross…who drew from it the most sublime wisdom of life. Do you have the same fervor for the Cross of Jesus Christ, or do you draw back as soon as you notice it in the distance? Love generously and wholeheartedly all the little crosses which Providence may be pleased to send you and of which our life is full.”

Conclusion

From these and other testimonies emerges a portrait of a woman who practiced virtue in a heroic manner. Mother Clelia understood the mystery of the Cross and assimilated it through a constant and persevering effort of adherence to Christ, in her acceptance of trials, as well as physical and spiritual sufferings.

For personal reflection:
1. What does the mystery of the Cross, as lived by Mother Clelia, say to me?
2. What can Mother Clelia say to the people of our time who try to smooth over the mystery of the Cross and refuse sacrifice and suffering?
3. Is it possible to live the mystery of the Cross as a mystery of Love?

“Leave me, O Lord, your Love…It is all that I want; every other thing for me is nothing. Even the immortality of my soul would be nothing if I would be deprived of Your love. I would prefer to be annihilated from this moment rather than to lose the hope of being loved by you, I want to love You with all the intensity of my heart, loving nothing but You, and everything in You and for You.” (Mother Clelia)

The Catechesis on the Blessed Mother takes us through the teachings of Mother Clelia Merloni, which invite us to a life of faith and deep love for the Heart of Jesus. With words full of wisdom and tenderness, she teaches us that true holiness is achieved through trust, sacrifice and charity lived out every day. Her reflections strengthen us in prayer, in perseverance in the face of difficulties and in the commitment to follow Christ with fidelity and hope.

 

THE BLESSED MOTHER IN THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF MOTHER CLELIA MERLONI

“I implore upon you the maternal blessing of Most Holy Mary so that your hearts, blessed by her, may become fertile with the flowers and fruits of true sanctity.” (Mother Clelia)

Testimony from the Positio

Introduction

Mary has always occupied a singular place in the history of Christianity. Her “yes” given at the Annunciation makes her a collaborator in the plan of salvation of God the Father, who sent his Son for the salvation of the world. With her “yes,” the Virgin Mary became the mother of Christ and all his disciples, for all time and for all humanity.

We can contemplate her maternal presence in the Gospels. She is the mother who accompanies her son from the Annunciation to Calvary: as a frail child in the cave of Bethlehem, as He matures in the hidden Life of Nazareth, as an adult as He publicly proclaims the Good News and heals soul and body, as Savior in His Passion and suffering, and in the joy of the Resurrection and His return to His Father.

At the wedding of Cana, Mary is present as an active mother who intercedes and helps others to grow in faith. In the upper room, she is a prayerful woman who accompanies the nascent church in accepting the gift of the Holy Spirit.

1. MARY as MOTHER

Looking closely at Mother Clelia’s writings with the heart of a daughter, we perceive a purely maternal sensitivity in her, a sensitivity that leads us to believe that the influence of the Virgin Mary in her life had been very keen. Through her writings she exhorts us: “Entrust yourself to your dear Mamma Maria; Tell her that you want to love her Jesus, and that you want to love him very much: ask her to lend you her maternal heart, so that you can love him sincerely.” If we, as disciples of Jesus, turn to Mary, we can be certain that she will teach us to love Jesus in a new way. Mother Clelia understood this reality and embraced it in her life.

Witnesses state:
“She loved Our Lady very much and never separated her from Jesus. When she had to enkindle a flame of hope in some depressed heart, she found the right words to spark the peace and trust of God in them by recommending recourse to Mary. She herself had personally experienced the efficacy of this devotion.”

“All the Sisters who knew her agreed that Mother Clelia was detached from everything and from everyone; she was strongly united to Jesus Crucified and to His Immaculate Mother.”

2. MARY as a MOTHER of SERVICE

Mother Clelia’s contemplative gaze sees in Mary a model of the practice of the virtues, among them service to and love of neighbor.

The evangelist Luke, in recounting the story of the Visitation, shows Mary walking in haste to be of service to her cousin Elizabeth. Love is always ready to serve others! The “yes” pronounced at the Annunciation puts Mary on the path of service. This reality of Mary—a woman in service to her neighbor—shines through the writings of Mother Clelia.

In a letter explaining how the Virgin Mary, since childhood, put herself at the service of others, Mother Clelia writes: “…. she always had a sweet, gracious and warm welcome for everyone, because she was always willing to serve in a way befitting of her faith and out of love of God, whom she loved and served in the person of her neighbor… In this way, Mary teaches us to practice charity.” We need a contemplative gaze in order to cultivate and discover, as Mother Clelia did, the beauty and depth of love that always puts us on the path of service.

Witnesses reveal:
“Mother venerated the feasts of the Saints, especially those of Our Lady; I remember that she was always punctual in reciting the Holy Rosary from the chapel balcony.”

“She had great zeal for the spread of the gospel and said that she prayed much for missionaries because she too would have liked to be one, to make Jesus and Mary known.”

3. MARY as a WOMAN of PRAYER

The evangelist Luke, both in the Infancy narratives his Gospel and in the Acts of the Apostles, paints a picture of Mary as a prayerful woman, even if indirectly:
– in the Cenacle, praying with the disciples, and
– in the Infancy narratives, cherishing in her heart all the events of the Jesus’ birth, thus witnessing to her journey of intimate union with God.
In the Gospel of John, we observe two significant moments:
– at the wedding feast of Cana, interceding for the newlyweds, and
– on Calvary, standing faithfully under the Cross.

Certainly, in the contemplation of every scene of the Gospel, the heart of Mother Clelia beat strongly in seeing the Holy Virgin not only as a model of prayer, but as someone whose intimate experience of God the Father confirmed the beauty and depth of her mission as Mother and Mediator.

In fact, Mother Clelia writes:
Pray, pray very much and, distrusting yourselves, place a filial and total confidence in the Heart of Jesus and in the patronage of the Most Holy Virgin who was the most fervent Apostle, the first of the martyrs, for although she did not shed the blood of her veins, she did shed the blood of her soul rent by the Passion of her Son on Calvary. Holy Communion and the Rosary. These are two devotions I recommend to you with all my heart. Will you listen to me?”

Witnesses note:
“Mother Clelia accepted the ordeal of her exile with resignation and heroism. I always say that if our Institute has grown, it is because Mother Clelia accepted that great cross, offering herself as a victim to the Sacred Heart and to Our Lady.”

“She prayed always and willingly, with joy; prayer was the breath of her soul that was in love with the Sacred Heart and Our Lady.”

Conclusion

For Mother Clelia, Mary is the mother who is constantly present, who intuits the sentiments of her children, who protects and cares for us and who warms our hearts, making us grow in love for her Son, Jesus.

We can see in her writings that the Virgin Mary is not only a model of prayer, but a profound and meaningful example of a loving mother, a most fervent Apostle, and one who gives to God without reservation. Mother Clelia was a daughter who was very attentive and open, in the likeness of her heavenly Mother and, thanks to this dedication, she became Marian in all her being. Her entire life was marked by this Marian experience, so much so that, looking at the end of her earthly existence, our attention is drawn to the date of her death—the 21st of November—the liturgical feast of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple. Mother Clelia, on that day, left this earth for her Father’s house; in this, we see the symbolic crowning of her filial love of Mary. Now she is with the Virgin Mary in heaven, whom she loved so much here on earth.

For personal reflection:
1. What lessons can we take for our devotion to the Virgin Mary, considering Mother Clelia’s great love for her?
2. Both Mary and Mother Clelia put themselves in the dynamic of service to others. How am I living this dimension of charity in my daily life?

The Catechesis on Reparation takes us through the teachings of Mother Clelia Merloni, which invite us to a life of faith and deep love for the Heart of Jesus. With words full of wisdom and tenderness, she teaches us that true holiness is achieved through trust, sacrifice and charity lived out every day. Her reflections strengthen us in prayer, in perseverance in the face of difficulties and in the commitment to follow Christ with fidelity and hope.

 

THE REPARATION IN THE LIFE OF MOTHER CLELIA

“When divine love takes possession of a heart, it awakens in it a great desire to see its God known, loved, and served. Such a soul anguishes and suffers for the offenses others commit toward His divine Heart, which is so full of love and tenderness for everyone. That soul becomes fully determined to win back those sinners who have abandoned Him.” (Mother Clelia)

 

Testimony from the Positio

Introduction

Reparation is an essential but often misunderstood aspect of Sacred Heart spirituality. Jesus Christ, in his life, ministry, death, and resurrection, accomplished once and for all the full ‘repair’ of humanity’s broken union with God resulting from sin. We recognize in Jesus’ Paschal act of love his invitation to us to make reparation by “returning love for Love.”

The spirit of reparation permeated every aspect of Mother Clelia’s life: her acceptance of suffering, her prayer, her relationships with her sisters and all whom she met.

Contemplating the Heart of Christ, she drew from the fountain of his love and was ready to witness to that Love everywhere with her words and with her life. In this way, a Sister Apostle would become a repairer, whose primary aim was to restore the Reign of God in the world through her very life.

Reparation in Mother Clelia’s personal suffering and inner life

Mother Clelia implicitly understood reparation as a response of love to the One Who loves us and loved us to the last drop of His Blood and with His last breath. He gave His all, until there was nothing more to give. Love calls forth love! How can we not want to return love for Love? She knew that the Way of the Cross was the Way of Love for Jesus, for herself and for all who obey the command: “Take up your cross and follow me.”

Mother Clelia taught:
The entire life of Jesus Christ was a cross and a martyrdom. Ours must resemble it. The entire Christian and religious life must be a life of victimhood and sacrifice.

Remember, my daughter, that you should have no other aim than that of immolating yourself with your Spouse Jesus. The bride should not be greater than the bridegroom; thus, your duty is to follow Him wherever He goes, to help Him in everything He does and to want to be, like Jesus, a victim for the salvation of the members of the Masonic sects.

You could not give Jesus more certain proof of your esteem and your love than by making yourself like Him, since we tend to imitate those we esteem. This is precisely because love transforms the lover into the person loved. What a great honor for you to be loved by God, to live as His Divine Son lived, to speak, work, and suffer like Him.

In the Manuscript Directory (On Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus), Mother Clelia wrote of the Apostle:
She will offer herself as a victim of praise and reparation for the sins of all men. Doing this, nothing more will she desire than that supreme moment, when she can find herself in the Heart of Jesus, there to live with Him forever in the splendor of His Kingdom.

In her Diary: You wish to take me and all that I possess, O Jesus, you ask that I have nothing, neither that which I do, nor that which I suffer; I must leave everything to Your disposition for you to dispose of as you see fit…for the benefit of those souls whose conversion you desire. Here I am, O Lord, ready to fulfill with the aid of Your divine grace, all that you want and desire of me. You…promise to bestow your choicest blessings upon me…which will enable me to participate in the joy of co-redemption, sacrificing all that I have, all that I can do, and all that I am, for the good of poor souls, so that they will obtain sincere sorrow and repentance from Your merciful and Divine Heart.

Reparation in Mother Clelia’s life of prayer

Pray, daughters, for so many of your brothers who never pray!….Praise, bless, thank and love the Lord even for those who do not know and love Him!

These words of Mother Clelia to her spiritual daughters reveal the spirit of reparation that characterized her life of prayer and her relationship with God. They recall the sentiments of St. Bernard who asked, “How can Love not be loved?” Mother Clelia’s response is clear: Pray in place of those who do not pray, love God in their place, adore and glorify God in their place. Repair the loving Heart of God by offering to Him all His beloved. He wants them close to Him; He wants them united with Him. Offer them to Him.

Mother Clelia exhorted her Sisters to visit the Blessed Sacrament often during the day, telling them that these visits were to make up for the negligence of others in this regard. She exhorted them to pray for everyone… and to console the Heart of Jesus, repairing the ingratitude, indifference, and the blasphemies of those who are far from God. In this way both she and her Sisters became bearers of this message, a message which for today’s world is of fundamental importance when one thinks of how much God’s love is offended.

From her childhood, Clelia felt intensely the pain of her father’s separation from the Church and offered her life and prayers for his conversion.

A witness states: From the moment Mother Clelia understood what sin was, she decided to offer her life for the conversion of sinners, first among them her father, who was a Freemason.

As Foundress, she continued to exemplify this burning desire that all souls return to that Heart, broken for love of us and yearning to be loved in return.

Another witness states:
The Servant of God was aflame with zeal for souls and concerned for their eternal salvation. She prayed constantly for sinners.

In her personal prayer, she was extravagant in expressing her love for Jesus and the desire that He be loved in return: O Most Precious Blood of Eternal Life,…I profoundly adore you, and I would wish, as far as it were possible, to repay you for the injuries and the rebukes you continually receive from human creatures, and especially from those who boldly curse you. And who would not bless this blood of infinite value? Who would not feel inflamed with love for Jesus who shed it?… O immense love which has given us this most saving balm! O priceless balm drawn from the fount of an immense love, deign that all hearts, all tongues may praise you, honor you and thank you now and always.

At the same time, Mother Clelia understood well that only united with the prayer of Jesus does our prayer become reparative: Unite your prayer to that of Jesus in the most Blessed Sacrament and offer God the action of your divine Spouse Jesus, to make reparation for every defect…you have committed; unite your praise to that of Jesus and, uniting yourself to his holy intentions, offer them to the Divine Father in place of your own.

Mother Clelia persisted in this spirit of reparative prayer until her last days. Having returned to the Congregation after twelve years in exile, she spent her last two and a half years of earthly existence in a room in the Generalate adjacent to the Chapel balcony, enabling her to participate in the community prayers and to adore the Eucharist throughout the day. Her prayer, united to the heroic suffering of the final stage of her life, enfleshed her spirit of penance in reparation for priests and certainly for all those who had wandered far from the Heart of her beloved Jesus.

May my beloved Jesus, who has saved us by his Precious Blood, be forever blessed and thanked.

Reparation and Relationships in Mother Clelia’s Life

Mother Clelia recognized the broken heart of Christ in the sick, the poor, the suffering, and the needy, which moved her to tend to these members of the Body of Christ in ways that would help ease their suffering.

Witnesses state:
“Mother Clelia sought to console and relieve the suffering of all who came into contact with her.”

“Her charity toward the sick was exceptional. She was deeply pained by the suffering of others and procured every means to alleviate it.”

Perhaps even more nobly, Mother Clelia recognized in her mistreatment from her own Sisters and from the Church an opportunity to forgive and to extend mercy as an act of reparation. When the administrator of her father’s patrimony, “Father X,” (she refused to defame his reputation by divulging his name) used the money of the Congregation for his own purposes, leaving Mother Clelia and her Sisters bankrupt, when the Church removed her from leadership in the Congregation she had founded, and even when the actions of her own Sisters forced her into exile, Mother Clelia responded with tender love.

She did not misrepresent the truth of what happened, ready as she was to be the first to admit her failings and, consequently, to repent and seek to repair them. She was likewise no less ready to pardon those who caused her so much suffering, especially during the financial disaster. She offered to Christ a tender response of love toward the persons who had hurt her, in particular the priest who squandered her inheritance.

Mother Clelia’s love for the Sacred Heart sharpened her ability to focus on God alone, ignoring the distractions of blame, resentment, and self-pity. When she experienced hurt or when her heart was wounded by the ones she loved, she serenely turned to Jesus and united her suffering to His, finding in Him a support, a defense, and a comfort.

Conclusion

Mother Clelia lived for “God alone!” She was in love with God, lived for God. Her whole life was centered on love for the Heart of Jesus, on reparation. To Him and for Him she offered a heart full of love, providing balm to the wounded Heart of Christ—a true act of love and reparation. Her example teaches us all how to be so rooted in Love that our words and actions become sources of healing for a broken world.

For personal reflection:
1. Where do I see the broken Heart of Christ visible in my own life and relationships?
2. How might Mother Clelia’s example of “returning love for Love” help me?
3. To what concrete action of love and reparation might the Sacred Heart be inviting me?
4. How is the Way of the Cross a Way of Love for me?

The Catechesis on prayer takes us through the teachings of Mother Clelia Merloni, which invite us to a life of faith and deep love for the Heart of Jesus. With words full of wisdom and tenderness, she teaches us that true holiness is achieved through trust, sacrifice and charity lived out every day. Her reflections strengthen us in prayer, in perseverance in the face of difficulties and in the commitment to follow Christ with fidelity and hope.

 

THE PRAYER IN THE LIFE OF MOTHER CLELIA

“Prayer is everything that is most sublime in religion: it is a lifting up of our mind and our heart to heaven; it is an intimate conversation with God; it is the union of the soul with the Supreme Good; it is the occupation of the Angels in paradise permitted to human beings on earth; it is the life of heaven begun here on earth. With prayer we lift ourselves above all that is passing… Understanding that God alone is all, we abandon ourselves to Him, we pour our hearts into His in order to love and serve only Him, to live for Him alone.” (Mother Clelia)

From the writings of Mother Clelia

Introduction

Salvation history begins the moment a person is capable of accepting God’s revelation and responding to it with one’s life and prayer. In philosophy, the human being is defined as “homo orans,” because he adores, listens and responds to God, giving truth to his own existence. Without prayer, we cannot arrive at Truth nor discover our own name. We cannot find our identity if we do not turn to God, the origin and ultimate end of all life.

Prayer was so important and necessary for Mother Clelia that she wrote: “Prayer for me is indispensable, like bread, air, life itself.”

Prayer: A Relationship of love with God, living and real

It is always God who initiates the encounter with us. It is He who awakens the desire in our hearts; it is He who first calls us by name…and then waits. What St. Augustine said remains ever true: “You would not have looked for God if He had not first looked for you.”

When we take the first steps to begin to pray, we are immediately aware of a presence— a Divine Presence—that feels close, intimate, familiar, and confident. In an ever so slow and peaceful way, it begins as a one-on-one, a face-to-face encounter that removes every fear and concern, and opens the heart to a full and unlimited trust, as between friends.
Mother Clelia herself testifies to this:

Today, Jesus makes me feel an unlimited trust and confidence in His divine Heart, and I enjoy it very much, knowing that this confidence is the key that opens the treasures of his infinite mercy. Leave me your Love, O Jesus…it is all I want. Everything else for me is nothing. I want to love you with all the intensity of my heart, loving nothing else but you, and loving all other things in You and for You.

Again she says:
I do not need any book or method to pray, nor efforts of mind and will. As long as I enter gently into myself, there I find God, I find peace, sometimes full of sweetness, sometimes arid, but always intimate and real.
It is precisely in this “privileged abode” of the heart that the mystery of Love is celebrated.

Fr. Ubaldo Terrinoni, confirms:
It is enough “to enter serenely, humbly, and confidently into that Heart that welcomes you as spouse. Enter with your soul and with all your being in order toenjoy His love. Enter (as Pope John Paul II adds) by ‘reading the mystery of the Heart of the Crucified, who was and is the Son of God.’ Enter to comprehend with St. Paul “the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ’s Love, which surpasses all knowledge.”

Prayer is not about ideas or things or impersonal powers, but about a personal God who makes his way into our history to walk with us. It is an experience that is living and unique. Those who pray know that they stand before the Author of their lives and their history, before the One who loves them unconditionally.

Mother Clelia writes:
What is, therefore, more sublime and necessary to our prayer time? “If my meditation,” says David, “had not been Your holy law, O my God, then I might have perished in my afflictions. I will never cease to meditate on your judgments because that for me is the source of life.”
Prayer and our lives

Prayer is a trusting and dramatic dialogue with God who is present. The faith that gives strength to prayer can be summed up as follows: “You are…and I am, thanks to You…and You invite me to live with You.” The Christian who prays knows what eternal life is: to know God as the Father of our Lord Jesus, to know Christ as true God and true man and as mediator between us and the Father, and to believe in the Holy Spirit who prays in us.

Fr. Terrinoni writes:
For Mother Clelia, to say “Heart of Jesus” is to affirm with certainty: the Heart of Jesus is here before you, and open for you. It is the refuge of chosen souls, it is the source in which one finds “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” It is the wedding hall in which the union is celebrated. This Heart now turns to you and invites you to enter and begin the pilgrimage of Love, to allow you to bathe in his love, and let yourself be made anew.

Mother Clelia clarifies this, addressing her spiritual daughters:
Remember, however, that we have to commit ourselves to the preservation of a pure conscience and the mortification of our passions, because those who are not willing to sacrifice themselves and improve their own behavior cannot expect to attain good fruits from this holy exercise [of prayer].

Do not forget: anyone who does not want to let go of earthly things is not in a position to lift his spirit to heaven. We must truly seek intimacy with God and utterly break away from a dissipated life that is lost in useless thoughts, in distractions and that easily gives to one’s sensitive nature all that it demands. To be dissipated all day and to be recollected in prayer are two incompatible things.
The keyword so dear to Mother Clelia is “docility,” which is a keen sensitivity to the dynamic power of love that enlightens, warms, moves and transforms. In a simple way, she transmits to us her experience of it: “I find my delights in keeping myself centered in God, in keeping myself in His divine presence…I feel that my heart is continually united to God and that He lets it be led in all things by His Spirit.”

Faith-filled prayer, even in great trials

Mother Foundress, who for many years remained in His Heart while living the sorrow of trials and the pain of love, has some marvelous expressions for this experience of “abiding”: “the only refuge for tired and tried souls,” “the only ship that no storm can sink,” “an ocean of love, “an ocean of peace,” “mystical abode,” “blessed Ark,” “a furnace of love,” “a lasting dwelling place,” “the depths of divine grace and consolation,” “the sanctuary of peace.”

In a maternal way, she invites one of the Sisters to pray:
We need only God. He alone knows the secret to relieve our dejected hearts, and in Him alone we will always find true comfort for our ills.
Perhaps prayer may have seemed hard at times, but now that your heart is wounded, you feel the need for this soothing balm, which alone can stop the blood that flows from it. Isn’t this true? Then abandon yourself trustingly to Jesus. The prayer of the afflicted, sprinkled with tears, has great power over that tender and loving Heart.

Conclusion

We can state clearly that prayer is indispensable for living the theological virtues in a heroic way. For Mother Clelia, it was a profoundly spousal experience, as necessary as the air she breathed, made ardent with a love impassioned by and lived exclusively for “God alone.”
In the introduction to the collection of the Prayers of Mother Clelia, we read: “In the book, ‘The Sanctuary of the Heart,’ we find an altar, and on this altar is the soul of Mother Clelia, her very being that she offers with every breath and with every beat of her heart. It is the heart of Mother Clelia in union with the Heart of Jesus.”

Let us pray together in her words:
I have a God in me, and thus I am a temple, a sanctuary,
an altar which holds the divinity
surrounded by countless celestial spirits
who adore him and render him their homage.
I unite myself to you, O Blessed Spirits,
I love and adore my Jesus with you.
O celestial Spirits, make up for the weakness of my sentiments
with the purity and the ardor of your homage and of your love,
let me unite my heart and my spirit to yours
to form a single heart and a single spirit,
to think of Jesus, to adore him, to love him, to praise him,
if not as much as he deserves, at least as much as I am able.

For personal reflection:
1. After having considered Mother Clelia’s experience of prayer, how do I describe and validate my prayer life?
2. Looking at the reality of my life and of all that surrounds me, how does her prayer inspire me to live?

The Catechesis on the Eucharist and the Sacred Heart takes us through the teachings of Mother Clelia Merloni, which invite us to a life of faith and deep love for the Heart of Jesus. With words full of wisdom and tenderness, she teaches us that true holiness is achieved through trust, sacrifice and charity lived out every day. Her reflections strengthen us in prayer, in perseverance in the face of difficulties and in the commitment to follow Christ with fidelity and hope.

 

THE EUCHARIST AND THE SACRED HEART IN THE LIVE OF MOTHER CLELIA

”I leave you at the feet of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament so that you may pour out to Him your sorrows, your fears, your desires, and all the intensity of your love.” (Mother Clelia)

Testimony from the Positio

Her devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist

Mother Clelia was able to grasp the intensity of the unique presence with which Christ comes to meet His people. She allowed the divine Sacrament to mark her days, filling them with trusting hope, giving life to every endeavor, illuminating every darkness, and curing every wound. Her Sisters unanimously remember how their Mother’s gaze was continuously turned toward her Lord present in the Sacrament of the altar, in which she discovered the full manifestation of His immense Love:

“Madre Clelia loved the Eucharist: her soul spontaneously leaned toward the Tabernacle, of which she had been deprived during [some of] the time of her sorrowful exile. She wrote that she found ‘a place of His delights” once again [upon her return to] the Generalate, and her life from 1928 until her death was eminently Eucharistic.”

“She did not let herself be discouraged by the adversities of her life because it was enough for her to remain in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament for some time in order to fill her soul with hope and joy. At times, perhaps after difficult situations, she took refuge in the Chapel, and many elderly Sisters who saw her make reference to the fact that they had to shake her to get her to respond because she was immersed in contemplation of God and she remained in Him as in profound ecstasy.”

“She had a great veneration for the Blessed Sacrament. She would often get up, even during the night, to pray in the balcony, and was vigilant to be sure the sanctuary lamp was always lit.”

Venerable Mother Clelia had a great love for her spiritual daughters and although she was nearing the end of her earthly days, from high in the balcony off her room, with a sweet and secure voice, she guided the evening encounter with Jesus.

A witness recounts:
“Each evening, right after supper, our little group of postulants went to chapel for a brief visit to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, staying in the last pew. Mother, who usually prayed in balcony overlooking the altar, heard us pray. After a few evenings, in the twilight of the chapel, we heard her call to us lovingly: “Daughters! Why way in the back? Jesus wants us close to him to speak heart to heart; He loves you very much.”

Each Thursday night, during the hour of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, she always joined with the Novices from the balcony on the second floor where her room was, and suggested the intention for the Holy Hour.

Even young people remained impressed with her love for the Eucharist. One witness, who was an adolescent when she knew Mother Clelia in Roccagiovine, remembers:
“On Sundays, [Mother Clelia] came down to Church for mass, but before going back home, she stayed for hours in adoration near the tabernacle. She prayed much; she was a true soul of prayer who impressed me very much.”

“…If today I love prayer it is because I learned it more from watching the Servant of God in deep prayer than from any instruction I received. Everyone spoke about the “holy Mother” and I was happy to be able to see her close up in order to imitate her. I used to believe that the saints were all like she was here on earth. Not only did I learn from the Apostles of Mother Clelia to write, to work and to pray, but I learned love of reading the Lives of the Saints and love of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.”

Her devotion to the Sacred heart of Jesus

Mother Clelia was attracted to veneration of the Sacred Heart, cultivated and diffused strongly in the Church of her time, and she made Jesus the King and Center of her love. She understood that devotion to the Heart of Christ was not intended to be known coldly as a mere intellectual teaching, but rather to be lived and incarnated in one’s own life.

A witness affirms:
“The motto of our dear Mother is: “God Alone”; she was in love with God. All her life was centered in the Love of the Heart of Jesus, in reparation. God alone was the purpose of her life and the exercise of her virtues. She was never satisfied with what she did for Jesus and would have done even more, but obedience tempered her actions and she obeyed wholeheartedly and with a smile.”

Certainly, Mother Clelia was familiar with the words addressed by Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the great revelation of 1675: “Behold this Heart that has so loved humanity but has received nothing but ingratitude in return.” She was so deeply touched by these words that she offered herself totally to the Heart of Jesus, loving Him above all else and proposing to her daughters: “May the Heart of Jesus be our all!”

One witness offers an important reflection:
“Her spiritual makeup can be summed up in the fact that she was a willing victim of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, for Whom she lived and to Whom she dedicated her Congregation.”
Precisely because she lived totally for the Sacred Heart, Mother Clelia, having experienced in her life a rapid succession of trials, sufferings, misunderstandings, hostilities, all the while having leaned trustingly only on Him, could suggest to her daughters: “When the tempest rages, take refuge in the recesses of the Heart of Jesus and console yourself with that hope that His promises will flourish forever in every pious soul.”

Aware that devotion to the Sacred Heart must be “the first and most cherished of all devotions,” she exhorted the Apostles to engrave in gold letters in their souls the Twelve Promises of the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary. Particularly dear to Mother Clelia was the first promise: “I will bless every house where a picture of my Heart is exposed and honored.” This promise moved her, in fact, to take on an apostolate to families.

A witness recounts that, as a child, she lived with Mother Clelia in the last years of her exile:
“The devotion that she had for the Heart of Jesus was great and she used to always say that you must have faith and pray to the Lord. She passed on this devotion to me; in fact, when I got married, I bought a framed picture of the Sacred Heart and put it on the nightstand with a lamp always lit. A proof of His presence would be the day I gave birth to my first son. It was a difficult birth; I remember the midwife leaving the room to ask my husband to call the doctor, and I was left alone praying to the Sacred Heart, who helped me, and everything worked out for the best.”

The relationship between devotion to the Eucharist and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

There exists a profound relationship between the Eucharist and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Eucharist sprang from the Heart of Christ pierced on the Cross, the altar of His sacrifice. Thus, the Eucharist is a gift born of His very being and His desire to remain among us always. His infinite love for us would not allow Him to forget about us. Hence, we find the Heart of Jesus living and beating in the Eucharist.

Moreover, since the Congregation she founded was dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, this concept appears very, very often in her daily language.

Two witnesses recount:
She sought to nourish and intensify the Christian life through devotion to the Eucharist and the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, so much so that she named the Institute “Apostles of the [Sacred] Heart of Jesus.”

“Mother Clelia was very devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and spoke of Him to whoever came to visit her: she urged them to go to Church to visit Jesus who, for love us, remained in the Tabernacles.”

In the writings and teachings of Mother Clelia, the Eucharist and the Sacred Heart are two inseparable concepts. Her desire to make reparation for the offenses inflicted on Jesus, who was crucified for His immense Love for humanity, made the concept of becoming a “victim” for this cause very vivid and meaningful to her.

A witness expresses it this way:
“Mother exhorted us to gaze at the tabernacle….to make frequent visits each day to the Eucharistic Jesus, “that prisoner of His great love.” She explained to us that our visits must make up for the indifference of those who neglect him.”

Her participation in the mystery of the Eucharistic Christ fortified her unique love toward her neighbor, gave her the courage to carry on her work, granted her the strength to endure numerous rejections that occurred at the time of her Congregation’s foundation, and formed her into an extraordinary person, endowed with many virtues and a noble and generous soul.

To think about:
1. What strikes you the most about Mother Clelia’s attitude toward the Eucharist? Toward the Sacred Heart of Jesus?
2. Am I aware of the presence of Christ in each person, that is, everyone who makes up the mystical Body of Christ?
3. The inscription on Mother Clelia’s tomb reads, in part: “The poor, the oppressed, the unfortunate were her most tender heartbeat.” Does my heart beat with the love and light of the Heart of Christ…for the Body of Christ?
4. Propose to make a daily visit to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, where you will find serenity, spiritual strength, holiness, and joy.

The Catechesis on humility takes us through the teachings of Mother Clelia Merloni, which invite us to a life of faith and deep love for the Heart of Jesus. With words full of wisdom and tenderness, she teaches us that true holiness is achieved through trust, sacrifice and charity lived out every day. Her reflections strengthen us in prayer, in perseverance in the face of difficulties and in the commitment to follow Christ with fidelity and hope.

 

THE HUMILITY IN THE LIFE OF MOTHER CLELIA

“Let us try to understand well that it is only the virtue of humility that makes us great before God.” (Mother Clelia)

Testimony from the Positio

Introduction

The virtue of humility is the solid foundation of the spiritual edifice of our souls. It is the opposite of the vice of pride, considered by all the Church Fathers to be a true enemy of the spiritual life. Sacred Scripture emphasizes and exalts humility as a characteristic of those who are of God. Mother Clelia understood very well the significance of the virtue of humility and practiced it heroically throughout her life.

Humility and Life

For the Servant of God, to be humble meant to recognize her own sinful condition so that the soul will invoke Divine action, thus opening itself to grace and making it capable of arriving, with Christ, at true greatness.

A witness affirms:
“You never saw pride in her; rather she was very humble and moderate in her tastes and in her desires. She always sought to divert the attention from her own merits, attributing them to the intervention of God. From her, there never came a criticism against others; on the contrary she sought to always make the most of any small service or task which, to all appearances, seemed insignificant.”

Humility came to be a very particular feature of her character, so much so that it deeply touched people near her. Her humility towards others was born from her conviction that God is present in every person.

Various witnesses attest to this:
“Mother Clelia’s humility became evident at those times in which she readily acknowledged her own mistakes, accusing herself of them out loud.”

“The Servant of God did not hesitate to accept to do any kind of work, even the humblest. Especially during the time in which she was rebuilding the community anew after the financial disaster, when the money was running out but there were still so many activities of every sort, she saw to everything. She went out to beg for alms like her Sisters, even though she was the Superior, all the while responsible for the administration of the Congregation.”

In the light of the convincing examples that emerge from the testimonies, it is clear that Mother Clelia, who understood and practiced humility with perseverance and promptness in order to be like Christ, exhibited in her constant exercise of the virtue the ideal humility described above.

Model of Humility

The Servant of God was a true model of the practice of humility throughout her life. She practiced it in the concrete circumstances of her life and in her attitudes, considering herself the least of all, even though she was the Foundress.

The readiness with which she asked forgiveness of anyone, as soon as she realized her shortcomings, was truly admirable. She was convinced that only humility would make her great before God. She loved this virtue so much that she even bound herself with a vow to practice it, especially never to complain either interiorly or exteriorly for whatever wrong done to her. She never failed to be faithful to this resolution.

Witnesses affirm:
“The Servant of God cultivated humility with continual acts of renunciation, which she endured to the point of suffering scorn and contempt. From the inception of the Institute in Viareggio, when she began the work with the first four Sisters, she never wanted to be the Superior.”

I already said that Mother Clelia had a strong character and, when she let slip some outburst of anger, she quickly knelt to ask forgiveness. I already said that Mother Clelia charged one of the sisters of the community with reprimanding her every time she was lacking in the virtue of humility because of her impulsive temperament.”

“Mother Clelia had no difficulty in going out and begging for alms, also exhorting the Sisters to extend their hand with humility when they went out.”

“In the twelve years she spent outside the Institute she was dispensed of her vows, but she undertook one particular vow: to observe humility.”

Even though she was the Foundress, she never sought after the first place, nor did she ever consider herself superior to her Sisters. Rather, she submitted spontaneously to the most humble of her spiritual daughters, precisely to imitate the meek and humble Heart of Jesus. She did not want any special honors attributed to her because of the fact that she was the Foundress.

Nor did she accept particular attention for clothing or food; on the contrary, she wanted to be forgotten and despised. Often she was heard to say that without humility no other virtue could flower. She never let any form of vanity or vainglory win. She was very vigilant that the Sisters would also practice the virtue of humility.

The Greatest Test

The supreme test of this virtue was the very painful separation from the Institute that she founded and her consequent decision to leave it. She lived this separation for many years as a sacrifice to the Will of God and did not defend her rights as Foundress because, as she used to say: “I founded this work for Him; He is the Master and He will take care of bringing it forward, if He wills.”

When she learned that the General Council had elected a new Superior General without having consulted or warned her, she accepted what was done, knowing full well who was acting in the shadows to remove her from office. She simply bowed her head and pronounced her loving “Fiat,” taking refuge in the Heart of Jesus.

Mother Clelia, despite these painful circumstances, wrote repeatedly asking with discretion to re-enter the Congregation, showing great heroic virtue. Re-entering the Institute, she accepted to live in an isolated room of the convent, adoring Jesus in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, in prayer and in the offering of her physical sufferings in reparation for the offenses made against the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. She acted like a novice, without asking for or requiring anything.

Conclusion

Mother Clelia demonstrated heroic humility at every stage of her life. All her attention was fixed on recognizing the grace of God in all things and, even though the very events of her life imposed great humiliations on her, she came through it victorious. This would not have been possible if she had not first rooted this virtue—strong, splendid and heroic—in the depths of her being.

To think about:
1. What strikes you the most about Mother Clelia’s practice of humility?
2. In your daily life, how does the example of Mother Clelia challenge you?
3. Try to choose one or two acts of humility to make in this coming month.

The Catechesis on faith takes us through the teachings of Mother Clelia Merloni, which invite us to a life of faith and deep love for the Heart of Jesus. With words full of wisdom and tenderness, she teaches us that true holiness is achieved through trust, sacrifice and charity lived out every day. Her reflections strengthen us in prayer, in perseverance in the face of difficulties and in the commitment to follow Christ with fidelity and hope.

 

THE FAITH OF MOTHER CLELIA

“Our faith must be greater than that of all the others; in us, it must radiate and shine.” (Mother Clelia)

Testimony from the Positio

Introduction

The faith of Mother Clelia was a truly unique characteristic. Hers was a faith that was strong and biblical, one that gave rise to a multitude of other virtues. Mother Clelia treasured this faith in every moment of her life. Difficulty could not dissuade it, but in fact solidified it more, because she believed deeply that God would never abandon her.

Faith and life

The faith of Mother Clelia, sustained by prayer, was strengthened by her great personal commitment to live it out, based on the Word of God and guided solely by Gospel criteria. She drew abundantly from the biblical font, to which she conformed her life and her very being.

Testimony of a witness:
“At a time in which no one read the Sacred Scriptures freely, she in full ecclesial spirit, fed her soul by reading Sacred Scripture, especially the New Testament. She not only read Scripture, but assimilated it, meditating on that which she read until it become her way of thinking and living.”

The faith of the Servant of God formed her soul in every thought and every action. Hers was a living faith, put into action in such a way that she did not stop at the understanding of the truth, but she lived it:
“I can say that the Servant of God lived a supernatural faith and manifested it with words, displaying it especially with deeds.”
Her faith was made clear by her acts of trust in Divine Providence, in personal and communal prayer, in the inculcation of the principles of the Faith first in her own heart and then in the hearts of others, in her filial attachment to God and her complete abandonment to His will.

Faith and prayer

Through community and personal prayer, Mother Clelia immersed herself in the mysteries of the Faith. Her prayer was nourished by this faith and, at the same time, her faith revealed itself through her prayer. When she prayed, she was focused and attentive.

A witness recalls:
“From what I am able to understand of the Faith and how it was taught to me in catechism class, I can affirm that Clelia Merloni professed a heroic faith. She firmly believed in God and prayed much: always, always, always. She also urged us to believe in God and to love him with all our strength.”

One of the more convincing demonstrations of how much Mother Clelia was inflamed with the spirit of faith was her practice of going to the chapel balcony, directly adjacent to her bedroom, to spend long hours with her Jesus. Though already deprived of strength and often sick in those final two years, she spent hour after hour in continuous prayer, during the silence of the night, in the shadow of the light from the tabernacle candle. The prayers that she recited in the presence of the Sisters were remembered by them as being spontaneous and vibrant with love and faith.

Faith and the Eucharist

Her faith was directed to the worship of the Holy Eucharist. In the Congregation’s Rule, she prescribed exposition of the Blessed Sacrament one day a week, as well as a fixed day each week for all-night adoration with the specific intention of the sanctification of priests.

“I remember Mother as a great woman of faith. It was only her faith in the Sacred Heart, present in the Eucharist, that sustained her in the long wait, certain that the Institute would emerge from its extreme trials.”

Faith during the great trials

Particular mention should be made of the vision of Mother Clelia’s faith as a prayerful response to every adversity. Let us listen to a witness:
“Painful situations were not lacking for her, but Clelia always displayed a great spirit of faith: in each painful event she always saw the paternal hand of the Lord who permitted everything only for the true good of his chosen ones, and when the Sisters tried to comfort her by pointing out the malice and the uncharitable intentions of those who were the cause of her suffering, she never listened to such talk, but pushed herself always to see the permissive will of her heavenly Father and excused everyone.”

Another witness confirmed: “Considering above all the exhausting journey traveled by the Servant of God from Viareggio to Rome, I think that only the light of faith supported her steps. Humanly speaking, the difficulties she encountered would have been enough to stop anyone.”

The offering of her entire self that she made to God was accepted by Him, who upheld her during the unspeakable trials which befell her: sicknesses, misunderstandings, slander and calumny. These exacerbated her heart, but did not bend her faith.

Conclusion

Faith sustained the entire life of Mother Clelia and was the life-blood that permeated each moment of her existence. She professed a heroic faith in the ordinary events of life, accepting all events as permitted by God.

The last two years spent at the Generalate in Rome became a most beautiful crowning of her entire earthly existence, demonstrating above all that, thanks to her indestructible faith, she was able to pass through the stormy seas of life without wavering.

To think about:
1. What does the faith of Mother Clelia say to you?
2. What can Mother Clelia say to the people of today who struggle to believe?
3. How is it possible for us today to live the faith that she lived?

The Catechesis on Charity takes us through the teachings of Mother Clelia Merloni, which invite us to a life of faith and deep love for the Heart of Jesus. With words full of wisdom and tenderness, she teaches us that true holiness is achieved through trust, sacrifice and charity lived out every day. Her reflections strengthen us in prayer, in perseverance in the face of difficulties and in the commitment to follow Christ with fidelity and hope.

 

THE CHARITY OF MOTHER CLELIA

“You must love God with all your strength and your neighbor because of Him, not holding back in anything and bearing whatever sacrifice to fulfill His Holy Will.” (Mother Clelia)

Testimony from the Positio

Introduction

Charity is the virtue that unites us to God, our ultimate end, in a supernatural way with an inextricable bond Through charity we can truly belong to God and share friendship with him.
It is the essence of Christian perfection, presuming and encompassing all the other virtues, without which they would have no value. Mother Clelia was filled with this charity.

Love for God

Love for God was the very life of Mother Clelia; she remained constantly united to the Lord in meditation of his paternal goodness and of the mysteries of the Faith. Love for God was for her a burning fire, and to this love she consecrated her entire life.

A witness states:
“On the virtue of charity, I can attest that the Servant of God practiced it heroically; this I can say without fear of error because, for the many long years I lived beside Mother Clelia, I saw how much she loved and practiced charity. First and foremost, she loved God, and his holy Law above all other things, and she loved the Sacred Heart and the Blessed Mother very much.”
She lived in continual union with the Lord; what was evident above all was how much and how she prayed.

Let’s look at the memories of one witness:
“What I can say about the charity of the Servant of God toward her Lord is that she was in constant intimate union with Him, through vocal and mental prayer. From all the letters that Mother wrote to her spiritual daughters, you can see that she was full of love for God, instilling that same love in her daughters. Being in the house where Mother spent the last years of her life, I can say that her desire was that of living and dying in God.”

Not only did she have a great love for God, but she had the same strength to make this virtue grow in the hearts of others. Her desire to instill love of God in others took on, at times, a nature so simple that it made a great impression on those around her.

Let us read another testimony:
“Before leaving her room, the Servant of God said to me: ‘Give me the crucifix (she always kept it near her) and kiss it. Do you want to love Jesus? Love him very much, very much.’ This impression stayed with me, of a Mother who was peaceful and very, very affectionate, desirous that we be true Sisters and love the Heart of Jesus very much.”

Charity toward one’s neighbor

Perfection does not end with love for God, but it must extend itself to others, loving them for the Love of God. Mother Clelia was aware of the presence of God in each person; consequently she tried to develop an attitude that was, as far as possible, as fervent as that which Jesus Himself would have had.

One Sister recounts:
“Her never-ending love was directed also towards her neighbor; charity towards the poor, the sick, and children was in her nature. She was sensitive to the needs of others. It was common to say that Mother, in helping the needy, was a “spendthrift.”* Needless-to-say, the source of such a hard-working charity was God Himself.”

“Our dear Mother could not see anyone suffering or in need without immediately helping them. To the Sisters, to their families, to priests or to whoever had recourse to her help, she gave, gave fully everything she had.

She was zealous for the salvation of souls, as expressed in the following deposition by a witness:

“The Servant of God had much zeal for the salvation of souls; she prayed and did much penance for their salvation. She sincerely loved her enemies, mentioning them in her prayers and exhorting the Sisters to unite themselves to her prayers.”
Since she was a child, Mother Clelia was especially concerned with the soul of her own father, a Freemason and an unbeliever. The many prayers and sacrifices she offered for her father’s salvation were rewarded when he, on his deathbed on June 27, 1985, asked to receive the Sacraments.

In her relationships with her spiritual daughters, she was always very warm. A Sister recounts:
“All the Sisters were happy when there was an occasion to spend time with our Venerable Mother Foundress. She always listened with patience to what they had to say; she gave advice and counsel, even making observations and giving correction, but always with charity.”

She loved them even when she was away from them. One witness remembers with great affection:
“I remember the most beautiful days of my childhood lived with her; and today I understand every word she told me. Her most spontaneous expression was: “How can a mother forget or abandon her own daughters?” And with a melancholy face she turned toward a picture of the Sacred Heart and began to pray.”

Mother Clelia taught the importance of respect and mutual love both with word and example. She wanted the spirit of charity to reign in the Congregation and did not tire of instilling this in the young Sisters.

“In the face of any lack of charity, she immediately demanded an act of reconciliation; she did not allow discord to separate the hearts of her daughters. The penance that she gave almost always consisted of prayer or humble service to the Sisters.”

Perhaps the strongest aspect of her charity was her forgiveness. Mother Clelia received many injuries during her lifetime, even from the hands of her own Sisters. How did she respond? Always with charity, patience, and Christ-like forgiveness. She did not simply imitate her Savior, but went so far as to identify with the Heart of Jesus, pierced and betrayed, and participate in his act of Redemption. Like Jesus, Mother Clelia poured abundant charity into those wounds, and so transformed them into fountains of love that overflowed to all who made her suffer.

In 1927, nearing the end of her life, after many trials—sickness, misunderstandings, removal from the community’s government, calumny, interior doubts and exile—Mother Clelia proclaimed, almost like a Gospel itself:
“May the Sacred Heart of Jesus fulfill my longing and grant me the grace to pass the last few days left to me in the seclusion and peace of my Congregation, all united in Him by the sacred bonds of charity, burying in oblivion an extremely painful past…”

Conclusion

Thus, the fervor of her charity was most evident when, after the unjust exile, she was re-admitted to the Institute in Rome in 1928, and forgave all who had done her harm.
Truly the motto of St. Paul, “The love of Christ impels us,” was the central theme of her every act, and the Sisters, especially the youngest, were devoutly edified by it.

To think about:
1. What does the charity of Mother Clelia say to you?
2. What can Mother Clelia say to people of today who tend toward individualism, egoism, and the pursuit of their own personal advantage?
3. How is it possible for us to live the kind of charity that she lived?

The Catechesis on hope takes us through the teachings of Mother Clelia Merloni, which invite us to a life of faith and deep love for the Heart of Jesus. With words full of wisdom and tenderness, she teaches us that true holiness is achieved through trust, sacrifice and charity lived out every day. Her reflections strengthen us in prayer, in perseverance in the face of difficulties and in the commitment to follow Christ with fidelity and hope.

 

HOPE IN THE LIFE OF MOTHER CLELIA

“Yes, my God, it is because you delay in hearing me that I have hope that you will listen to me; the more you push me away, the more I will abandon myself, with confident fervor, into your paternal arms.” (Mother Clelia)

Testimony from the Positio

Introduction

Christian hope arises from the practical and historical reality of God’s promises since the creation of the world, proclaimed and guaranteed in full by the resurrection of Christ. For Mother Clelia, hope was a true program of life, freely chosen, and an attitude of constant and trusting expectation of the fulfillment of these promises.

Hope as Love for the Will of God

At every moment of her life, Mother Clelia gave witness to firm adherence to the Will of God, in which she always placed great hope. She always felt herself to be a daughter of God, Creator and Father, abandoning herself completely in His arms. This abandonment was like a lead wire in her life; this vision led her to be strongly convinced that God would take care of her, whether it be in her future, in the future of the Congregation, or in and the future of those entrusted to her.

A witness affirms:
“The Servant of God continually manifested her hope in God: both when he gives, as when he takes away, because she perceived that the Father sees everything and that, in His own time, he intervenes and provides, in aspects both human and spiritual.”

Hope in eternal happiness

We know that faith in Christ makes hope become a certainty, above all in regards to salvation; hope then gives a broad perspective to faith and carries the soul toward true life. One can certainly say that Mother Clelia possessed an unlimited hope; in fact her eyes were always fixed on the goal of paradise, looking to the saints, those intercessors who preceded her in heaven. She often reflected on supernatural realities and nourished a deep hope of attaining her eternal recompense.

Mother Clelia writes in her diary:
“…You know well, O my dear good Jesus, that the pains and the trials that You Yourself send me frighten me so much. Nevertheless, I resign myself to them and I want to suffer, if each of my sorrows and expiation can be a manifestation of my love for You. I recall all the acute sorrows, pains, anguishes, and sadness that have accompanied my everyday actions in the course of my life. What indignations, what troubles, and difficulties I had to endure, but what glory I would give to my Jesus and I myself would merit heaven.”

Hope and prayer

To her exercise of hope, Mother Clelia joined her exceptional spirit of prayer, that is to say, the first drew impetus and reinforcement from the second. The greater the difficulties that presented themselves, the more intense became her prayer.

One must take note of her strong relationship and her intimate and constant dialogue with the Lord Jesus in the dimension of prayer, profound and fully surrendered. This helped her to interpret every event in the light of hope, even those that appeared to exceed her own strength, exhorting her Sisters to put their trust in the merits of Jesus Christ and not in those of their own.

A witness recalls:
“I think that, knowing how to accept and wait, in prayer, for a solution to complicated problems regarding her daughters and the Institute, shows how alive, stable and solid in her was the virtue of hope. Mother Foundress, in the most difficult moments of the Institute, was accustomed to say: ‘Let us pray, let us accept, and let us make reparation.’”

Hope during anguish of the spirit

There was a period in Mother Clelia’s life in which the difficulties regarding herself and the foundation of the Congregation grew to be so oppressive that she was impelled to go into exile away from the very Congregation that she founded. It was a most sorrowful time, but also very heroic; not for a moment did Mother Clelia cease to hope, confident that she would worthily overcome the trials and someday return among her daughters.

A witness confirms this:
“She was always sustained by theological hope, especially in the distress of her spirit, above all in the sad years of her exile from the Congregation. She always hoped and prayed that the problems would resolve themselves and once again find harmony, which would allow her to return to the spiritual family that she founded. Her firm hope was repaid with her eventual return to the Congregation after many years of waiting.”

During her exile, it was precisely the virtue of hope that helped her to overcome poverty, precarious health and all the sufferings of her spirit. Witnesses that speak of this period of her life remember her as optimistic and full of divine light; only the presence of this fervent hope within her was able to keep her from giving up in desperation, even in the darkest moments.

Spreading hope

It is impossible that a virtue so radiant not be contagious. It made of her a beacon of hope to those who knew her.

Witnesses attest to this:
“About hope, may I say that Mother grounded her hope in God and encouraged whoever was in hardship, directing them towards the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, assuring them that if they did so with living hope and absolute certainly in the goodness and power of God, they would obtain many graces.”

“I remember, like a refrain, one of her sayings: ‘Continue to trust and hope against every hope, in the power of the Sacred Heart.’”

Conclusion

The hope of Mother Clelia was indestructible. She lived fully surrendered in the arms of Divine Providence, without ever losing the certainty of being always and everywhere assisted by God, maintaining serenity of character, peace of heart, and patience in the midst of unspeakable trials.

It is clear that the only goal that Mother Clelia had fixed in front of her eyes was the enjoyment of God: as the Alpha and Omega of life, as the beginning and end of every aspiration and every work, and as the goal and the means to achieve it, and thanks to Whom we reach the end.

To think about:
1. What does the hope of Mother Clelia say to me?
2. What can Mother Clelia say to the people of today who feel lost in the face of evil and violence that surrounds them, and discouraged because they feel powerless?
3. How is it possible for me to live hope as she lived it?