Mother Clelia’s face is serene. It radiates the tenderness of Him who loved her and to whom she totally entrusted her life: the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Foundress of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, she was born in Forli, Italy, on March 10, 1861. She died in 1930 and 94 years after her death, her body remains intact.
On April 23, 2018, the exhumation and recognition of the mortal remains of Mother Clelia Merloni took place in the chapel dedicated to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque inside the Generalate House in Rome, Italy.
The work was carried out by a team of doctors and other experts under the supervision of representatives of the Ordinary Tribunal of the Diocese of Rome. Members of the General Council of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus also participated in the event. The body of Mother Clelia was found to be intact, 72 years after the first opening of the coffin.
A body in the state of intact is considered a sign of holiness and has no scientific explanation. An intact body is preserved from deterioration, which normally occurs a few days after death. It is important to note that no chemical or natural tecniques of conservation of the body had been used.
The faithful and those devoted to Mother Clelia can visit her body, which rests in the Chapel of the Generalate in Rome.
Construction of Coffin-Reliquary
Description of the work
The process of designing the coffin which would serve also as a reliquary for Blessed Clelia Merloni was governed by the desire to create a design that meets the following requirements: the enhancement, preservation and beauty of Blessed Clelia’s remains.
Reliquary Construction
From a formal, aesthetic point of view, the idea emerged to create a coffin which was also a reliquary that would fit harmoniously into the architectural space designated for it. Maximum emphasis was given to the figure of Mother Clelia so as to be adequately visible for veneration by the faithful. The work of redesigning the wall that serves as background to the coffin was also conceived from this perspective.
In addition to symbolically and explicitly highlighting the strong bond between Mother Clelia and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the proposed design is also the result of careful analysis of the interior of the Chapel, deliberately taking into consideration the shapes, colors and materials which were already present in the sacred furnishings and wall coverings of the liturgical space.
Regarding the best way to protect the relics of Blessed Clelia and specifically in order to slow down and minimize deterioration due to unsuitable environmental causes (humidity, temperature, growth of microorganisms), the coffin was hermetically sealed, airtight, and is equipped with a passive system for stabilizing the internal microclimate through the use of special preconditioned silica gels.
This reliquary was built by the company Mondarte - Arte Sacra.
Work Description
Mother Clelia Merloni’s glass coffin, together with the statue of the Sacred Heart and the inlaid marble wall that is integral to the design, are to be considered and understood as a single entity.
Essentially, the statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, placed above the coffin containing the sacred remains of Blessed Clelia, represents the focal point and goal of her life, the One to whom she gave her entire life.
At the top of the marble wall that serves as background to the coffin, we find a large heart that seems to embrace the statue of Jesus. Below, a kind of triangle characterized by two symmetrical lines arising upwards from Mother Clelia’s coffin symbolically represents two hands joined in prayer that meet in contemplation, drawing the onlooker’s gaze towards the Sacred Heart.
The stylized heart and triangle are two complementary forms: they seek and meet each other, just as the marriage of day and night. It is the encounter between beauty and contemplation. In the space created by the meeting of these two forms, the cross is placed deliberately on the heart of Christ above the coffin. In Mother Clelia’s spirituality, the cross represents the meeting place with Christ. It is in that cross that Clelia’s heart is united with the heart of Christ.
It is in the cross of Christ that she finds her safety, protection and refuge.
At the base of the golden heart resting on the coffin, amidst branches and leaves in gilded metal there are several stalks of wheat depicting Mother Clelia’s humility and her self-offering to the Sacred Heart for the conversion of sinners and for the life of her Congregation: “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit” (John 12: 24)
Mother Clelia’s face is that of woman between 45 and 50 years of age, the years of the beauty and maturity of her charism, and ther peaceful expression on her face captures her contemplation of the purity and holiness of God. Hers is no longer a face at the moment of death, but of resurrection, according to her charism.
Finally, the positioning of her two hands was intentional.
One tightly grasps the crucifix on her chest and the other is open to the Constitutions and directs us to the interior life;
One hand receives Christ and the other presents the charism, representing the beauty of prayer and the concrete action of charity.
The coffin is placed on an altar. In the biblical context, the altar is the place of offering and sacrifice. In this sense Mother Clelia has become a loving offering to the Lord and at the same time she makes an offering with Jesus in reparation for the sins of humanity. The spirituality of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is expressed in offerings of praise to God, and in this sense Mother’s self-offering acquires meaning and value in the Eucharistic Celebration because she offers herself with Christ, in Christ and for Christ.
The two bare feet show that her body is complete. The feet depict movement and represent the life of the Apostle who is always on a journey and in a hurry to bring to everyone on the streets of the world the Gospel of Love and forgiveness.
