Maria Pierina De Micheli

Early life and entry into religious life

Born Giuseppina De Micheli in Milan on 11 September 1890, she had known of the Holy Face devotion from an early age. She joined the Congregation of the Daughters of the Immaculate Conception in October 1913 and made her religious vows on 16 May 1914, receiving the name Maria Pierina.

Years in Buenos Aires and return to Milan

She was assigned to the congregation's motherhouse in Buenos Aires, Argentina, remaining there from 1914 until 1921, during which time her attachment to the Holy Face devotion deepened. After returning to Milan she was elected mother superior of her house and began to spread the devotion more widely.

Visions and the Holy Face Medal

On the first Friday of Lent in 1936 she reported a vision of Christ who said, "I will that my face, which reflects the intimate pains of my spirit, the suffering and the love of my heart, be more honored. He who meditates upon me, consoles me." Further reported visions of Jesus and Mary directed her to produce a medal bearing the Holy Face from the Shroud of Turin. After obtaining the necessary permissions in Rome and Milan, she arranged for the medal's manufacture by 1940; its obverse carried the image surrounded by the text of (Psalm 66:2) and its reverse bore an image of the Sacred Host with the text of (Luke 24:29). Pope Pius XII approved the medal.

Final years and death

In 1941 she wrote in her diary, "I feel a deep longing to live always united to Jesus, to love Him intensely because my death can only be a transport of love with my Spouse, Jesus." She died on 26 July 1945 in Milan; her remains were later buried at the Holy Spirit Institute in Rome.

May Maria Pierina De Micheli intercede for us, and may we imitate today the holiness this Life has shown.

In view of her beatification, the Postulation of the Cause submitted to the judgment of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints the alleged miraculous healing of Mr. Vittorio Ianni, who, already suffering from arterial hypertension, in 1988, a little over fifty years of age, was struck by an ischemic cerebrovascular stroke. Despite having received good therapeutic treatment in the hospital, five years later he needed a new surgical intervention due to an aortic aneurysm, which was followed by severe hypertension that caused a serious stroke with a state of coma and paraplegia. The clinical picture appeared to be of enormous gravity, to the point of seriously causing fear for the patient\'s life.

Faced with this now desperate situation, a son of the sick man, upon the inspiration of a family friend, tied to his father\'s wrist a small medal with the image of the Holy Face, a devotion initiated and spread by Sister Pierina De Micheli, asking for the gift of healing through the intercession of the Servant of God. Suddenly, the following day, January 26, 1994, Mr. Vittorio came out of the coma, woke up, asked for food, and showed a clear recovery of motor activity. A detailed medical examination, performed the month following the prodigious healing, further confirmed his rapid and clear cognitive and motor improvement.

The chronological concurrence and the connection between the invocation to the Servant of God and the healing of Vittorio Ianni, who is currently self-sufficient and able to manage a normal relational life, are evident.

BENEDICT XVI

ANGELUS

Saint Peter's Square Sunday, 30 May 2010

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Following the Easter season, which concluded last Sunday with Pentecost, the Liturgy has returned to Ordinary Time. This does not mean, however, that the commitment of Christians should diminish; on the contrary, having entered into the divine life through the Sacraments, we are called daily to be open to the action of Grace, in order to progress in love towards God and our neighbor. Today's Sunday of the Most Holy Trinity, in a certain sense, recapitulates the revelation of God that took place in the paschal mysteries: the death and resurrection of Christ, his ascension to the right hand of the Father, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Human mind and language are inadequate to explain the relationship existing between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, yet the Fathers of the Church sought to illustrate the mystery of the one and triune God by living it in their own existence with profound faith.

Indeed, the divine Trinity takes up its abode in us on the day of Baptism: \"I baptize you,\" the minister says, \"in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.\" The name of God, into which we have been baptized, is remembered by us every time we trace the sign of the cross upon ourselves. The theologian Romano Guardini, speaking of the sign of the cross, observes: \"We make it before prayer, so that... it may spiritually put us in order; concentrate thoughts, heart, and will in God; after prayer, so that what God has given us may remain within us... It embraces the whole being, body and soul, ... and everything is consecrated in the name of the one and triune God\" (The Spirit of the Liturgy, The Holy Signs, Brescia 2000, 125-126).

In the sign of the cross and in the name of the living God is therefore contained the proclamation that generates faith and inspires prayer. And, just as in the Gospel Jesus promises the Apostles that \"when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you into all truth\" (Jn 16:13), so it happens in the Sunday liturgy, when priests dispense, week by week, the bread of the Word and of the Eucharist. The holy Cure of Ars also reminded his faithful of this: \"Who welcomed your soul,\" he would say, \"upon its first entering life? The priest. Who nourishes it to give it the strength to complete its pilgrimage? The priest. Who will prepare it to appear before God, washing it for the last time in the blood of Jesus Christ?... always the priest\" (Letter of Convocation for the Year for Priests).

Dear friends, let us make the prayer of Saint Hilary of Poitiers our own: \"Keep this orthodox faith within me unstained, and, until my last breath, grant me likewise this voice of my conscience, so that I may always remain faithful to what I professed in my regeneration, when I was baptized in the Father, in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit\" (De Trinitate, XII, 57, CCL 62/A, 627). Invoking the Blessed Virgin Mary, the first creature fully inhabited by the Most Holy Trinity, we ask for her protection to properly continue our earthly pilgrimage.

After the Angelus:

This morning in Rome, in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, the beatification of Maria Pierina De Micheli, Religious of the Institute of the Daughters of the Immaculate Conception of Buenos Aires, was celebrated. Giuseppina—this was her baptismal name—was born in 1890 in Milan, into a deeply religious family, from which several vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life blossomed. At the age of 23 she too embarked upon this path, dedicating herself with passion to educational service in Argentina and Italy. The Lord granted her an extraordinary devotion to His Holy Face, which always sustained her in trials and illness. She died in 1945 and her remains rest in Rome at the \"Holy Spirit\" Institute.

I cordially greet the French-speaking pilgrims! The Solemnity of the Holy Trinity reminds us that God is Love and that He calls us to a life of communion with Him and among ourselves. May the Virgin Mary help you to contemplate the mystery of the greatness and beauty of our God and to recognize His presence in our neighbor. I also commend to your prayer the Apostolic Visit that I will very soon make to Cyprus. Happy Sunday to all!

On this Trinity Sunday, I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present at today's Angelus. This week I am making an Apostolic Journey to Cyprus, to meet and pray with the Catholic and Orthodox faithful there and to consign the Instrumentum Laboris for the upcoming Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Middle East. I ask for your prayers for the peace and prosperity of all the people of Cyprus, as well as for the preparations for the Special Assembly. Upon each of you and your loved ones at home, I invoke the blessings of the most holy Trinity.

I gladly welcome all pilgrims and visitors from German-speaking countries on this Trinity Sunday. The core of our Christian faith is the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. God reveals Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who has created, redeemed, and sanctified all things. Through Baptism in the name of the triune God, we receive a share in the life of the divine Trinity. May we always remain faithful to this communion with God and help build His kingdom of justice, love, and peace. From my heart I bless you all.

I cordially greet the Spanish-speaking pilgrims participating in this Marian prayer, in particular the faithful from the Parish of Our Lady of the Assumption in Cieza. On the solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, I invite you to bless, praise, and glorify God the Father, His only-begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit for the ineffable mystery of life and communion between the Three Divine Persons, of a single nature and equal in dignity. May Mary Most Holy sustain and accompany with her intercession the Church, which lives to invoke the Holy Name of God, one and triune. Happy Sunday.

I cordially greet the Poles. With a special prayer, I embrace all those affected by the flood. Today we entrust our difficult matters to the Holy Trinity. May Mary, our Intercessor, help us to read the designs of Divine Providence. Let us keep in mind the words from the Book of Job: "If we accept good from God's hand, why should we not accept evil?" (Job 2:10). Everything is embraced by God's plan of salvation. May God in the Holy Trinity strengthen you and bless you.

[I cordially greet all the Poles. I am close with a special prayer to the people affected by the flood. Today we entrust our difficulties to the Most Holy Trinity. May Mary who intercedes for us help us to read the designs of God's Providence. Let us keep in mind the words of the book of Job: "If we accept good from God, why should we not accept evil too?" (Job 2:10). Everything is enclosed in the divine plan of salvation. May the Triune God bless and comfort you.]

Finally, I address with affection my greeting to the Italian-speaking pilgrims. In particular, to the large group that has come from Pordenone to honor the memory of Cardinal Celso Costantini, whose volume of the Diary, entitled Ai margini della guerra (1938-1947) [On the Margins of the War (1938-1947)], was presented two days ago in Rome. This publication is of great historical interest. Cardinal Costantini, who was very close to Pope Pius XII, wrote it when he was Secretary of the Congregation de Propaganda Fide. His Diary bears witness to the immense work carried out by the Holy See in those dramatic years to promote peace and to assist all those in need. I also greet the Family Love Movement, which has promoted several meetings on the Christian roots of the family and society, the faithful coming from Sardagna di Trento, those from Lallio together with their German friends from Schöngeising, the "Gigi Ghirotti" Foundation for cancer patients, the Carabinieri Association from Florence, the groups of young people who have received Confirmation, and the various school groups. I wish everyone a good Sunday.