⛪ Saint of the Day : February 17
⛪ Born :
Late night of 2 May 1880
in Pozzomaggiore, Sassari, Italy
⛪ Died :
• 17 February 1952 in Rome,
Italy of angina pectoris
• Re-interred at the Sanctuary of Santa Maria Goretti in Nettuno, Italy in 2015
⛪ Venerated :
4 May 2017 by Pope Francis
(decree of heroic virtues)
⛪ Beatified :
• On 7 November 2018, Pope Francis promulgated a decree of a miracle obtained through the intercession of Venerable Edvige
• Beatification recognition scheduled for 16 June 2019 in Sardinia, Italy
Edvige Carboni (2 May 1880 – 17 February 1952) was an Italian Roman Catholic from Sardinia who relocated to Rome and became well-known among the faithful and religious alike for her ecstasies and angelic visions. She recorded an extensive spiritual journal in which she recorded appearances from Jesus Christ as well as saints such as Gemma Galgani and John Bosco. Carboni also experienced demonic experiences and was said to possess the stigmata.
The cause for beatification commenced in 1968 though she was accorded the title of Servant of God on 29 April 1994. Pope Francis titled her as Venerable on 4 May 2017 upon the confirmation of her life of heroic virtue. Francis later confirmed a miracle attributed to her intercession in late 2018 and she is to be beatified in her native Sardinia on 16 June 2019.
Edvige Carboni was born in Sassari on the evening of 2 May 1880 as the second of six children to Giovanni Battista Carboni (d. 1937) and Maria Domenica Pinna (d. 1910); her sister was Paulina (b. 1895) and she also had four brothers (including Galdino (15 April 1889 – 7 March 1977)) and at least one other sister. Carboni received her baptism on the following 4 May 1880 from the vice-parish priest Sanna. She received her Confirmation in 1884 from Mgr. Eliseo Giordano and made a vow to remain chaste in 1885. She started school in 1886 and finished three grades of education.
Her mother recalled Edvige's birth and told her that on that occasion she had seen a luminous host in the monstrance and would tell her daughter this because: "If I die, you must receive Holy Communion every day and you should be very good, because Jesus, a few moments after you were born, showed me a host, as I have told you". Another odd phenomenon that took place after her birth was a supernatural branding of the Cross on her breast formed from her own flesh.
Her mother taught her embroidery as a child and she would work with her father in the embroidery business. She also spent time in the convent of the Sisters of Saint Vincent in Alghero where the nuns led a course in embroidery. Her mother's frail health saw her tend to the education and care of her younger siblings as well as other domestic duties.
Carboni made her First Communion in 1891. She wanted to become a nun in 1895 but her mother disapproved of it and she took this disapproval as a sign of the will of God. In 1895 her sister Paulina was born; at that point she had brothers and no sister. From 1896 her visions of Jesus and Mary became ever more frequent. She became a professed member of the Third Order of Saint Francis in 1906 and belonged to an association known as the Friends of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus; she began recording her thoughts in a spiritual journal. Her mother died in 1910 and her responsibilities tripled.
In her grandmother's home remained a replica of Raphael's painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the Infant Jesus: she would climb a chair to reach the image and would say to the Blessed Mother: "My mother, I love you. Give me your child so that I can play with Him". Carboni was required to do the shopping due to her mother's ill health despite being fearful of having to shop in the evening. But her guardian angel appeared to her and told her: "Don't be afraid. I am with you and I keep you good company".
She attended her brother Galdino's marriage to Penelope Gerundini (8 May 1899 – 31 December 1979).
Her spiritual gifts included levitation and the reading of hearts as well as the discernment of spirits and frequent visits from the souls in Purgatory. She also had several visions of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga and on their first encounter he asked her: "Do you know me?" to which she replied that she did not. Gonzaga said: "I am Saint Aloysius Gonzaga. I have come to tell you that I love you very much and that you should love Jesus always".
Carboni noted in her spiritual journal on 16 November 1938 how she received the stigmata – for she wanted to suffer for the glory of God – while she recorded in her journal on 12 June 1941 her first encounter with Saint John Bosco. Bosco even invited her to enroll as a Salesian in an appearance on 25 September 1941. Carboni also received the transverberation and recorded a case of demonic encounter in December 1941. Her experiences with the Devil became more aggressive as time progressed. On one occasion she was kicked in the legs and on another her gold fillings were stolen. She once was confined to her bed for a while after a hammer hit her in the knees.
Carboni experienced a number of visions from saints:
St. Dominic Savio
St. Anne
St. Sebastian
St. Genaro
St. Rita of Cascia – during a pilgrimage to the saint's shrine
St. Thérèse of Lisieux
St. Gemma Galgani – whom she admired; Carboni also attended her canonization in 1940
St. Paul
St. Catherine of Siena – on a 9 April 1950 pilgrimage to her shrine
St. Francis of Assisi
Carboni also had visits from Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina in her visions despite the fact that the priest was in fact alive. Padre Pio knew of Carboni and referred to her as a "saint". She also knew Saint Luigi Orione.
She began to experience bilocation in 1925 and this grew greater during World War II. In 1929 her sister Paulina found a job as a teacher in Marcellina Scalo – a small town between Rome and Tivoli. Her father did not want Paulina to leave so the entire family relocated from Sardinia to the mainland. In 1934 she moved to Albano Laziale until the death of her father in 1937 and she finally settled in Rome in 1938. From 1941 she became part of the Confraternity of the Passion of Scala Santa in Rome. On 11 August 1941 she wrote of Jesus allowing her a view of Heaven.
Carboni spent the last fourteen years of her life living with her sister Paulina in Rome. Her final spiritual director was the Passionist priest Ignacio Parmeggiani. Her time in Rome saw her teach catechism while tending to the poor and the ill. She received praise for her piety from the Servant of God Giovanni Battista Manzella and priests such as Ernesto Maria Piovella and Felice Cappello.
Carboni’s Mystical Life
Reading of Hearts and Prophecy
Venerable Edvige Carboni’s spiritual gifts included levitation, the reading of hearts, supernatural knowledge, the discernment of spirits, bilocation, the reception of the stigmata and the crown of thorns, transverberation (the wounding of her heart), and frequent visits from the souls in purgatory. Many times, she would reveal people’s private thoughts to them and help them with doubts they had not shared with anyone else. Edvige was also known for her prophetic gifts. She foretold the elections of Pope Benedict XV (in 1914) and Pope Pius XI (in 1922); she also prophesied that the Passionist Rule would be relaxed – nine years before this occurred – after St. Paul of the Cross (the founder of the Passionist order) revealed this to her in a vision.
Visions, Supernatural Communion, and Supernatural Light
In addition to visions of Jesus and Mary, Edvige received many visits from the saints, including St. Aloysius Gonzaga, St. John Bosco, St. Dominic Savio, St. Anne, St. Sebastian, St. Genaro, St. Rita of Cascia, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, St. Gemma Galgani, St. Paul, St. Catherine of Siena, and St. Francis of Assisi. Our Lord or His saints would often bring her Communion in a supernatural manner. Even though Padre Pio was still alive during her life, she had visions in which he visited her; he knew of her and referred to her as a saint. Another Italian woman, Adela Ianucci, was just a child when she saw Edvige “praying in the midst of a bright light in which figures of angels and saints moved about.”
Vision of Heaven
Our Lord even favoured Edvige with visions of heaven. He had told her, “‘Come and you will see beautiful things.’” Edvige later wrote, “I went walking up to a beautiful gate which had two angels, one on each side guarding it. The gate had a sign which read ‘Those who are dishonest and immodest cannot enter.’ The angels made me enter. I happily entered. It was a piece of Heaven. How beautiful! Plants and flowers I had never been [sic] seen before. The floor was covered with pearls and precious flowers. Then they signaled me not to go any further. I saw a Salesian priest approach me holding a key in his hand. He opened the door where it was written, “Salesian Garden.” Inside there were priests and lay people of every age. It was a beautiful garden with plants and flowers that I had never seen and everyone was singing happily.”
Stigmata
Sometime around the year 1910 (the year her mother died), Edvige received the stigmata – the crucifixion wounds of Christ. She wrote, “One day while I was praying, I went into ecstasy and Jesus appeared to me and said, ‘My daughter, do you want to suffer?’ I answered, ‘Yes. For love of You, I want to suffer.’ Then he appeared to me on the Crucifix, from His Wounds came out rays of light and those rays reached me wounding my hands, feet, head and side. I felt pain in all the wounded parts and I stayed on the ground for several hours. When I woke up, I saw that blood was coming out of my wounds and I felt a great pain. Since that day I got into meditating on the Passion morning and evening.”
Victim Soul for the Conversion of Communists
God chose Edvige to be a victim soul for the conversion of Communists, and she was very generous in offering prayers and sacrifices on their behalf. In one of Edvige’s visions, a Russian soldier, Pol Vischin (who had died during World War II), appeared and touched her wrist and burned her. He was covered by flames and said that he was in purgatory. Pol said that he had been a very great sinner when he was alive, and that he had only been saved from hell because he had been taught the faith as a child and had repented at the moment of his death. He asked Edvige to request that Monsignor Vitali celebrate some masses on his behalf. After Edvige had done what he asked, Pol showed himself to her again. He thanked her, and this time he was dressed in a white garment and enveloped by a bright, hot light.
Levitation
Levitation is a phenomenon that is frequently mentioned in the lives of the saints, and many people attested to the fact that Edvige levitated during her ecstasies. Mariangela Oggianu declared: “One afternoon, I found the servant of God in the Church, elevated some 20cm over the kneeler without any support. She had her hands together and was gazing upwards and praying fervently.”
Bilocation
In 1925, Edvige began to experience bilocation.13 On one occasion, “[she] went to Moscow in bilocation and entered [Joseph] Stalin’s room in the Kremlin. She saw him move his fist saying, “I am the strong and terrible enemy of God.” Edvige said that Stalin had such an ugly stare that it made you afraid to look at him. [One of her closest friends,] Vitalia [Scodina] remembers: “One day I was in Edvige and Paulina’s house. We saw Edvige in deep prayer and heard her say: ‘You have to convert. But if you want to be God’s eternal enemy, you will be.’ When she came out of the ecstasy, her sister asked her to whom she was talking and she answered that she had been to Stalin’s room in Moscow…to her invitation to convert, he had responded, ‘I will never convert. I will be God’s enemy forever.’”
Satanic Attacks
Being the recipient of so many beautiful spiritual gifts did not mean that Edvige was spared the attacks of the evil one. Her close friend, Vitalia, spoke of how Satan would burn the money Edvige had been given to go shopping; he would tie her to the bed, scratch her, and throw stones at her head. He would break her dishes, mirrors, and windows, and once he even took the gold fillings from her teeth. “Whenever Edvige was on the way to see Fr. Ignacio (her last spiritual director), the devil hit her hard and kicked her legs so that she would not be able to walk. This also happened when she went to other confessors. Edvige, however, even if she had to limp, managed to continue and Satan was defeated.”15 On another occasion, she was bed ridden after the devil hit her on the knee with a hammer.
Associations
Edvige was involved in many confraternities during her life. She belonged to the Daughters of Mary in Pozzomaggiore as well as an association called Friends of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. In 1906, she became a Third Order Franciscan (T.O.S.F.). After the death of her father in 1938, Edvige moved to Rome where she lived with her sister, Paulina, for the last 14 years of her life. It was there that she became part of the Confraternity of the Passion at Scala Santa (the Holy Stairs) in 1941.
A Holy Death
“Edvige lived a life of penance and charity. She did not perform great acts of penance like other saints but she patiently accepted discomfort, sufferings and persecution from people who considered her to be crazy or a seer. She often fasted and generally only ate a piece of bread for breakfast and dinner. Vitalia, her friend, says that one day during the war she found Edvige baking bread made out of flour and ashes because they did not have anything else to eat. Because of eating ashes, Edvige got a stomach ulcer which Jesus later on cured miraculously.” Edvige had a great love for the poor, and if they came to the door while she was eating, she would give them all her food. She used to say, “The poor are my dearest friends. I would give everything for them, earrings, rings… I love them because Jesus loves them… In Heaven we will see all the good done to the poor. They will open the gates of Heaven to us.”
On February 17, 1952, Edvige attended Mass early in the morning as usual. However, she began to feel unwell later in the day and said she was dying. Her sister, Paulina, called a doctor and priests from their parish. She received the last rites and passed away from angina pectoris – a lack of blood flow to her heart – at 10:30 that evening. The cause for the beatification of Edvige Carboni was begun in 1968, and many people have testified to miracles that she has accomplished since the time of her death.
Her remains from a white coffin were exhumed in October 2015 for canonical inspection as part of the canonization cause. Her remains were relocated as a result of this.
The beatification process opened in the Diocese of Rome in a diocesan process that opened in December 1968 and concluded sometime later after having taken all of the available documents and interrogatories – this also included her spiritual journal.
On 29 April 1994 she became a Servant of God – under Pope John Paul II – with the formal commencement of the cause following the Congregation for the Causes of Saints granting the "nihil obstat" ('nothing against') to the cause.
The second process opened on 18 October 1999 and concluded on 1 June 2001 after which the C.C.S. validated the process on 1 March 2002. The postulation submitted the Positio in 2008 while theologians could not come up with conclusive approval the cause on 10 October 2013 after debating the extent of her mysticism and the depth of her spiritual writings with some aspects still requiring greater investigation; the theologians met again and provided their definitive approval to the cause on 29 November 2016. The C.C.S. approved her cause on 2 May 2017; Pope Francis confirmed her heroic virtue on 4 May 2017 and named her as Venerable.
The miracle required for her beatification was investigated in the place of its origin and received C.C.S. validation on 6 October 2000. Medical examiners inspected and approved the documents pertaining to this alleged miracle on 23 November 2017. Theologians later confirmed the miracle on 26 April 2018 and the C.C.S. members meet and approved this healing on 6 November 2018. Pope Francis approved this miracle in a decree on 7 November 2018 which allows for Carboni's beatification; it shall be held in her native Sardinia on 16 June 2019.
The current postulator assigned to the cause is Dr. Andrea Ambrosi
More Info :
📕 Mystics of the Church 📕 Swords of Truth 📕 Visions of Jesus Christ 📕 Wikipedia
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