photo credit: goddess of chocolate

Have a very Happy Halloween and a peaceful All Saints’ Day tomorrow. You can read about how we celebrate Halloween and All Saints’ Day in Calabria right here.

 
Five new saints were canonized on Sunday, April 26 in Saint Peter’s Square … and I was there. No, I didn’t go specifically for the Canonization-in fact, I didn’t understand the magnitude of the event until I was ushered onto the steps of the colossal piazza and saw the sea of people that spread before me.
 
As I tried to focus on Pope Benedict’s Latin-language rituals, my eyes wandered to the five portraits that hung from the front of the church … Geltrude Comensoli, Nuno Alvares Pereira, Arcangelo Tadini, Bernardo Tolomei and Caterina Volpicelli. It was image of the young woman from the final portrait that most mesmerized me, that burned itself in my mind and whose graceful features inspired this five-part series.
 
I’m talking about Caterina Volpicelli.
 

 
Caterina Volpicelli was born on January 21, 1839 into an affluent family in Naples, Italy. Like many adolescent girls of her age and economic class, she spent her days attending plays, ballets and dances and assumed her charmed life would lead to high social standing.
 
However, at the tender age of 15, her life goals took a dramatic turn. She met Blessed Ludovico of Casoria, who taught her of the Sacred Heart and encouraged her to become a Third Order Franciscan. Upon hearing of the French Sacred Heart Apostolate and discovering a new outlet for her spirituality, Caterina founded a new congregation called the Servants of the Sacred Heart, “in fulfillment of her aspiration ‘to revive love for Jesus Christ in hearts, in families and in society.’”
 
December 28 was established as Saint Caterina Volpicelli’s feast day.
 
And that wraps it up … if you are interested in learning more about the Catholic Church’s saints, you can visit The Tail End, a blog that served as a great source of research in my posts. You can also visit Justin Catanoso, the Calabrese-American writer whose cousin, Gaetano Catanoso was Canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 23, 2005. Justin’s book, “My Cousin the Saint” is now available in paperback.
 
Happy Love Thursday!
 

 
Bernardo Tolomei was born in Siena, Italy in 1272, as “Giovanni,” but later used the name Bernardo out of veneration for Saint Bernardo of Clairvaux, an 11th century French Cistercian abbot. He was knighted in 1291 and was a member of the Confraternity of the Disciplinati di Santa Maria della Notte that was dedicated to aiding the sick at a local hospital.
 

 
On April 1, 1319, Tolomei, along with two of his friends from the same Confraternity, established the Congregation of the Blessed Virgin of Monte Oliveto. For three election terms he declined requests to be the monastery’s abbot, but when his refusals were no longer accepted by his Olivetan brothers, he became the fourth abbot to the monastery and was re-elected to the position 27 consecutive years.
 
In 1348, Tolomei left Monte Oliveto for the monastery of San Benedetto a Porta Tufi in Siena to administer aid to plague victims in the city. On August 20, he and 82 of his fellow Olivetan monks, fell victim to the plague. They were buried in a mass grave that has never been found.
 
His feast day is celebrated on August 20.
 
Happy Love Thursday!