VATICAN CITY, DEC. 21, 2003 (Zenit.org).- The Church approved miracles attributed to the intercession of 11 religious figures, opening the way for four of them to be canonized. The other seven will be beatified.
The Vatican Congregation for Sainthood Causes presented the necessary decrees Saturday at the Vatican in the presence of John Paul II. Dates for the canonizations and beatifications have not been set.
Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the congregation, presented the decrees with which the Holy See recognizes four miracles attributed to the intercession of four people already beatified. This clears the way for their canonization. They are:
— José Manyanet y Vives, founder of the Congregation of the Children of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, was born on Jan. 17, 1833, in Tremp, Spain, and died on Dec. 17, 1901, in San Andres de Palomar. He fostered family spirituality and promoted the construction of the church of Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, of architect Antoni Gaudí, whose own cause of beatification is in progress.
— Nimatullah Al-Hardini (Joseph Kassab), priest religious of the Maronite-rite Lebanese Order. Born in Harine, Lebanon, in 1808, he died on Dec. 14, 1858, in Kfifan. In the silence of the monastery, he was dedicated to prayer, the teaching of theology, and manual labor. Charbel Maklouf was one of his students.
— Paola Elisabetta (Costanza) Cerioli, founder of the Institute of the Holy Family and of the Holy Family Congregation, was born on Jan. 28, 1816, in Soncino, Italy, and died on Dec. 24, 1865. A member of a wealthy and noble family, she became a widow when very young. Having lost her four children, she dedicated herself to looking after poor children and youths from the countryside. She founded two congregations, one for the education of men and one for that of women.
— Gianna Beretta Molla. Doctor, wife and mother of a family, and member of Catholic Action, she was born on Oct. 4, 1922, in Magenta, Italy, and died on April 28, 1962. In her fourth pregnancy, she decided to give up her life to save that of her unborn child.
Cardinal Saraiva Martins then read the decrees recognizing miracles attributed to seven servants of God, clearing the way for their beatification. The seven are:
— Auguste Czartoryski, priest of the Salesian Society of St. John Bosco, who was received in the congregation by the founder himself, was born to a Polish family in Paris on Aug. 2, 1858, and died on April 9, 1858.
— Maria Guadalupe (Anastasia Guadalupe) García Zavala, co-founder of the Congregation of Handmaids of St. Margaret Mary and the Poor, was born on April 27, 1878, in Zapopan, Mexico, and died on June 24, 1963, in Guadalajara. She was superior of her congregation at a difficult time for the Church in Mexico.
— Nemesia (Julia) Valle, religious of the Institute of Charity, was born on June 26, 1747, in Aosta, Italy, and died on Dec. 18, 1916. She is known in her congregation as the «living rule.»
— Eusebia Palomino Yenes, religious of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary of Perpetual Help, was born on Dec. 15, 1899 in Cantalpino, Spain, and died on Feb. 10, 1935, in Valverde del Camino, Spain. «In 1931, foreseeing the Spanish Civil War, she offered herself as a victim to the Lord, who called her after a long illness,» Cardinal Saraiva Martins explained during the ceremony.
— Ludovica (Antonina) de Angelis, religious of the Congregation of Daughters of Our Lady of Mercy, was born on Oct. 24, 1880, in San Gregorio, Italy. In the exercise of her apostolate, she went to La Plata, Argentina, to work in a pediatric hospital. She spent the rest of her life in that city.
— Karl of Austria, emperor and king, was born on Aug. 17, 1887, in Persenbeug, Austria, and died on April 1, 1922. «When he came to the throne, in 1916, he served his people with justice and charity,» the prefect of the Congregation for Sainthood Causes said. «He sought peace, helped the poor, and diligently cultivated his spiritual life. Faith sustained him from his youth, especially in the period of the First World War, and during his exile on the Island of Madeira, where he died a holy death.»
— Alessandrina Maria da Costa, lay member of the Union of Salesian Co-workers, was born on March 30, 1904, in Balasar, Portugal, and died on Oct. 13, 1955. «She threw herself out of a window at 14 to preserve her virginity,» the cardinal explained. As a result of the accident, she was gradually paralyzed. «From her bed she carried out a precious apostolate of prayer and advice in favor of the numerous persons who visited her, attracted by her extraordinary virtues and charisms.»
Cardinal Saraiva Martins also announced seven decrees of recognition of heroic virtues, involving these servants of God:
— Clemens August Graf von Galen, cardinal and bishop of Muenster, was born on March 16, 1878, in Dinklage, Germany, and died on March 22, 1946. «He fought openly against the errors of National Socialism and against the violations of the rights of man and of the Church,» the cardinal said. He was known as «the Lion of Muenster» for his opposition.
— Luigi Biraghi, diocesan priest and founder of the Institute of Sisters of St. Marcelina, born on Nov. 2, 1801, in Vignate, Italy, and died on Aug. 11, 1879.
— Luigi Monza, diocesan priest and founder of the Secular Institute of the Little Apostles of Charity, born on June 22, 1898, in Cislago, Italy, and died on Sept. 29, 1954.
— Benigno of St. Therese of the Child Jesus (Angelo Calvi), priest of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, born on July 23, 1909, in Inzago, Italy, and died on Oct. 25, 1937.
— Maria Teresa of Jesus (Maria Scrilli), founder of the Congregation of Religious of Our Lady of Carmel, born on May 15, 1825, in Montevarchi, Italy, and died on Nov. 14, 1889.
— Rita Amada of Jesus (Rita Lopes De Almeida), founder of the Institute of Religious of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, born on March 5, 1848, in Casalmendinho, Portugal, and died on Jan. 6, 1913.
— Maria Nazarena (Maria Majone), co-founder of the Congregation of Religious Daughter of the Divine Zeal, born on June 21, 1869, in Graniti, Italy, and died on Jan. 25, 1939.
