Sainte Maria Cristina dell’Immacolata Concezione
Religieuse et fondatrice des
“Sœurs victimes expiatrices de Jésus-Sacrement”
Marie-Christine, dans le siècle Adelaide Brando, naît à Naples le 1er mai 1856 de Giovanni Giuseppe et de Maria Concetta Marrazzo, qui meurt quelques jours après l’accouchement.
Elle manifesta très tôt une inclination à la prière et à la chasteté et, en 1876, entra chez les Sœurs Sacramentines sous le nom de Sœur Maria Cristina de l'Immaculée Conception.
En 1878, elle fonda la Congrégation des “Sœurs victimes expiatrices de Jésus-Sacrement”, qui connut une croissance rapide malgré les difficultés et la santé fragile de la Fondatrice. Marie Christine Brando émit ses vœux temporaires en 1897. La Congrégation s'installa à Casoria, dans les environs de Naples, et reçut l'approbation canonique du Saint-Siège le 20 juillet 1903. Le 2 novembre, la Fondatrice et d'autres consœurs émirent leur profession perpétuelle.
Elle vécut sa consécration avec générosité, joie et persévérance et remplit ses responsabilités de Supérieure générale avec humilité et prudence. Elle cultiva une dévotion particulière pour l'Incarnation, la Passion et la Mort du Christ et l'Eucharistie. Pour se rapprocher davantage par le corps et l'esprit du tabernacle, elle se fit faire une cellule contiguë à l'Église qu'elle avait fait construire à Casoria. "Le but principal de l'œuvre est la réparation des outrages que reçut le Sacré-Cœur de Jésus dans le Très Saint Sacrement". Les œuvres qui en sont le fruit sont nombreuses: couvents féminins, pensionnats de jeunes filles, orphelinats, écoles.
L'amour de Dieu et l'amour pour son prochain, que Marie-Christine définissait comme « les deux branches qui partent du même tronc », sont les deux orientations sur lesquelles se fondent le charisme que Mère Brando a transmis aux Sœurs victimes expiatrices.
Elle meurt le 20 janvier 1906.
Maria Cristina dell’Immacolata Concezione a été reconnue Vénérable le 2 juillet 1994 et béatifiée le 27 avril 2003à Rome par saint Jean-Paul II (Karol Józef Wojtyła, 1978-2005).
Le Saint Père François (Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 2013-) l’a proclamée sainte le 17 mai 2015.
Source principale : vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ (« Rév. x gpm »). ©Evangelizo.org 2001-2018
Saint Maria Cristina dell’Immacolata Concezione
Also known as
- Adelaide Brando
- Maria Cristina Brando
- Maria Cristina of the Immaculata
- Sister Maria Cristina of the Immaculate Conception
Profile
Born to a wealthy family, the daughter of Giovanni Giuseppe and Maria Concetta Marrazzo; her mother died with Adelaide was only a few days old. The girl waseducated at home, felt an early call to religious life, and attended Mass daily. At age twelve she took a personal vow of chastity, and soon after tried to enter the monastery of the Sacramentine Nuns in Naples,Italy, but was stopped by her father. She eventually gained his approval to enter the Poor Clare monasteryat Fiorentine, Italy but twice fell severely ill, and had to return home. Upon her recovery she returned toNaples, Italy, and joined the Sacramentine Nuns as she had wanted originally, making her vows in 1876, and taking the name Sister Maria Cristina of the Immaculate Conception. Her health broke again, and she was forced to return home.
Seeing the constant failure as a sign, while renting a room with the Teresiane Sisters of Torre del Greco in1878 she founded the group that would become the Congregation of the Sisters, Expiatory Victims of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, which returned papal approval on 20 July 1903. Though they had money trouble, and Maria’s health continued to suffer, the Congregation grew quickly, received help from Venerable Michelangelo of Marigliano and Blessed Ludovico of Casoria, and settled in Casoria where Maria served as superior general of the Congregation. Noted for her strong prayer life, devotion to the birth and Passion of Christ, and the Eucharist, she slept every night in a chair in a small grotto where she could rest near the exposed Host.
Born
- 20 January 1906 in Casoria, Naples, Italy of natural causes
- 2 July 1994 by Pope John Paul II (decree of heroic virtues)
- on 17 September 2014 Pope Francis promulgated a decree of a miracle obtained through the intercession ofBlessed Maria
- 20 October 2014 (consistory for canonization)
Maria Cristina Brando (1856-1906)
Mother Maria Cristina Brando was born in Naples on May 1, 1856 of wealthy parents, Giovanni Giuseppe and Maria Concetta Marrazzo. Her mother died several days after the birth of the Servant of God.
Possessing a gentle and docile nature, she received a fruitful and sound religious education within her family and, early on, showed clear signs of an inclination toward prayer and celibacy.
Attracted by the things of God, she fled from worldly vanities, and in addition to a love for solitude, she frequently celebrated the sacrament of the Penance and was a daily communicant. She heeded the teaching of our Savior (cf. Mt 5, 48), and was accustomed to say repeatedly: “I must become holy; I want to be a saint.” Approximately at the age of twelve, before an image the Child Jesus, she professed a vow of perpetual chastity.
When she perceived that she had a vocation to religious life, she tried to enter the Monastery of the Sacramentine Nuns in Naples, but she prevented from doing so by her father. However she did obtain his consent to be received as a candidate for the Poor Clare Nuns at their Monastery of the Fiorentine. Nevertheless, because of illness she was prevented twice from entering and was forced to return her family for medical care. Following her recuperation, she received permission to enter the Monastery of the Sacramentine Nuns. In 1876 she was vested in the religious habit and took the name of Sister Maria Cristina of the Immaculate Conception. Here, too, she became ill and was forced to abandon the venture that she had undertaken with such great fervor.
At this point she understood that the moment had arrived for her to dedicate her life to an Institute to which she had always felt a calling. Therefore in 1878, while renting a room with the Teresiane Sisters of Torre del Greco, she laid the foundation for a new religious family that currently bears the name: the Congregation of the Sisters, Expiatory Victims of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. The new congregation grew quickly despite economic constraints and other obstacles, as well as the unstable health of the foundress herself.
After residing in various places, the community, with the guidance of the Servant of God, Michelangelo of Marigliano and of Blessed Ludovico of Casoria, settled in Casoria, not far from Naples. The new Institute encountered numerous difficult situations, but in many ways it also experienced divine Providence and it enjoyed the help of many benefactors and clergy, most especially the priest, Domenico Maglione. The Institute grew with members and new houses and demonstrated great devotion to the Eucharist and diligent care for the education of young boys and girls.
In 1897 the Servant of God professed temporary vows, and on July 20, 1903 the Congregation received canonical approbation from the Holy See. On November 2 of the same year, the Foundress, together with many of her Sisters, professed perpetual vows.
She lived her consecration with generosity, with perseverance and with spiritual joy. She held the office of superior general with humility, prudence and amiability, giving her sisters continual examples of fidelity to God and to one's vocation and of zeal for the growth of the kingdom of God.
She walked the path of holiness with exactitude and generosity, and with the help of God's grace, she continually progressed in imitation of the Lord, in obedience to the Gospel and in Christian perfection.
The Servant of God entered eternal life on January 20, 1906, to which, even as a young child, she had always aspired, and for which she had prepared herself so diligently.
Her Spirituality
The life of Mother Maria Cristina was always characterized by a faith that was simple, consistent and lively, and which was nourished by listening to the word of God, by fruitful celebration of the sacraments, by assiduous contemplation of the eternal truths and by fervent prayer. She particularly cultivated devotion to the Incarnation, to the Passion and Death of Christ and to the Eucharist. In order to be nearer in spirit and in body to the tabernacle, she built a cell adjacent to the church, which she called the ‘grotticella' (the little grotto) recalling the crèche of the Nativity. It was a source of edification for everyone in Casoria. Here she spent every night of her life, seated in a chair, so as to accompany Jesus in the Eucharist, while awake and while resting.
Her spirituality of expiation was so strong, that it became the charism of the Institute. In fact, among the remaining fragments of her autobiography, written in obedience to her spiritual director, we read: “the principal purpose of this work is reparation for the offenses that are received by the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, especially so many acts of irreverence and carelessness, sacrilegious communions, and sacraments poorly celebrated, Holy Masses assisted at inattentively and, that which bitterly pierces that Sacred Heart, that so many of his ministers and so many souls that are consecrated to him, align themselves with these ignorant people and thus pierce his heart even more. (...) To the Perpetual Adorers the divine Heart of Jesus wants to entrust the sweet and sublime office of Victims of perpetual adoration and reparation to his Divine Heart, so horribly offended and affronted in the Blessed Sacrament of love. (...) To the Perpetual Adorers, in the active and contemplative lifestyle, (...) the Sacred Heart of Jesus entrusts the sweet office of Victims of Charity and of reparation; of charity because they are entrusted with the care of children.”
In light of this second dimension, various works would be established: collegiate schools for girls, secondary schools for girls, orphanages, boarding and day schools: all for reparation. In fact, bringing the knowledge of the love of God wherever it is not known, makes Him become loved, and in doing so, helps other to avoid those offenses that Mother Cristina lived to expiate.
This becomes very clear in the two elements which summarize the charism that Mother Brando imparted to her Sisters, Expiatory Victims: the love of God and the love of neighbor, which Blessed Maria Cristina defined as “two branches that originate from the same trunk.”
BEATIFICATION OF SIX NEW SERVANTS OF GOD
HOMILY OF JOHN PAUL II
II Sunday of Easter, 27 April 2003
1. "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love endures forever (Ps 117[118]: 1). This is what the Church sings today on this Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday. In the Paschal Mystery, the comforting design of salvation, God's merciful love whose privileged witnesses are the saints and blesseds in Heaven, is fully revealed.
By a providential coincidence, I have the joy of raising six new Blesseds to the honours of the altars on this very Sunday on which we celebrate the "Divine Mercy". Each one of them, in a different way, expressed the Lord's tender and wonderful mercy: James Alberione, a priest, Founder of the Pauline Family; Mark of Aviano, a priest of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin; Maria Christina Brando, virgin, Foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters, Expiatory Victims of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament; Eugenia Ravasco, virgin, Foundress of the Congregations of the Daughters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary; Maria Domenica Mantovani, virgin, Co-Foundress of the Institute of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family; Julia Salzano, virgin, Foundress of the Congregation of the Catechist Sisters of the Sacred Heart.
2. "These (signs) are written... that believing you may have life in his Name" (Jn 20: 31). The Good News is a universal message destined for the people of all times. It is personally addressed to each one and asks to be expressed in his life style. When Christians become "living Gospels", they are transformed into eloquent "signs" of the Lord's mercy and their witness touches others' hearts more easily. As docile instruments in the hands of divine Providence, they have a profound effect on history. This is how it was with these six new Blesseds, who come from beloved Italy, a land rich in saints.
3. Bl. James Alberione felt the need to make Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life, known "to all people of our time with the means of our time", as he liked to say. He was inspired by the Apostle Paul, whom he described as a "theologian and architect of the Church", remaining ever docile and faithful to the Magisterium of the Successor of Peter, a "beacon" of truth in a world that is so often devoid of sound spiritual references. "May there be a group of saints to use these means", this apostle of the new times was in the habit of repeating.
What a formidable heritage he left his religious family! May his spiritual sons and daughters keep intact the spirit of their origins, to respond adequately to the needs of evangelization in the contemporary world.
4. In a different time and context, Bl. Mark of Aviano shone with holiness as his soul burned with a longing for prayer, silence and adoration of God's mystery. This contemplative who journeyed along the highways of Europe was the centre of a wide-reaching spiritual renewal, thanks to his courageous preaching that was accompanied by numerous miracles. An unarmed prophet of divine mercy, he was impelled by circumstances to be actively committed to defending the freedom and unity of Christian Europe. Bl. Mark of Aviano reminds the European continent, opening up in these years to new prospects of cooperation, that its unity will be sounder if it is based on its common Christian roots.
5. All that God worked through Maria Christina Brando is astonishing. Her Eucharistic and expiatory spirituality is expressed in two lines, like "two branches that stem from the same trunk": love of God and love of neighbour. Her desire to take part in Christ's passion, as it were, "overflowed" into educational works, for the purpose of making people aware of their dignity and open to the Lord's merciful love.
6. Bl. Eugenia Ravasco was wholly concerned with spreading love for the Hearts of Christ and Mary. Contemplating these two Hearts, she was passionately devoted to serving her neighbour and joyfully devoted her whole life to young people and the poor. With foresight, she was able to open herself to the pressing needs of the mission, with special concern for those who had "fallen away" from the Church.
The words "doing good for love of the Heart of Jesus", and "burning with desire for the good of others, especially young people" neatly sum up the charism she bestowed on her institute.
7. Bl. Maria Domenica Mantovani followed the same path. This praiseworthy daughter of the region of Verona, a disciple of Bl. Giuseppe Nascimbeni, was inspired by the Holy Family of Nazareth to make herself "all things to all people", ever attentive to the needs of the "poor people". She was extraordinarily faithful, in all circmstances and to her last breath, to the will of God, by whom she felt loved and called. What a fine example of holiness for every believer!
8. Then, what can I say about Blessed Julia Salzano? In advance of her time, she was an apostle of the new evangelization in which she combined apostolic activity with prayer, offered ceaselessly, especially for the conversion of the "indifferent".
This new Blessed encourages us to persevere in faith and never to lose our confidence in God who does all things. Called to be the apostles of modern times, may believers also be inspired by Bl. Julia Salzano "to instil in many creatures the immense charity of Christ".
9. "Eternal is God's mercy" which shines in each one of the new Blesseds. Through them God has worked great marvels! Truly eternal, O Lord, is your mercy! You never abandon those who turn to you. With these new blesseds let us repeat to you with filial confidence:
"Jesus, I trust in you! Iezu, ufam Tobie!", the words of St Faustina Kowalska.
Help us, Mary, Mother of Mercy, to proclaim with our lives that "God's love endures for ever".
Now and forever. Amen! Alleluia!
© Copyright 2003 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Santa Maria Cristina dell'Immacolata Concezione (Adelaide Brando) Religiosa e fondatrice
Napoli, 1 maggio 1856 - Casoria, 20 gennaio 1906
Adelaide Brando, originaria di Napoli, sentì dall’adolescenza la chiamata ad essere interamente del Signore. Entrata inizialmente nel monastero delle Clarisse dette Fiorentine, poi in quello delle Sacramentine di Napoli, prese il nome di suor Maria Cristina dell’Immacolata Concezione, ma dovette lasciare la clausura per motivi di salute. Trasferitasi a Casoria, fondò le Suore Vittime Espiatrici di Gesù Sacramentato, dedite all’adorazione perpetua, all’insegnamento catechistico e scolastico e a varie opere di carità. Morì a Casoria il 20 gennaio 1906, a 49 anni. Beatificata da san Giovanni Paolo II a Roma il 27 aprile 2003, è stata canonizzata da papa Francesco, ancora a Roma, il 17 maggio 2015. I suoi resti mortali riposano nella chiesa adiacente alla Casa madre delle Vittime Espiatrici di Gesù Sacramentato a Casoria, in via Gioacchino D’Anna.
Martirologio Romano: A Casoria vicino a Napoli, beata Maria Cristina dell’Immacolata (Adelaide) Brando, vergine, che dedicò la sua vita alla formazione cristiana dei fanciulli e attraverso la Congregazione delle Suore Vittime Espiatrici di Gesù Sacramento da lei fondata promosse fortemente l’adorazione della santa Eucaristia.
Adelaide Brando nacque a Napoli il 1° maggio 1856, ultima delle quattro figlie di Giovanni Giuseppe Brando, cassiere del Banco di Napoli, e Concetta Marrazzo. Lo stesso giorno venne battezzata nella chiesa di San Liborio.
Quando aveva appena 12 anni, la notte di Natale del 1868, ai piedi di Gesù Bambino, Adelaide si consacrò a Dio con un voto di perpetua verginità. Desiderando entrare fra le suore Sacramentine, trovò l’opposizione del padre, che però le permise di raggiungere la sorella Maria Pia, clarissa nel monastero delle Clarisse dette Fiorentine in via Chiaia a Napoli. Ma una grave malattia, per ben due volte, la costrinse a lasciare il monastero.
Ristabilitasi in salute, nel 1875 entrò tra le Adoratrici Perpetue di Gesù Sacramentato (o Sacramentine) del monastero napoletano di San Giuseppe dei Ruffi e l’anno successivo poté indossarne l’abito, prendendo il nome di Maria Cristina dell’Immacolata Concezione. L’adorazione a Gesù Sacramentato, cardine della spiritualità di quelle religiose, era il suo maggior desiderio, ma il Signore dispose diversamente: ancora una volta la salute venne meno.
Nel 1877 si ritirò come pensionante nel Conservatorio delle Teresiane a Torre del Greco; quando si fu ripresa dalla malattia, ritornò a Napoli. Insieme ad alcune compagne, andò ad abitare in un appartamento della salita Ventaglieri e poi in vico Montemiletto. Anche sua sorella Maria Pia dovette uscire dal convento per malattia: indirizzata a Mugnano nel 1881, vi fondò un santuario dedicato al Sacro Cuore di Gesù.
Suor Maria Cristina ebbe come consiglieri preziosi padre Ludovico da Casoria (canonizzato nel 2014), fra Michelangelo Longo (Venerabile del 2008) e i sacerdoti Raffaele Ferraiolo e Polidoro Schioppa. Il 22 novembre 1884 si trasferì definitivamente nella cittadina di Casoria, in provincia di Napoli, ospitata con il suo gruppo dal canonico Domenico Maglione.
Qualche anno dopo, nel 1890, vista l’affluenza di altre giovani adoratrici, acquistò la casa degli eredi Costa in via San Rocco e vi si stabilì con la sua comunità, compiendo quanto padre Ludovico le aveva predetto: «In mezzo a questa cittadina erigerai una casa centrale».
Qui l’ormai fondatrice avvertì la necessità di potere erigere un tempio dedicato a Gesù Sacramentato, dove l’adorazione potesse continuare giorno e notte senza interruzione: il 19 febbraio 1893 viene posta la prima pietra della chiesa. Per sé riservò una stanzetta, che chiamò “grotticella”, con un’apertura dalla quale poteva vedere l’altare, così da poter essere ancora più unita alla Divina Vittima del Tabernacolo.
La comunità, oltre allo scopo principale dell’adorazione, si assunse il compito della catechesi e dell’istruzione ai fanciulli. L’approvazione pontificia giunse il 20 luglio 1903; il 16 agosto l’Istituto prese il nome ufficiale di Suore Vittime Espiatrici di Gesù Sacramentato, mentre il 2 novembre si svolsero le professioni perpetue, compresa quella della Fondatrice.
Così lei spiegava alle sue figlie il loro compito specifico nella Chiesa: «Gesù vuole essere amato assai da noi, che portiamo il nome di Vittime. Noi dobbiamo riparare gli oltraggi che Gesù riceve da tutto il mondo.... Abbiamo avuto l’onore grandissimo di essere chiamate Vittime Espiatrici, e dobbiamo esserlo per davvero ... E se non ci infochiamo di amore verso Dio, se non dimostriamo con le opere che in noi c’è vero amore, come ci regge il cuore di prostrarci ai piedi dell’altare e dire al Signore di riparare per gli altri?».
Madre Maria Cristina si ammalò gravemente il 14 gennaio 1906. Ricevuti i sacramenti, morì sei giorni dopo, il 20 gennaio; a maggio avrebbe compiuto cinquant’anni. Come visse così morì, senza segni soprannaturali, ma con un sorriso di dolcezza che manifestava il suo sì alla volontà di Gesù.
L’Istituto da lei fondato a Casoria si allargò ad altre numerose case in Italia e all’estero. Le sue figlie, impegnate oggi come allora nell’arduo cammino della virtù, sulla scia del suo luminoso esempio, sono diventate varie centinaia.
Dato che la sua fama di santità perdurava, venne deciso di aprire il suo processo di beatificazione. La fase informativa durò dal 1927 al 1940, mentre il 1° marzo 1955 giunse il decreto sugli scritti. La fase apostolica, successiva all’introduzione della causa il 4 maggio 1972, si svolse dal 1972 al 1973; la convalida di entrambe le fasi avvenne il 19 maggio 1978. La “positio super virtutibus” venne trasmessa alla Congregazione vaticana per le Cause dei Santi nel 1989. A seguito della riunione dei periti teologi, il 25 gennaio 1994, e della riunione dei cardinali e vescovi membri della Congregazione, il 3 maggio 1994, venne promulgato il decreto che attribuiva a madre Maria Cristina il titolo di Venerabile, reso noto il 2 luglio 1994.
Nel 1995 si svolse il processo diocesano su un probabile miracolo, approvato con il decreto del 20 dicembre 2001. La beatificazione si svolse a Roma, il 27 aprile 2003, presieduta dal Papa, san Giovanni Paolo II.
Come secondo miracolo per ottenere la canonizzazione è stato preso in esame il caso di Mariangela Di Mauro, che nel 2004, dopo due gravidanze extrauterine, poté dare alla luce il figlio Pasqualino dopo essersi affidata alle preghiere della Beata Maria Cristina, essendo ex-allieva delle Vittime Espiatrici. Con il decreto del 17 settembre 2014 è stato effettivamente riconosciuto come evento inspiegabile, aprendo il via alla canonizzazione.
Il 17 maggio 2015, in piazza San Pietro a Roma, papa Francesco ha ufficialmente posto alla venerazione di tutta la Chiesa cattolica madre Maria Cristina e altre tre Beate, suor Maria Alfonsina Danil Ghattas, suor Giovanna Emilia De Villeneuve e suor Maria di Gesù Crocifisso (Mariam Baouardy).
Autore: Antonio Borrelli ed Emilia Flocchini