"Sainthood at the age of 18"

She was beautiful, enterprising, sports-loving, an ordinary young person.
Then the unexpected illness:
anguish and pain, followed by death.
A rapid ascent to heaven. 
Her cause for beatification is underway.

Extract from an article by Michele Zanzucchi – Citta’ Nuova, Rome 

   Chiara Badano is one of the many members of the Focolare Movement who have died at a young age. In her case, however, we felt that God had chosen her in a very special way for himself. Her funeral was like a wedding celebration. Afterward we continued to pray for her and for her family and read some of her writings which had begun to circulate.

   Then in the years following her death, quite unintentionally, many aspects of her life began to emerge through her friends, through the youth of the Focolare, through her bishop, through a biography, a video and through a collection of her own writings. As Abbé Pierre wrote: “Saints are not all listed in a catalogue:  in all probability we come across them every day.”  Chiara Badano was one of these normal, everyday saints.

The long-awaited arrival

   Chiara was born in Sassello, an inland Ligurian region in Italy, on 29 October 1971. It’s a picturesque township situated between the mountains and the city. Anyone looking for a typical provincial town would find it in Sassello with its mushrooms and chestnuts.

    Chiara was the only child of a truck-driver, Ruggero Badano, and his wife Maria Teresa Caviglia. After 11 years of marriage they were still childless, although their heart’s desire was to have children. It’s easy to imagine their tremendous joy when this baby arrived. Her mother said, “Even though we were so immensely happy, we understood straightaway that this child wasn’t ours alone. She belonged to God first of all.”

   Chiara’s father, quiet by nature, is gifted with a very strong faith. Initially, he gives the impression of being very serious, but the warmth of his personality is reflected in his eyes. Her mother is friendly and outgoing and the relationship she had with her daughter was based on lopenness and trust.

An important lesson

   Maria Teresa, Chiara’s mother, recounted an episode which illustrates their relationship: “One afternoon, Chiara came home with a beautiful red apple. I asked her where it came from. She replied that she had taken it from our neighbour’s orchard without asking her permission. I explained to her that she always had to ask before taking anything and that she had to take it back and apologise to our neighbour. She was reluctant to do this because she was too embarrassed. I told her that it was far more important to own up than to eat an apple. So Chiara took the apple back to our neighbour and explained everything to her. That evening, the woman brought her a whole box of apples saying that on that day Chiara had “learnt something very important”.

9 years old – a special meeting

   Chiara had a very generous nature. In primary school, for homework, she had to write a letter to Baby Jesus. She didn’t ask him for toys but to “make grandmother, and all the people who are sick, well again”. She could be quite stubborn too and at times argued with her parents, but she was always ready to make up. Any friction only ever lasted a few moments.
   There are small, but significant, episodes which testify to this. For example, once when her mother asked her to clear the table, she responded, “No, I don’t want to”. She got as far as her room, then turned back and said, “Mum, I’ve just remembered that story in the Gospel about the two workers who had to go and work in the vineyard; one said ‘yes’ but didn’t go; the other instead said ‘no’… Mum, give me that apron”. And she started clearing up.

   Stories like this attest to the fact that she had received a solid Christian education at home through the parish community, through the parish priest who gave interesting catechism lessons, and through the good friends she had. She had a special love for the elderly and really liked to help them.

   In September 1980, when she was 9 years old, Chiara attended a meeting of the young people of the Focolare Movement – called the Gen 3. It was to be fundamental for her future life. There she encountered the spirituality of unity.
   In 1981, her parents began to share the same spirituality after they attended a Familyfest, an international meeting for families. Her mother said, “When we arrived home, my husband and I said to each other that if someone were to ask us when we got married, we would reply: ‘When we met this ideal’ ". From that moment, the Badano family became an example of respect, warmth and unity.

   During this period, Chiara used to write down her little acts of self-denial. This was one of them: “My friend has scarlet fever and everyone is too scared to visit her. With my parents’ permission I decided to do my homework over at her place so that she wouldn’t feel lonely”.

School, friendships and a decisive trip

   St Augustine often said that “love makes us beautiful”. Chiara, besides being a nice-looking girl, was, in fact clothed in evangelical beauty. Her photos show that even as an infant she had quite a strong character. What is so striking in these photos is the purity of her expression.

   Her adolescent years were nothing out of the ordinary. In 1985, her family moved to Savona so that she could continue with her secondary school studies. She found it quite hard-going despite being a conscientious student. She failed some final year subjects and this was a big suffering for her. 

It was then that some friction with her parents emerged. Even though the bond amongst them was so strong, they had to work hard to reach a compromise acceptable to all of them, regarding such things as staying out late at night.    Especially on weekends, Chiara loved to spend the evening with her friends in coffee shops. “She had a very wide circle of friends,” said Chicca Coriasco, one of her closest friends. “She also dressed modestly and with good-taste. She was always well-groomed, without overdoing it.”

Chiara was popular, always surrounded by friends. She was good at sport: tennis, swimming, mountain-climbing. She was very active, loved singing and dancing and she wanted to be an air-hostess.

   She was quite popular with boys but she had her sights set on other goals. Every now and then she would comment to her friends, “He’s a nice boy”, but that was all.

   Then the summer of 1988 marked a very important turning point in her life. She had just learnt that she had failed maths at school, when she was asked to accompany a group of children to Rome for their special Gen 4 meeting. Even though she felt so upset about failing, she didn’t want to back away. This is what she wrote from Rome to her parents: “This is a very important moment for me: it is an encounter with Jesus Forsaken. It hasn’t been easy to embrace this suffering, but this morning Chiara Lubich explained to the children that they have to be the spouse of Jesus Forsaken.”

   She corresponded regularly with Chiara Lubich, with whom she had a very profound relationship, so much so that at the end of her life, she said “I owe everything to God and to Chiara.” At her request, she received a new name, “Luce” which means “light”.

An unexpected outcome

   Then something totally unforeseen happened. While playing tennis one day, she experienced a very sharp pain in her shoulder. At first she didn’t take any notice and neither did her doctor. But because the pain simply didn’t go away, the doctor did further tests. The verdict: osteogenic sarcoma – one of the most serious and painful forms of cancer. And it had already begun to spread.
   On hearing this news, Chiara Luce, after a moment’s silence, accepted the outcome courageously, without tears or rebellion. “I’m young. I’m sure I’ll make it,” she said. Her father, Ruggero, told us, “We were sure that Jesus was in our midst in that moment and he gave us the strength to accept it.” This was when a dramatic change took place in Chiara Luce’s life and her rapid ascent towards holiness began.

   She was admitted to hospital many times and her kindness and unselfishness really stood out. Setting aside her own need to rest, she spent time walking around the wards with a drug-dependent girl suffering from serious depression. This meant getting out of bed despite the pain caused by the huge growth on her spine. “I’ll have time to rest later,” she used to say.

The philosopher Cioran once said, “Has anyone ever seen a joyful saint?” Anyone who knew Chiara Luce could certainly say ‘yes’, as Jesus became more and more her “Spouse”. She wrote, “Jesus sent me this illness at the right moment.”    Eventually, she was admitted to a hospital in Turin. “At first we thought we’d visit her to keep her spirits up,” one of the Gen boys said, “but very soon we understood that, in fact, we were the ones who needed her. Her life was like a magnet drawing us to her.”

The cancer was spreading mercilessly, but Chiara Luce tried her best to live a normal and happy life.

    One of the medical staff, Dr Antonio Delogu, said, “Through her smile, and through her eyes full of light, she showed us that death doesn’t exist; only life exists.” She had to undergo surgery twice. The subsequent chemotherapy treatment caused her to lose   her hair, which she was very proud of. As each lock of hair fell, she would say simply, but sincerely, “For you, Jesus”. Her parents, ever at her side, used to remind her that hidden in all of her sufferings there was a mysterious plan of God.
   Whenever she heard this, Chiara Luce would redouble her efforts to love. So, for example, she gave all her savings to a friend leaving on a humanitarian mission to Africa, saying, “I have everything. I don’t need this anymore.”

No to morphine. “I want to share as much as possible 
the pain of Jesus on the cross”

   There is a tape-recording from this period of Chiara Luce’s life where she herself tells  of undergoing a very painful medical procedure.
   “When the doctors began to carry out this small, but quite demanding, procedure, a lady with a very beautiful and luminous smile came in. She came up to me and took me by the hand, and her touch filled me with courage.
   In the same way that she arrived, she disappeared, and I could no longer see her. But my heart was filled with an immense joy and all fear left me. In that moment I understood that if we’re always ready for everything, God sends us many signs of his love.”

   When she lost the use of her legs, Chiara said, “If I had to choose between walking or going to heaven, I would choose going to heaven.” With the last CAT scan, all hopes of remission disappeared. This was the beginning of a very intense spiritual trial. But she never gave up. She always had the support of Chiara Lubich who wrote to her, “God loves you immensely and wants to penetrate the depths of your soul to allow you to experience heaven on earth.” She refused to take morphine. “It reduces my lucidity,” she said, “and there’s only one thing I can do now: to offer my suffering to Jesus because I want to share as much as possible in his suffering on the cross.”

   Chiara Luce grew in maturity. Dr Fabio de Marzi, wrote to her, “I’m not used to seeing young people like you. I always thought of your age as being the time of great enthusiasms and sentiments. But you have taught me that yours is also an age of wholeness and maturity.”

“Where does that light in your eyes come from?”

   19 July 1989: Chiara nearly died because of a hemorrhage. She said, “Don’t shed any tears for me. I’m going to Jesus. At my funeral, I don’t want people crying, but singing with all their hearts.”

   Referring to the intravenous drip attached to her arm, she said, “These drops are nothing compared to the nails driven into the hands of Jesus.” And with each falling drop, she would say, “For You, Jesus”. When Cardinal Saldarini visited her in hospital, he asked her, “The light in your eyes is splendid. Where does it come from?” She replied, “I try to love Jesus as much as I can.”

   Occasionally she asked her parents not to let her friends come into her room – for her an unusual request. One day she explained, “It doesn’t mean that I care any less for them or that I’m sad. It’s because I sometimes find it so hard to ‘come down’ from where my spirit is living and then to climb back up again.” This was the atmosphere of Paradise that those around her experienced.
   She wrote to her friends, “Previously I felt another world was awaiting me and the most I could do was to let go. Instead now I feel enfolded in a marvellous plan of God which is slowly being unveiled to me.”

The wedding celebration

   During her last days, she said, “I no longer ask Jesus to come and take me away to heaven. I don’t want to give him the impression that I don’t want to suffer any longer”. She knew what lay before her and she didn’t want to change anything (she didn’t pray for a cure but to be able to do God’s will).
   Together with her mother, she prepared for her “wedding celebration”, her funeral. She herself gave instructions on how she wanted to be dressed; she chose the music, the songs, the flowers and the Mass readings. She told her mother, “When you’re getting me ready, Mum, you have to keep saying to yourself, ‘Chiara Luce is now seeing Jesus’.”

   Maria Grazia Magrini, who has been gathering material on Chiara Luce’s life for the beatification process, affirms: "The expressions she used in this period are very similar to those used by St Therese of the Child Jesus, who said, for example, ‘You have to know how to die through pinpricks in order to die by the sword."

   Sunday, 7 October, at 4.00 am, she met her “Spouse”. Her father and mother were at her bedside, and all her friends were in the adjoining room. There was a great sense of peace. Her last words to her mother were, “Goodbye. Be happy because I’m happy.”

   There were 2000 people at her funeral. Even those without a religious faith wanted to be there. In describing the occasion, everyone spoke of "Paradise", of joy, of  choosing God as Chiara Luce had done. Bishop Maritano said in his homily, “Here is the fruit of a Christian family, of a Christian community, of a movement which lives mutual love and has the presence of Jesus in the midst of its members”.

   The effects of her experience continued even after her death. All those who came to know about her felt called to live the Gospel in a more radical way, to choose God as their all. Her holiness has really been contagious. Recognition of Chiara Luce’s holiness spread slowly but surely. Through the initiative of the bishop of Acqui Terme, she has been declared a “Servant of God”. This was followed by the first step of the beatification process within the diocese. In a few months, her cause for beatification  will be passed on to the Vatican.

“You must become a generation of saints”

    One question that comes to mind at this moment is: “Who are the modern day saints?” Naturally, only God is holy. But in the Scriptures we are told: “Be holy as I am holy”. And in the Acts of the Apostles, Christians are simply referred to as “saints”. So a saint is a person who reflects the holiness of God by living the virtues in a heroic way and showing boundless charity and total faith in God. In this regard, Chiara Luce certainly does appear to be a saint. 

   There is one more aspect which warrants emphasizing. Cardinal Martini wrote: “Imagine a bunch of grapes: it is the holiness of the whole bunch taken together and not just of one single grape which becomes yeast and salt of the earth, light for the world.” Ever since the beginning of the Gen Movement, Chiara Lubich has challenged the young people with a very high ideal: “You must become a generation of saints”. Chiara Luce Badano is not the only one to reach this goal, because many other young people of the Focolare Movement have died with the same disposition. The beatification process is currently underway for three of them.

(27-03-2000)